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Tolerance, This Is For You |
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Foreword |
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One beautiful morning in a German winter, I looked out over the snow-covered trees in our garden, out onto the street, tracking our bike route past the bakeries and their sweet scents, across town, and down, down, all the way down to the breathtaking Rhine landscape and wrote:
Winter is here, isn’t that nice? All the creeks are frozen to ice All the ponds and the lakes The day is full of whirly snowflakes I was ten, and had been penning ‘poems’ in my diary for the past year. At age eleven I made my decision. I’d like to be a poetess With poems filled with joy That would find happiness in the heart Of every girl and boy And I haven’t stopped writing since. Writing has brought me into contact with wonderful people all over the world who have tremendously enriched my life. What I find very interesting about people, especially those who are open to life, culture, and travel with all the interaction this involves, is how smoothly our thoughts and emotions evolve towards the basic unit of humanity. In contrast, enclosed societies evolve slowly, sometimes in sporadic reaction to specific incidents that encroach upon them, often in opposite directions to each other. This is why I feel grateful for the many free spirits who see themselves as citizens of the world and are trying to share with the rest of us the universal hopes and dreams of peace and brotherhood. My first poetry collection ‘The Winds of Time’ was published in 1991. It chronicled the emotions of a Damascus-born girl growing up to a life of constant travel with her diplomat parents. Secure in her identity as an Arab, she comes face to face with the traumas of war (1967, 1973) and gets her first taste of communal fear. She searches for the meanings of life and love, finds love and a blissful marriage, and then starts exploring her identity as a Muslim. The ‘Winds of Time’ describes stages to this spiritual exploration, her devotion expressed in poetry at first hesitant, then wondrous, thunderous, and finally, mellow. As one critic of ‘Winds of Time’ had me realize, personal feelings for or against an issue are never truly one’s own unless research and knowledge are applied to gain an understanding of that issue. Lacking such understanding, what we call personal feelings are often mirrored reflections of all the feelings around us. I have subsequently made a greater effort to understand first and then make judgment. Thank you critic! I am also indebted to the critique groups who have helped my writing evolve, prominent among them are fellow-members of the National League of American Pen Women and the Phoenix Writers’ Club. I believe that poetry is a helpful tool for communication, especially today where cultural communication is necessary to better understand the world and arrive at sensible solutions to its crises. It is with this in mind that I invite you to my second collection, ‘Heartbeats in the Wind’. This poetic journey is a 12-year chronicle of the emotions of a woman who is comfortable in her three cultures (Arab, Muslim, and American), realizes the urgency today that each understands the other, and hopes to further such understanding. ‘Heartbeats in the Wind’ consists of four sections: Love and Loss, Introspection, Inspiration, and Arab Heart, each preceded by an introduction. A few early verses excerpted from ‘The Winds of Time’ serve as a backdrop for more recent expression. As critics of ‘Heartbeats in the Wind’ will note, in contrast to contemporary American poetry, quite a few of my poems seem to follow traditional structure and form. I do not see any restriction in that, quite the contrary. Since freedom of expression by definition means non-conforming, I enjoy exercising that freedom by writing in the style best suited to my ‘impassioned communication’! If the choice of color and brushes is mine, shouldn’t the palette be too? Nevertheless, critique is always helpful and opinions are always welcomed. I communicate human emotion; heartbeats that yearn to be heard over the winds. I speak of love or loss that seeks to be announced to the world. I acknowledge the muffled voices that have reached a state of desperation today in their attempts to gain recognition. At times personal and feminine, at times just Arab or Muslim; some belong to young boys, old men or women, mothers or fathers. By relaying their voices I hope to help the Western reader better understand Arabs and Muslims on one hand, and the emotional dimension to the Middle-Eastern conflict on the other. I also hope to help Arab and Muslim readers, especially the youth, get through these difficult times with their sense of pride and their tradition of hospitality and tolerance intact. I do hope readers enjoy traveling on this poetic voyage with me. May our journey together help water the seeds of enlightenment as we evolve toward, rather than away from one another in a world that is becoming so much smaller every day. Randa Hamwi May 16, 2002 |
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Love & Loss Introduction & Excerpts |
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This section describes my voyage through life on the oceans of love. Sailing out on teenage emotion, vivid yet indefinable, where all is magnified and each swell seeks to overcome me. Tentative love in mid-ocean; should I abandon ship to join the young sailor traveling into uncharted waters? Trust is not given, it is earned, and he must earn mine. I leave my ship behind and we travel together. Stormy skies and seas and many dangers, but the strong bonds of love keep our ship afloat.
