Arab Woman Talking

May we be  Vessels of light Vehicles of peace May we see through the lies we've been fed Since the beginning of his-story Set up against one another The children of Abraham and the 'adoptees' At this point, it makes no difference  Arab - Hebrew Palestinian - Israeli Religious - Secular We are all bait Feeding the Big Fish What Exodus?  We are still enslaved The pharaohs of today transcend nationality and faith United under the flag of common interest and gains They pull the strings of puppet leaders and we do their bidding Brother Sister People of the land People on the land - no matter where you came from People off the land - no matter where you are I am not your enemy You are not mine Embrace your neighbour Fear not Love is the greatest weapon we can carry.

This is a war against our humanity Making us demonise the other Making us blind to our faults Justifying crime and revenge   Our humanity is at stake. We cringe at being called animals  Yet they are superior  They do not go against the will of their creator They do not commit genocide   Our humanity is at stake Our ability to see the other in ourselves Ourselves in the other Nursed on hate What a pity- we could have been raised on love   O, the cursed sons and daughters of Abraham Sacrificed over and over again  How could we have reached this point So far from what was promised So far from the light   The kingdom of heaven  What has it brought us Can it be built on spilt blood If we plant tomato seeds, we get tomatoes If we plant war, there can never be peace It’s a vicious cycle Look at the war on terror and the terror it’s brought Listen to the mothers mourning their children Listen and weep The kingdom of heaven… How about we make it queendom....

Children went out to play during the three hours of ceasefire Israel announced in Gaza. Rushdi Abu Alouf reports for the BBC. It was the first time the children went outside of the building in 12 days. Psychiatrists fear that the children will never recover from their wounds. In Oakland, riots are breaking out in Downtown. People are out on the streets, setting cars ablaze and burning tires. They are protesting the killing of an unarmed black male by metro police on the first day of the New Year. There is much injustice and inequality in our world. The constitution says we are all equal, but the reality shows us otherwise. Where, when, and how did we lose sense of our humanity? How can we regain it? Psychological damage is caused by trauma inflicted on children during war, under oppression, and from the first moment they are born. It does not take a PhD to see the connection between trauma and violence, but it takes a dreamer to believe that the damage is not irreversible. It c...