Palestinian Crisis

This is a poem my son Rizal wrote when he was in Form 5. Then it was about the Bosnian war where thousands of young Bosnian men and boys were killed. It was a systematic murder of a people and then, as now in Palestine, the Americans turned a blind eye.

Silence, Please

Silence, please
I hear a whimpering,
A mournful cry of a battle's end.
Silence please,
Crashing bells, burning shells,
And the caliphs die.
Silence please,
I can't bear anymore,
Deaf with lies, false promises
But where's the Eagle?
Silence please... may we have silence ... please?

A sad poem - of the ineffectiveness of the innocent against mighty powers out to maim and conquer. I wonder how many people knew the history of the Palestinians - how they lost their land and to whom it went. I'm not saying all of them are good - nor that all of the Israelis are bad. War is just that. Its the many thousands of innocents who die - casualties of war that we have to look at. Any kind of war. And this latest cruelty against innocent people is Bush's legacy. Because he has legalised war and pre-emptive attacks against countries "believed" to be hoarding militants. As if anybody can hoard a militant. I believe the Israelis should leave Gaza, and go back to the country they got by default after the 2nd World war. I believe the Arab world, especially the super rich Saudis and Kuwaitis, should try and broker some form of agreement between the powers that be so that the Palestinians can at last have a country to call their own. But people - whether they are Jews or Muslims or Christians will always use religion to get what they want. Power corrupts... and absolute power corrupts absolutely.