We have time to understand each other, alone in the vastness of the ocean. I teach him about women, why we cry, why we are romantics, and I attempt to define passion. He teaches me to be practical and ride the storm, showing me how all the clouds in the world disperse in the sunshine of a smile. And I wonder, is he just optimistic or have I converted him into a romantic? I look back to the origins of love; it all began with mothers, and then came the fathers, those wonderful creatures who taught us selflessness, the basis of true love. The goal of all true lovers is to make a loved one happy, and as our parents’ age their goal doesn’t change; they still want us to be happy. And our goal hasn’t changed either; we still cling onto them, holding them near and hoping never to part. The only difference is that now it is we who do the protecting. And we lose loved ones to the storms of life, and feel tormented. Such is the price of love, enduring the pain until we meet again. It is more fulfilling to have known love and loss, than never to have loved at all.
In such a world
I was never meant to stay I, a stranger in life A castaway… Without hope, but with a heart Craving hope and a future An ambitious heart Though wounded And bleeding with torture
Why should love always torture
And break my heart And when with new hope I start My heart comes apart… once more?
Don’t ask me to love you now
For my love is locked inside And only the key of love Can unlock what I hide
What is love but the merging of two minds
Upon a single venture to explore New worlds together
Within my heart
Beneath leaden rocks The springs of sorrow lie To breach the solid barrier I can only cry
Passion denies
Submission Passion defies Rationality Reality Possibility Probability Practicality Propriety And permission Passion even defies Definition.
It has always been there
The smile in your eyes That guided me through The joys and troubles We have shared
Love is a fancy
While True Love is real Love: A variety Of needs to fulfill Needing your loved one, and needing to feel Needed, in turn, by him. But 'Truth' is that which Is proven with time As nothing can you call true Until you prove it to be so
The first words ever formed by your lips
The first they pouted for, to plant a wet kiss Towards whom you took Those wobbly first steps "Mama !"
Dad takes off saying he won't be long
I dream of expensive purse I'd seen "What now, we should be moving on." Dad back, pretty package in his hand For me. Purse no longer a dream: "Nothing too expensive for my girl." What a lucky girl I've always been!
Selfless is True Love,
And timeless, indeed For once born, it never dies But only in giving Is watered the seed Which in eternity lies And in eternity grows True Love…immune to blows Dealt by Time, time and again
My heart, yielding to your eyes
Vowed never to let them dim With pain or sorrow No, I would disguise My own, to hold yours within
If you saw yourself through my eyes
You’d see the first love of my life Still going strong If you are gone How would I reconcile To the anguish of becoming Nobody’s child?
He, in longing, stands alone
No more belonging to his home No more fond words to hear, to share No shoulder to rest on No arms to care All tenderness forever gone All lost when he lost his loved one ...
Moments of bliss
Worth living for Worth remembering For ever It is a moment like this Which many couples Will never know And many might Even consider Worth dying for |
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Introspection Introduction & Excerpts |
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This section recreates the patterns painted by life upon my consciousness. Although life chooses its own brushes and color, we personalize its art by the palettes we offer. And I have offered her many. Some of her art-work I like, much I accept without liking, and a couple I try to cheat her into repainting. Are there any of her paintings that I really love? Just a few, but these are the important ones.
