1. In this new year,
may justice rain down like
fish.
- Could also be a metaphor for activism…
2. In this new year,
may we find reason to laugh
a little more.
- Palestinian farmers and Israeli volunteers stuck in the rain near Burin
3. In this new year,
may the Holot “Open Detention Center”
truly be closed and stay closed. Amen.
- On the train to Beersheva, I ran into Mutasim Ali. I was on my way to give a talk. He was on his way to jail in Holot. His optimism filled the whole train car and then went out into the air and the world and made it a little better.
4. In this new year,
may the siege on Gaza
be ended.
- Destruction in Gaza. Photo: Iyad al Baba/Oxfam
5. In this new year,
may we be more compassionate
toward ourselves and each other and even especially
toward those who can’t
compassionate us
- A young American boy and who I assumed was his mother scream obscenities at an anti-war protest in downtown Tel Aviv this summer
6. In this new year,
may we refuse to do what is wrong,
and seek to do what is right
together and pray-up the mountains
and laugh-fill the valleys
- Young Diaspora Jews pray Minha, the afternoon prayer, while stopped at a checkpoint on their way back from a visit to a nearby Palestinian village
7. In this new year,
may we make less money than we want
and give away more than we can
and feel like we own nothing
except for care for each other
(this side was made for you and me)
- We started giving to Leket Israel this year. Check ’em out.
8. In this new year,
may the crazy shatter
our little hearts into so many pieces
then each little piece will call in a small hum
stop and we will stop we will stop oh lord
we will stop
- A man stands next to what remains of his house in the Bedouin village of Jabal al-Baba in the West Bank. Recently, Amira Hass reported on plans to forcibly transfer up to 12,500 Bedouins living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
9. In this new year,
may the occupation be as strong
as the puffseeds of a crazed metal
dandelion may we jerk awake from cruelty
like from a bad dream gasping oh lord
we will stop and listen to the people
who know of what they speak
and do
- Brothers Issa and Ahmed Amro, nonviolent activists and organizers, stand outside of their community center in occupied Hebron.
10. In this new year,
may men be decent-er toward women
and try to remember to speak less loudly and less
in public and in general
- Me included
11. In this new year,
may we learn from our elders
and youngers
- A woman who I recognized from Women in Black stands at a demonstration with two signs that read: “Bury the rifles and not the children” and “Topple the government! Social justice and equality. Refugees, Jews, Arabs.”
12. In this new year,
may we get to just sit down and be near the families
we’re given and/or those we choose
more time and more
- My best friend and me, surrounded by love and family
13. In this new year,
may we repeat ourselves
- Ah!
14. In this new year,
may poems pluck and plonk
at our heartguts: harply music
that can make us deny and fear
death less and love life
more therein resulting uh huh
- And as you think of distant others/think of yourself and say/“I wish I were a candle in the darkness.” -Mahmoud Darwish, Think of Others.
15. In this new year,
may people
and their children
who are the most people among us
be free
- Kids at the beach
16. In this new year,
this one this one this one
may we beat our swords into ploughshares
our bombs into
sphygmomanometers
- Refusenik Omar Saad preparing to go to jail, choosing his viola over a rifle.
17. In this new year,
may peace
- Summer 2014
The Leftern Wall 