destabilising taboos

I pinch him in the buttocks
he sticks out his tongue
I nod, bow, back out
smiling
winking
I offer him white
he´s dressed in black
we shake hands
I hold his gaze
oh, charming!
Anti-spitting, no littering
flushing of the toilets a must!
he fondles my breast
i try to kiss him - he resists
you must not! - he insists
we walk holding hands
Thank you, nice to meet you
Likewise...

Facing North

Beside me, he sits
waiting, like me
We sit, waiting
For how long?
As long as it takes
For what? Nothing, Everything
A chance, a maybe
We both sit on the outside
looking in
At what?
Everything, nothing
the void sucks you in
churns you up
ushers you out
we continue to wait
...for something

How do you move on?

...cómo podía un ser humano sobrevivir a esto? ser marido, padre, tío, amigo y, una hora después, en lo que se tarda en dar un paseo a la luz de la luna, no ser ya nada. Nadie. Un amasijo de dolor. Un nudo de remordimiento y amargura. Solo. Impotente. Tener remordimientos por estar vivo. No tener valor para enterrar a los suyos. Ni para matarse. Dar vueltas en redondo, darse con la cabeza contra las palabras, contra las paredes. Clavarse las uñas en las mejillas, arañarse la cara. Irse frente al mar y llorar. Deambular por la arena húmeda, aullar y escupir a la faz del cielo. correr, andar, reptar días y noches. Derrumbarse de cansancio. hundirse como un náufrago en un letargo apaciguador pero precario. Despertar sollozando porque los ojos color avellana de un niño de cabellos ensortijados perforan las tinieblas de la noche aprovechando un sueño pronto disipado... (Les cannibales, Mahi Binebine)

Juan Goytisolo gives a commentary on the Gaza crisis in the El País newspaper:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/Ver/imaginar/sentir/dolor/ajeno/elpepuopi/20090113elpepiopi_12/Tes

How many more must die?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59zbDWaixjQ&feature=channel_page

This video is harrowing. Prepare yourself. How can the world stand by and allow this to happen once more? How many more must die before those in power demand a ceasefire? Why are innocent people being punished this way? Why has Israel intensified its attacks after 17 days of war. If the reports are true and the testimonies are correct, there have been violations of all kinds - war crimes, crimes against humanity, breach of the Geneva Convention and International law, use of prohibited weapons.. I no longer know what these all mean.. they´ve lost their meaning.. or is the meaning relative? Has Israel forgotten its recent past in the 20th century, when they were also victims?
We watch helplessly as the killing, massacre, genocide - call it what u like - continues and heightens. It´s already 17 days, there are already more than 900 dead, 900!!!! Israel is preventing aid and humanitarian personnel from attending to the injured and dead if we are to believe the sources.. what was the cause for bombing a home in which they gathered a family? How can we be so cruel to our fellow human beings?
We look on helplessly and ask - how many more must die? Meanwhile, the hypocrites we have as leaders continue to spew senseless propaganda and find a scapegoat in Hamas. The dead will soon reach 1,000 and we will stop reading the stories on Gaza. This is how it goes.

This is a comment I shared with a few close friends last night after watching a 16 year old survivor recount the loss of his entire family in a house. His tears and pain were too much, a small reflection of the suffering and damage done during war.
Hamas spokesmen made it clear that these attacks will not stop the launch of rockets.. is the problem Hamas? Israel and by extension the international community, do not want to negotiate with Hamas - they claim it will only embolden the terrorist, illegitimate group! Hence, the lack of consultation with this group by the UN Security Council. Hamas claims they were not alluded to. They do not reject a ceasefire but are willing to talk in order to stop the bombings.. so why is Israel intensifying its attacks - do they just want to flex their muscle and show the world their might and right?
How can we read in the reports that Hamas and Israel reject a ceasefire when NO ONE is consulting Hamas and the international community continues to support Israel´s attacks and condemn Hamas for its "unforgivable" actions, if we are to quote Sarkozy?? In this war, there are many sides.. regardless of our own opinions, regardless of our faith, nationality, etc. we cannot sit by and allow the numbers of Palestinians to grow. it´s now close to 900. If this isn´t a reflection of the sheer brutal force of these attacks which must stop, then what is?
We are all Palestinians...Todos somos palestinos - this was one of the shouts heard in the Madrid protest this weekend in support of Palestine.

Who knows what?

Out of Blair´s mouth - knowing beforehand about the Israeli attack on Gaza is beside the point. of course, he denies knowledge of these attacks but also adds that it wasn´t hard to predict.
What´s the problem in arriving at a ceasefire? Well, Hamas, you idiots! Palestine must unite and THEY are pursuing a TWO state solution. Where will Hamas fit into these NEGOTIATIONS? Well how can you talk to a TERRORIST group who wants to eliminate the state of Israel? And here we go around again in circles.. Why the hell hasn´t there been a ceasefire? WHY?!! I ask myself.. Soon the death toll will mean absolutely nothing to us! We´ll see it rise, rise, rising and our rage will be slowly converted into indifference. Meanwhile, today, a special day for Muslims, Gazans defied attacks and came out in their numbers to pray, their faith stoic! Thousands across the world also showed their anger: Malaysia, Indonesia, Amman, where the majority of citizens are Palestinians, Turkey... and i´m certain this feeling of injustice has stirred many others to come out and show thier support for the weak and suffering.. How much longer? How long do we have to wait to get some decisive action from those manipulators in authority??

and why did we hold out hope that a UN Security Resolution would bring about a ceasefire? When past resolutions have been disdained and ignored?! 14 days of bombings with a weak response from Hamas in return. We see violations of the Geneva conventions, of International Law. Israel claims it has its own morality to uphold!How much longer, we ask? How many more will die and what will it all mean? How will this war be remembered? How will the world see Israel? nothing seems to make sense anymore, nothing seems to be real...