Teenagers question life, which sometimes seems to stretch ahead with no purpose. Young adults dream of bright futures, and gear themselves to strive. Older adults question past decisions, realizing that there is so much they dreamt of and did not fight hard enough for. Should we surrender to our destinies? Dare we dream again? Misery versus Happiness, Sexuality versus Femininity or Masculinity, Restriction versus Freedom, all these are concepts shared by the entire human race. We are one. There is nothing like Home. Home is freedom to be oneself. A desert walk may be home when we relate to the rabbits and the humming-birds, the ocean may be home when we relate to the creatures swimming its depths. At home we shed our social masks and accept our teenage pimples or ripened wrinkles. And as we pass briefly through creation we etch ourselves a small passage, a river of life that marks our presence for many years to come.
I’ve watched sunrise in many a place
I’ve slid on hard snow and skipped in soft rain Over red sand-dunes my toes have left trace And my heart burned with both pleasure and pain
I stifled in life’s hypocrisy
I sank in its cruel satire I’ve surrendered to my destiny.
A twisted path that runs ahead
The end is never seen Mysteries on its borders and Many hopes and dreams Unfulfilled.
If, as butterflies, we'd known
How little we linger We wouldn't have painted our wings Butterflies wouldn't have flown Why ever should they leave the cocoon? Would one moment in time Justify the attempt?
Loss of all Hope
Is a murder No court can ever clear... When unable to hope Any further, Unwilling to cope with the fear, Impotent in dealing with pain, All ambition is slain! When we dare not seek the future, Foreclosing what's left of time, Hidden from all that may witness We commit the perfect crime!
Eternal night, wrapping my soul
In depths of darkness. Be kind. For I have been isolated From the blows of time Remember, I have been alone In sheltering shadows of my home And murmuring sounds of which life is part Could only be heard within my heart
Happiness,
You are life’s ultimate goal Why don’t you linger, Like worry and pain? Your answer in absence Upon me dawns Touches the emptiness Where you have been
She frowns, amazed
At the timeless mirror Who speaks to her with no sound “I see charm today, not sexuality As you walk and turn around.”
Set me free
Allow me to be Independent of you If my dreams can fly Away, or stay Where they wish to My heart will rejoice At having the choice And my mind will dwell On the best part of you
Earth taught me much as she took me around
Encountering versions of humanity Recognizing the inaudible sounds Heartbeats that affirm our equality We are so much alike, would be the same Painted in one color, stretched to one frame
It was midday when he hovered
The dainty hummingbird lover Sun shimmering upon blue feathers Glimmering upon a wet beak Overlooking the needles that glistened Undertaking the winds that had risen Making me look with new eyes, and listen Overcome by life's rhapsody Crunched gravel where trail was well-trodden Hunched rabbits - I could tell where they'd hidden And my brushes refused of a sudden Illustration and artistry
In gratitude I wept…
As my limbs became fins When I leapt… Plunging deep Into the flow!
A testimony to art
Part of me, yet apart Familiar, but separate Like a favorite book With a favorite heroine Who is almost me, But not quite
I look at myself in the mirror
And make a silly face What a sight! Rumpled me. I am home where I belong
No two rivers are alike.
Each carves its own channel. Its depth refuge for life within it, its surface support for life upon it. But the passages etched on the face of earth remain, bearing witness to rivers that once flowed through. |
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Inspiration Introduction & Excerpts |
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This section chronicles the emotions of a person who rejoices at being part of God’s wonderful creation, and feels most content uniting with it in devotion.
