Salam, I write from Sydney, a young Palestinian Australian girl who lives safely at home, unlike many others who are in Palestine. As a Palestinian in Australia, I can only write so much about the pain and stress we undergo as my family in Palestine endures. As Muslims, we have a duty to use our voice; one which many others do not have. And so I wrote the following piece below. I believe it captures such an important universal experience that is not uncommon in the Palestinian community but not commonly spoken enough about. The poem “Pick up the phone” is as reads below:
Ring ring
No answer on the other side
My mother’s tear fell into an ocean that has been collecting for 75 years as her brother didn’t answer
“Electricity was cut off” my uncle called back; nothing new
Bombshells clash
“What do you say to the children for whom the Red Sea does not part?”
Ring ring
No answer on the other side
“9/11 all over again they say”
Nothing can dampen the light of Palestinian pride
Cameras flashing, bombs crashing; nothing new
Ring ring
The golden sun scorches
Another day on the occupied land
7/10/23
“O my people! Enter the holy land which God has decreed for you” (5:21)
Ring ring
The news stations pick up the wrong phone
The phone of fibs and lies
Misinformation; an infectious disease, the plague “all over again”
And now my tears fall as my people stay as close as a phone call away
As far as the other side of the world
The people you take away from me
The land you take away from them
What do you say to my cousin who cannot sleep at night?
What do you say to my grandmother who’s keys no longer have a lock to?
What do you say to my uncle who is fearful if he will return from work tonight?
And so then “what do you say to the children who the Red Sea does not part?”
When is it time to pick up the right phone?
Only then maybe you’ll hear the screams and cries
The ones suffering from genocide
Or others from apartheid?
You’re still thinking??
Let the Palestinian girl tell you
Now is the right time
For so long as Palestine is occupied
Resistance is justified.
– Lujane Elwan
such an amazing piece of text that expresses the deep destress of Palestinians ever since the Nakba. I LOVE IT 😍
distress*
such a meaningful poem beautifully written!😍 May Allah swt ease the suffering of the Palestinian people 🤲🏼
I love this!! Really speaks volumes about the current reality in Palestine
Amazing piece of writing!
I never knew the extent of the Palestinian struggle. This poem really reflects the struggles that the Palestinians are going through and the devastating effect it has on the Palestinian families who sit in their safe countries . Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem. I wish to see more from this author.
I love this Poem so much, it perfectly explains the Media and how they choose to pick up the wrong phone that sides with the wrong side of history. WELL DONE!!! MASHALLAH