Where to place blame?

Breathe, breathe... sitting in the warmth of my room, satisfied after a hot meal...
I try to make sense of what´s going on in this WAR.. WAR? It´s a DEFENSIVE attack by Israel to protect its citizens from TERRORISM. Scenes of the 2000? Intifada come to mind - stones, stones against Merkava (God´s Chariot) tanks, one of the most developped in the world.
I´ve just listened to a comment by Dennis Kucinich on the arms export control act and the specific prohibitions of the use of these export weapons.. i hear the same arguments from both sides - who is to blame, disproportionate use of force, occupying power, right to defend its territory, Hamas willingly exposing the Gazans to fire and attacks by fabricating and using their rockets in heavily populated areas.. who is to blame, who is the guilty one, who are the victims... while the death toll has risen to about 700! Figures, oh, there are many... 14 dead from Hamas attacks in 7 years, thousands of Palestinians from Israeli attacks.. how many more must die before all this senseless killing must stop?
Who broke the ceasefire? I heard it was Israel when they bombed tunnels that were supposedly being dug into Israeli territory on November 4th. We heard it was Hamas who refused to renew the ceasefire after it expired...
and where does International Law come into play in all this? What about the many resolutions passed condemning Israeli actions... Will Israel be accounted for its actions?

Ehud Barack - what´s he got to win in the war on Gaza

I cite from the Economist article entitled "Pummelling the Palestinians" which looks at how this war in Gaza can perhaps drastically configure the election outcome in February.
Some interesting data:
in the past year, it notes, "before the latest onslaught, 420-plus Gazans had been killed in Israeli raids, at least a fifth civilian, according to B´Tselem, an Israeli human-rights lobby."
it goes on to add that in the first four days of "Operation Cast Lead", four Israelis were killed by Palestinian rockets, bringing the total number of Israeli civilian deaths at the hands of Hamas in 2008 to five.
Another piece of info I found revealing: more than half of Gazans (1,5 million) are refugees or their descendants.
The article also draws a parallel to the attack on Hizbullah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Did their attack weaken Hizbullah? I guess Israel has learned its lesson in this month long war and has therefore prevented international journalists into the Strip?
Which party stands to gain most from the attacks in Gaza? The article notes that if Hamas does stop firing rockets, Mr Barak´s standing could rise although he and his Labour Party are "trailing well behind the foreign minister Tzipi Livni and her Kadima party".. this is how the article ends: "If Hamas´ rockets are silenced, albeit for a while, Israel´s voters may warm to those harsh qualities (meaning Barak´s campaign of declaring himself "not nice, not cuddly, not trendy").
Once more, this brings to mind the idea that war is politics by other means.
(The Economist, Jan 3rd, 2009)

Caín y Abel

A dead Israeli soldier, named Israel, recounts how he lost his life in the Lebanon War, taken from the novel "En las puertas de Tánger" by Mois Benarroch. They´ve just killed an Arab soldier who couldn´t come out from the house and surrender, because he was trapped: "Miré su cuerpo deshecho y tenía la misma altura que yo, el mismo pelo, y tal vez hasta una cara parecida. y en ese momento supe, supe que yo también iba a morir, me di cuenta de que la guerra no tenía sentido, no sé cuántos de nosotros sentimos lo mismo"..
The day he died - in the Tyr attack, he notes: "ese día sentí que ese soldado encerrado en esa casa, ese soldado llorando por su vida y por su muerte, ese soldado soy yo, pensé que no podemos ser enemigos y que la única razón por la que nos matamos es a causa de dirigentes que nos han manipulado, pero en ese momento, el soldado que habíamos matado, ese soldado era mi hermano, era mi hermano, él era Abel y nosotros Caín, éramos hermanos, humanos, miembros del mismo pueblo que es la humanidad..."

Benevolent, Moral Israel

The world looking on at this horror should feel relieved at Israel´s benevolence - three hours of respite starting from today to allow aid to pass through to the people of Gaza!! This, added to their insistence that compared to other countries defending their borders, they´ve reduced civilian deaths and are specifically targetting Hamas!! Nevermind the latest figures from their 11 day offensive - 650 dead and about 3,000! wounded. Yesterday alone - January 6th, 80 people died. They have targetted people in UN schools - were there rockets there?
Where are the leaders, the Security Council, the Arab world - Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia?? Turkish PM has done well to condemn the Israeli attacks as crimes against humanity! How many more will die before a ceasefire is declared? Israel says it wants to weaken Hamas and so, prevent the firing of more rockets. With the blockade of more than 18 months, even during the time of a truce, and the growing number of losses, will Palestinians resign themselves to this injustice?

Ante la ocultación de Washington, la insuficiencia de la UE y la forzada parsimonia del Consejo de Seguridad, más la patética carencia de voluntad de acción internacional del mundo árabe, sólo Israel puede parar a Israel, ante el espanto de la opinión pública mundial; y sólo Hamás puede convencerse de que su acción es suicida, además de criminal. El mundo mira y se estremece, los actores matan y, sobre todo, en la parte palestina, mueren. (Editorial: Morir en Gaza, El País, 06-01-09)

That thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers, Emily Dickinson had wrote. But that thing has been plucked alive, its wings mutilated but it still breathes, a heavy, heaving breath.
it´s eyes pour out blood which flows and mixes with the sorrow.
Sorrow is everywhere. Cries, shouts, hands raised to the sky
That thing with feathers is weeping because its wings have been cut.
it´s imprisonned and spins round in circles, muddied, covered in dust, oozing pain and hate
That thing with feathers will fly again
it will soar through the sky
it will trod through the tunnels
it will be free