Part One The poems in this section are personal yet universal expressions of devotion. I speak of elation and love, each giving rise to the other, of sorrow or despair that can be overcome by making a mental detour to Heaven, of years that speed past us, bearing witness to our limitations and idiosyncrasies. It is God’s Love that unites us all and makes everything worthwhile. And then there is a mystic reflection upon Death, the singular certain future event that would prevail over all truths. This section ends with an intimate prayer of love. Part Two This section holds two poems that are more analytical and fuel thought. The first (published in 1991) criticizes the behavior of those who profess to be Muslim yet commit actions in its name that contradict Islam, giving, as I put it, ‘the most beautiful picture the ugliest frame’ Although these radical individuals or political parties are relatively few (bearing in mind that Muslims number 1.2 billion worldwide), their actions have had the unsettling effect of erasing generations of positive interaction and pushing Islam’s image in western minds back to pre-Crusade times: Prof. Thomas Arnold (1896) quotes a rare Christian document from the first century after Islam indicative of the peaceful spread of the new religion. In moving narrative the document laments the ‘so many thousands’ who converted to Islam without shedding a drop of their blood. “The native Christians certainly preferred the rule of the Muslims to that of the Crusaders.” Prof. Arnold adds, “The increasing intercourse between Christians and Muslims, the growing appreciation on the part of the Crusaders of the virtues of their opponents, which so strikingly distinguishes the latter from the earlier chroniclers of the Crusades, the numerous imitations of Oriental manners and ways of life by the Franks settled in the Holy Land, did not fail to exercise a corresponding influence on religious opinions” as the church was influenced into changing its discourse (Arnold, T., The Spread of Islam in the World: A History of Peaceful Preaching, p.89. Goodword Books, 2001: New Delhi, India. A study of history will show that followers of faiths other than Islam were responsible for history’s worst carnages, and that Islam has been the most tolerant of the three Monotheistic faiths, embracing the Revelations and prophets of Judaism and Christianity, and calling their followers ‘People of the Scripture.’ “Say (Oh Muhammad) we believe in God, and that which is revealed unto us and that which is revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we surrender.” (Qur’an: 2: 136) This seems hard to believe today as the world resonates with explosive words and deeds committed by a number of individuals or groups who appoint themselves ‘representatives of Islam’. To add to the problem, spinning its version of ‘reality’, biased media-reporting has made it more difficult for cultures to see the positive in each other, let alone understand one another, thereby committing a grave disservice to humankind, and willful disrespect of their own populace. The second poem reflects the sadness and frustration of a Muslim woman who sees her sisters in certain ‘Islamic’ communities being denied the very rights Islam gave women more than 14 centuries ago. While the majority of Muslim women feel supported by the Islamic rights they do possess and seek repossession of what remains in the annals of history, we do find some who entrench themselves deeper into misogyny, accepting the denial of their rights in ‘the name of religion’!
The sun is rising over the hills
The sky a hazy hue Entranced I watch their brightening embrace Dear God, I love You!
When you're wrapped in sorrow, yet cannot cry
When you wish you could, but dare not try When you feel that you would rather die... Think of Heaven When you have no strength to push along When all around you has gone wrong When there's nothing to pin your hopes on Think of Heaven
For, though time does pace
Its passing, with grace In daytime, it prances, Whirls and dances Can't give you more Than furtive glances While at night, appeased And eager to please Increased are the chances Of catching it, alone To hold on to, and call Your own Till it struggles away With the break of day Passing you by A flash of color A butterfly As your hues, again, turn gray
Your love binds not, it sets me free
To wander in exploration Faith helps reveal the child in me Rising above mere vanities To holy levels of sensation Your love binds not, it sets me free To marvel at Your artistry Gaze in wonder at creation You help reveal the child in me And I touch all humanity Though different, we are one nation You help reveal the child in me
Whatever was dearest to the heart
Evaporates as does the dew Which comes with dawn When the light of Truth, The light of the sun Shines upon... It is gone... Truth has a brightness So sharp and strong All else is dimmed besides All else is insignificant, When shadowless it lies Diminished to true size
My heart with love for Thee doth beat a few
And miss a beat As mine eyes with tears do fill When I hear Thy name For since I came to Thee my life Hath been complete Thine was the spark of guidance That lit my flame
Oh Muslims by name
Who by conduct deny me You are at fault Your concept of faith Has no foundation In wisdom or revelation But there are others, Muslims who are true Who attack not their brethren As I've seen you do Who never treat enemies With injustice or oppression Who never sever or mutilate Or silence opposition Whose judgments aren't clouded by Hate These people bear my trait
“How is it today, that some seek to quell
Your spirit and stifle the thoughts in your head? In the folds of the faith they’re trying to sell Lie yokes of the ignorance we battled against! When cattle-like you wait to be fed Like cattle you will be led.” I wasn’t convincing in my defense, so she answered: “We were women who walked all walks of life We rode our horses to the farthest of lands We were doctors, preachers, warriors and wives Motherhood, in my time, did not tie our hands Our children were only part of our plans But your hands are tied together, fused Relinquishing your inherent rights Blinded by ignorance and abuse You are accustomed to your plight You find little value in seeking the light.” |
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About Arab Heart |
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The poetry in this section chronicles my emotional development as I face issues related to my identity as an Arab.
