Israel and Gaza War: "A Prayer for Gaza": A poem by Dr. Rafey Habib

A Prayer for Gaza
Dr. Rafey Habib

I am Gaza.
I am the poem of Gaza.
The world does not see me:
A world which does
Nothing.

I ask you now, you launchers of rockets:
Lay down your arms, your useless arms:
See what they have brought us:

They rain down terror from the air;
They burn our childrens faces;
They turn our schools to rubble;
They churn our homes to dust.
And the world does nothing.

And I beg you now, you launchers of rockets,
Lay down your arms: what have they achieved in
Fifty years? What will the next fifty
Bring?

The powers we face are incalculable. We
Cannot win by arms. We cannot even
Win with words; the powers we face
Are endless in resource; they control
What is known and what is not known.
They control the world of words.

They control a world
Which does nothing.

You launchers of rockets, lay down your arms,
You surely know:
They will answer your terror with their terror:
They will take more lives in ten days
Than you can take in ten years.
They will blacken your skies.
They will never dare
To face you on equal terms:

They will rain down terror from the air;
They will burn our childrens faces;
They will turn our schools to rubble;
They will churn our homes to dust.
And the world will do nothing.

Lay down your guns, your useless rockets:
Or they will take more
And more of our land. They
Will not be merciful: their soldiers laugh as
Our women are killed; their settlers taunt
Our children who thirst in endless queues.
And the world will do nothing.

Lay down your guns, your useless rockets.
They will not be merciful; so you must
Show mercy. I do not ask you to forget:
The suffering still bleeding our people. I ask you
To think of your children.

Let us sit down with our enemy.
Talk with him as though he were a friend.
(One day we must remember: the Jews are
Our brothers, descended
Like us from the same father Abraham.
The good Jews of the world are friends, no
Matter what is done in their name; one
Day we must live with them as friends):
Let our enemy know that we will not
Strike again. Though his weapons are
Fearsome, he himself is full of fear;
Though his arms are strong, he is weak.
He has a nuclear power beyond our
Dreams, but still he lives in fear.
He needs to know.

He has imprisoned us
Imprisoned himself
Within a wall: the symbol of his fear.
He needs to know.

Let us use a courage higher than your rockets,
Stronger than his tanks:
Let us tear down this wall; and all walls between us.
Let us sit down, and talk. Let us be grateful to be
Granted a little: it is more, much more, than
We had before. And let us spread
This message through our people: no more
Violence, no more talk of wiping out
The enemy. It is not just violent acts which bring
His retribution, but violent words.
Let him know that he is safe.
The greatest courage is to know
One day we must live as friends.


I am Gaza, the poem of Gaza.
I am Muslim, Christian, Palestinian, and Jew.
I am you.
Give the worlds eyes a chance to see:
To see who we really are.
To see the truth.

A world which must no longer
Do nothing.

Filmed by: Chris Barrett
Special Thanks: Elizabeth Licorish

From Wikipedia:
On 27 December, 2008, Israeli F-16 strike fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza. Struck were militant bases, a mosque, various Hamas government buildings, a science building in the Islamic University, and a U.N.-operated elementary school in a Palestinian refugee camp[62] in the Gaza Strip. Some strikes against Hamas have resulted in civilian casualties. The attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008, and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas had expired in December, 2008. UN and Palestinian medical staff said at least 434 Palestinians were killed, and at least 2,800 wounded, including Hamas militants and civilians, in the first five days of Israeli strikes on Gaza. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza strip on 3 January, 2009.[63] Israel has rejected diplomatic initiatives for a negotiated cease-fire.[64]

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[samael1981]

Dr. Rafey Habib. You want to talk? Let's talk.

[chrisbarrett]

Please send me a message with your email address and I will forward it to Dr. Habib.

[gustavthinks]

It seems that, indeed, lies if told enough times, become even more convincing than truth itself. It is easy to feel empathy towards the wrong side, when you are constantly being bombarded through the mass media, with horror images and heart breaking stories of civilian sufferers. War is, indeed a horrible thing that causes many innocent people immeasurable pain and sorrow.

[chrisbarrett]

Dear Gustavthinks: (1) Exactly WHICH lies in the media are you referring to? (2) Are you suggesting that my poem states untruths or events that have not already happened? If so, exactly which?

Please answer carefully: the world can see what you are doing - with or without the media's help. Rafey Habib.

[hadiaahmadzai]

@mikejackson4ever you are out of it! How did they bring it on themselves? Did they go knocking on the doors on every Zionist and say hey why don't you bomb us?!!?!?

[rb304288]

Habib writes all his own poems, recites them, and delivers them to you unless otherwise stated in the title.

[rb304288]

Dr. Rafey Habib, is not only an excellent professor/mentor (believe me I took 4 of his courses at Rutgers University -- among them Islamic Literature) but his poems are poignant and thoughtful as well. Furthermore, they present readers / listeners with the gritty, unadulterated truth of the conflict in the Middle East. Any militant Muslim or Zealot Israeli who blindly attacks the short, karate loving, goofy genius is ignorant to the purpose of his mission. Long live Habib and his Hababies!

[mikejackson4ever]

Fuck Gaza. Radical Islamic pricks brought it on them.

[samael1981]

I am Jewish, have family in Israel, and I wish there was a way I could contact Dr. Habib and engage him. What good would that do?  I believe there is a powerful opportunity to form a consensus between two sides and start a powerful and effective movement in the right direction to end the conflict. Mr. Habib is the type of Muslim I would be honored to live with and among.

[chrisbotron]

I am Amercian. I agree with you that my country has a glaring double standard. When Isreal attacks the innocent, our politicians and, more shamefully, much of our population do everything to justify Isreal's actions, and yet we vilify Palestine for committing the same atrocities on a smaller scale. However, you are 100% misinformed about our Constitution. There is nothing in the US constitution about anti-semitism or anything related to this issue.

[chrisbotron]

Very needed poem. I hope the US can offer some help in mediation although, because of its own biases, it is shamefully a long way from being able to do so.

[harry19817]

i like the poem a little,

but do not agree with your message

much love to whoerer wrote the poem