Last week, the entire village of Susiya, located in the South Hebron Hills, received demolition orders. I wrote this piece as a small sliver of protest.
Susiya
is screaming softly
through small shards of sharp stones
and little puddles of water that crawl
out of broken wells chanting let us
exist let us exist chanting let us exist
and then evaporate into sunlight
can’t you hear the mumble of bulldozers
mouths full of houses and canvas and
dignity can’t you hear them
can’t you see we have archeology
as proof of our history
you Arabs are squatters Ishmaelites
intruders invaders
get out
Susiya
is silently signing a song
of history a song of village that remembers
a village that remember a village that remembers
a village that was will history remember this village
through its gasping or will it be recorded as dust
let us stop speaking poetics
and talk of what is
my government
which claims to have something to do with Judaism
which as far as I know has something to do with loving
the stranger something to do with having been strangers
something do with the strangeness of love
my government has laid plans
for Susiya to be
demolished
not one home
not five homes
all of the homes
my government
you have forgotten the dictate of loving the stranger
you have forgotten the dictators who treated you as a stranger
when I stand in Susiya you will tell me that I am a traitor
but my government you are misguided
lovers of my government you are misguided
supporters of my government you are misguided
Susiya
is a Palestinian village
but it is far more Jewish than your lawless law
it is far more Jewish than your cocked and ready rifles
it is far more Jewish
than you are
The Leftern Wall 