A Night in Palestine

Dedicated to all civilians lost from both sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

She crouches on the ground,

Her eyes shut tight,

The screams don’t stop

At all that night.

-

The bodies make her gag

And hold her breath,

But there is no escaping

From the whisper of death.

-

One by one, they blast

And they kill,

She tries to hide

By holding still.

-

But a man in uniform

Sees her struggling to breath,

And raises his gun,

His eyes – as cold as steel.

-

I’m not one of them,

She screams at the soldier,

He shoots a bullet

Deep into her shoulder.

-

The pain makes her scream,

But no one hears,

It buries deep in her,

Blood mingles with tears.

-

Another bullet follows,

And she gasps with the pain,

La ilaha illal allahu,

She chants in her brain.

-

Her body lies limp,

As she closes her eyes,

Muhammad urasoolal allah,

She says as she dies.

* La ilaha illal allahu Muhammad urasoolal allah is the Islamic belief / Shahadah meaning ‘There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.’ It is usually read when a baby is born, a person converts to Islam or when a Muslim is about to die.