It is safe to say that these identity-related issues are shared amongst most Arabs of my generation, Muslim and Christian.
This is because personal growth is related to changes in the community, and each individual’s identity crisis is framed by contemporary crises of historical development.
We have all shared the traumatic historical developments that threaten to impair our judgment and destroy the essence of our ‘Arab hearts’.
That essence stems from the traditional generosity of the Arab spirit, embedded in self-confidence, exemplified by tolerance and an exceptional kindness to strangers.
I also hope that by poetic description I could help convey the general suffering of individuals immobilized or under occupation.
These are their voices.
Why ‘Arab’ Heart? To date, Terror has claimed many victims, most notable amongst them being Tolerance. And although generosity, kindness, and tolerance are universal virtues we all struggle to retain, the Arab heart today has a more difficult struggle than most. Arab hearts seem constantly undermined, wherever they are, in their efforts to retain pride in their identity. In the West they are stereotyped in a misinformation campaign, with the few discrediting examples that actually exist getting publicized as the norm. In their own communities, which are mostly authoritarian, Arab hearts are often sidelined, neither asked for their opinions nor allowed the freedom to dissent. Even the popular desire of Arabs to join peacefully together has been constantly thwarted. And to top it off, Middle-Eastern Arab countries have been impoverished for decades due to military expenditure on account of the never-ending Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab in me cries out against all these injustices. The American in me knows that we owe it to history to play a noble role today. The writer in me knows that I owe truthful reporting of how it feels to be an Arab. |
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Arab Heart, Crises, and Poetry
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Research in human development tells us that during the early years, cultural and historical change can be extremely traumatic to identity formation because it can break up the inner consistency of a child’s hierarchy of expectations.
I was an Arab youngster who had twice known the fear of war. I witnessed my next-door neighbors being picked up -body part by body part- from amongst the ruins of their shelled home. I saw the horrific human results of Israel’s use of outlawed napalm bombs. My heart, fated to reside in an Arab body, ached for those in whose place I could have been, and in doing so, was traumatized again and again. The cornerstone of identity is fidelity, or the ability to sustain loyalties of choice despite contradicting value systems, receiving confirmation from ideologies and companions (Erik H. Erikson, Identity, Youth, and Crisis). As a coping mechanism to deal with our constant diplomatic travel, being ‘uprooted’ every few years in the best sense of the word, I sought inner coherence in cultural awareness. I began to represent the Arab point of view in my writings. And here I must say, I consider myself very fortunate. Unlike many who suffer in silence or violence, I had found an emotional outlet whereby I could express outrage, fear, despair, and pain in a most profound yet peaceful manner: Poetry. Erikson has stated that, “fiction, even in acknowledging the depth of nothingness can contribute to something akin to a collective recovery. This… is a universal trend among the exploited… No wonder that in young people not inclined toward literary reflection, such deep-seated negative identities can be reabsorbed only by a turn to militancy, if not transient violence” (same reference, p.25). I fear that entire Arab communities today may be suffering pathological grief. This seems most obvious in the young or impoverished within communities who have lost their independence to foreign occupation or to autocratic rule. Signs of pathological grief are agitation, hostility, profound listlessness, insomnia, severe anxiety, depression, and possible suicide. Such persons are more likely to engage in self-destructive behavior. And I ask myself, “Shouldn’t we be helping these people recover? If they felt that we cared enough to voice their problems, wouldn’t we be in fact starting them on the route to revival?” |
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Arabs and Jews
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Arabs feel a historic kinship to the Biblical Children of Israel, the followers of Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, and often refer to them as ‘our cousins.’ We are both Semites in the full sense of the word (language and lineage), which is why the term Anti-Semitism seems so uninformed when directed against Arabs. The Arab Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had a Jewish wife, Safiya. Arabs and Jews shared common glories in the golden age of Islam, especially in Spain, and common agonies later during the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.
Middle-Eastern Conflict The Middle-Eastern conflict is a very complicated issue where the stakes and passions run high for all those concerned. It is impossible to understand what is really going on -unless we hear the voices of all the parties involved. But before we discuss what the Middle-Eastern conflict is, we must determine what it isn’t. The Middle-Eastern conflict is not between Arabs (Christian and Muslim) on one hand, and Judaism on the other. First, there is the ideological conflict between the majority of Arabs and Muslims on one hand, and Zionism, on the other. Zionism, a late 19th century ideology, formed the basis for the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine and is being used today by Israel to justify repression, apartheid, and occupation. Rabbi Yisroel D. Weiss of the ultra-Orthodox group Neturai Karta asserts that there has sometimes been a misconstruction of reality on the part of the media, expressed in phrases such as ‘Jewish-Arab’, or ‘Jewish-Palestinian’ conflict. “Jews and Judaism have no conflict with Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians or any other group,” he says, adding, “The immediate cause of the conflict is the vicious dispossession and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian people by Zionist military might.” (http://www.netureikarta.org). Second, and most pressing, is the conflict on the ground between indigenous Palestinian Arabs (Christian and Muslim) on one hand, and the modern State of Israel that has displaced them, on the other. Palestinian refugees registered at the United Nations today number 3.8 million; estimates suggest another 2 million so far unregistered. Israel has also displaced populations from neighboring Arab countries in its drive for expansion. United Nations’ efforts to curb Israel went unheeded; by 1998, Israel had persistently defied 69 U.N. Security Council resolutions brought against it, while standing protected by the U. S. veto from 29 others. Reports from the ‘Foundation for Middle East Peace’ state that illegal occupation and demolition of Palestinian homes and livelihoods took place while Israel, in defiance of international law and U.N. resolutions, continued to bring in Israeli Settlers; into the West Bank and Gaza strip: 213,672 Settlers, into East Jerusalem 170,400 Settlers (http://www.fmep.org/). In contrast, Jerusalem’s indigenous Christian population numbering 30,000 in 1948, had fallen to 2,000 by the mid-1990’s. Said former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker on May 22, 1991: “Every time I have gone to Israel in connection with the peace process on each of my trips I have been met with the announcement of new settlement activity. This does violate United States policy. I don't think there is any greater obstacle to peace than settlement activity that continues not only unabated but at an advanced pace” (Foundation for Middle East Peace: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories; A Special Report, March 2002). Despite consistent violations of international law regarding issues ranging from to torture , to extra-territorial and extra-judicial executions, to disproportionate use of military force against civilians, to continued building of illegal settlements , to forced expulsion of indigenous populations, to prevention of humanitarian aid from reaching besieged populations, to illegal claim of land, to illegal demolition of homes, roads and uprooting of orchards, to numerous documented massacres since its inception, to blocking of worshippers from mosques and churches, to unwarranted detainment or injury of reporters, to imprisonment of American citizens of Arab origin, despite all that and more, international sanctions have never been brought against Israel. |
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Jews, Zionism, and Israel
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A once common misconception among most unexposed communities was that all modern-day Jews are Zionists who support Israel unconditionally. Fortunately this impression is changing now as more Jews speak out in defense of their moral values or their religion.
A larger number of Jews believe that Zionism was the appropriate response to the oppression that led up to and culminated in the Holocaust, yet they are increasingly critical of the policies and behavior of the Israeli State. A growing number of them today believe that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza are totally unjustified, while some have said that the developments since the first Palestinian Intifada (1987) have led them so far as to morally question Israel’s early expulsion of Palestinians in 1948. Some Jews consider Zionism to be diametrically opposed to Judaism because it seeks to define the Jewish people as a nationalistic entity. Among them are the Ultra-orthodox Jews who believe that the existence of the State of Israel is a violation of God's will, and they openly call for an end to the Jewish state. (http://www.netureikarta.org). Many Jews do not agree. Yet the majority of Jews in Israel today, despite believing their government to be justified to a certain extent in ‘punishing’ Palestinians for killing Israelis, yearn for peace. The number of soldiers refusing to cross the line of duty into illegal ‘warfare’ are already above 400. A few brave Israelis, peace-activists, human rights groups, journalists, professors, lawyers, and retired military personnel, try to influence their government by informing the Israeli public and the world of the human results of Israel’s military repression of Palestinians (see ‘Israeli Hearts speak out’). The voice of truth is needed to open unobstructed channels of communication. With communication comes understanding, and hopefully, reconciliation. With reconciliation comes peace, leading to the ultimate aim, security. Perhaps the first step is the most difficult. |
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| Arabs and America | ||||||
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There have often been differences of opinion between U.S. policy-makers and the Arab world with regard to the Middle-Eastern conflict, but possibly never as evident to the public as they are today. Unfortunately, the common Arab mistakenly believes that insensitive American politics regarding the Arab world reflect the will of all the American people. We know this isn’t true, especially since most Americans don’t follow world issues, delegating foreign politics to those who understand them. Sadly, those of us who notice the subtle changes in the Middle East realize that U.S. foreign policy today seems to have been working more to Israel’s benefit than to America’s own. The common person in America also misunderstands the Arab people, who are as diverse in color, religion, local dialect, cuisine, and customs, as the many countries that comprise the Arab world, spread within two continents. But Arabs are united by history and language, with common goals. Arab Hearts traditionally pride themselves on being unprejudiced. White, Black, Asian featured, regardless of religion or sect; they have always been equals. One of the highest Arab virtues, praised in literature since olden times is ‘Hilm’, or forbearance. Yet today we see in certain parts, signs of a growing radicalism until recently quite rare among Arabs, compared to others. Studies have shown that political and economic situations are largely to blame. Radicalism emerges when there is despair in finding solutions through conventional channels. What could the ordinary person do to prevent radicalism? Besides trying to make the conventional channels more receptive to change, maybe if each side showed renewed tolerance towards the other, extremists would not feel reinforced and legitimized. The issue of tolerance is probably what parents and teachers here and in the Arab world should address in an effort to mend the feelings of resentment felt on both sides resulting from 9/11 and from America’s seemingly biased policy with regard to much of the Arab world. Hopefully, while this whole issue is being effectively addressed by decision-makers, the population at large on both sides could come together to rebuild the bridges of understanding, not only between cultures, but also between peoples and their governments. There are those whose advice governments must take advantage of, well-informed moderates who have no vested interests except in helping to bring an end to suffering and allow peace a chance to survive. In the Arab world such people are speaking out, often at high risk. Yet the Arab world in general knows well what it would take to achieve peace. There must be a restoration of internationally recognized human rights to the Palestinians. International voices worldwide agree. There will always be hope as long as we have our well-informed American Hearts, moderates who assert that there is no contradiction between supporting Israel and supporting Palestine, simply because Israel’s security and Palestinian rights are not mutually exclusive, but are mutually dependent on each other. It is hoped that such people continue speak out. In conclusion we may find that one thing is certain, if the world is to live in peace and harmony, we are all dependent on each other. |
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Heartfelt Acknowledgments |
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My heart is, first and foremost, grateful to those who are helping the world draw the distinction between populations and the policies of their governments, or between populations and the policies of certain persons or groups. I am grateful to the voices in America, Israel, and Europe who, often at great personal risk, help the world listen to the muted instruments in the symphony of pain emanating from the land that is holy to all three of the great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (http://gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html) |
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Disclaimer
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The poetry in ‘Arab Heart' is an outpouring of sentiment relative to the time, circumstance, and emotional state in which each was written. Generated by specific incidents, the emotions I felt at these precise moments mirrored what was felt by many Arabs of my generation and are therefore presented in light of their informative value. At no time may any of my words, verses, or poems be used to provoke violence, prejudice, racial or otherwise.
I hope to provoke thought and understanding by voicing human suffering. |
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