To Palestine: An Apology

It’s been 60 years
And I am sorry for your loss
I am sorry for your continued loss
I am sorry for the sorrow
I am sorry for the grief
I am sorry for the bloodshed
I am sorry for the apathy
I am sorry for the indifference
I am sorry for the sympathy
I am sorry for the empathy
I am sorry for the funerals
I am sorry for the casualties
I am sorry for the politics
I am sorry for the history
I am sorry for the ongoing history
I am sorry for the injustice
I am sorry for the ongoing injustice
I am sorry for the past
I am sorry for the present
I am sorry for the future
I am sorry for the massacres
I am sorry for the darkness
I am sorry for the seconds
I am sorry for the minutes
I am sorry for the hours
I am sorry for the days
I am sorry for the weeks
I am sorry for the months
I am sorry for the years
I am sorry for the time we remained silent
I am sorry for the time we will continue to remain silent
I am sorry for not speaking enough
I am sorry for not saying enough
I am sorry for not caring enough
I am sorry for not writing enough
I am sorry for not acting enough
I am sorry for not saying sorry enough
I am sorry for the heart ache
I am sorry for the tragedies
I am sorry for this legacy
I am sorry for this exodus
I am sorry for this catastrophe
I am sorry for this calamity
I am sorry for this apology
And all other apologies
That seem to never
ever
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
.

27 Comments

  • Why, since Arabs don’t display the pity they claim for themselves towards others, do they merit consideration for this mewling?

    When Arabs are sorry for

    the peoples they displaced,
    the lives Arabs have destroyed,
    the wives Arabs have forcibly taken,
    the sorrows Arabs have created,
    the seeds of hatred Arabs have planted,
    the lies in the name of religion Arabs have advocated,
    the lies in the name of theft Arabs have propagated,
    the massacres of the innocent Arabs have committed,
    the massacres of the innocent that Arabs have compelled others to commit in self-defense,
    the history of peoples abused, robbed, and raped by their fathers that Arabs celebrate to this day,
    their abuse of those who provide Arabs with charity, wealth, health, and education,
    the cheap value they hold for the lives of their fellow Arab brothers and sisters when they manipulate them for their own ends,

    then the plea of the Arabs for greater pity and understanding will be heard in my ears.

    Why should their plea be heard by yours?

  • Are you sorry about the Palestinians from Gaza yesterday firing a Grad/Katyusha) which hit the Kupat Cholim (medical clinic) (building within Ashkleon mall wounding all those Israeli babies there.I would to hear your feedback Nas.

    What’s going to happen when the Palestinians start firing their Grads from Baqa’a directed at Amman?What will be your and King Abdullah’s response then mate?

  • A.,

    What’s going to happen when the Palestinians start firing their Grads from Baqa’a directed at Amman?What will be your and King Abdullah’s response then mate?

    Are you on crack?!

  • Iman,let me educate you mate…. obviously the history syllabus in Jordanian high schools skipped out the episode when the Palestinians fought King Hussein in 1970/1971 in Amman and other cities in Jordan,with thousand been killed.

    Guys …. those who live in Amman….better protect yourselves from what might come in the future from the Palestinian area of Baqa’a .It’s not far in distance .

  • Guys …. those who live in Amman….better protect yourselves from what might come in the future from the Palestinian area of Baqa’a .It’s not far in distance .

    umm. o k.

  • I am sorry for the people who are bombarded by fictitious propaganda and accept it as true…
    I am sorry because they haven’t read enough history books
    I am sorry because they persist to propagate views that don’t hold against fact
    I am sorry because they fail to see their own naivety

    … so I am sorry, and full of pity, for solomon2 and A. ….
    But most of all, I am sorry there are so many like them still out there in the world…

  • with all the sorrow we share for the loss of Palestine and the ongoing tragedies.. we rise as guardians of the memories and will go strong for another 100 years. If not at our time, it will be on the grandchildren time or theirs time when Palestine will fruit again as the kananite arab land it once was.

    for the asses up there, thanks for informing us about the 70s war. WE HAD NO IDEA!

    Amman has many Palestinian population if you want to add to your fact book, and Palestinians would have never come that long without the continued endless support of the Jordanians.

    If you are in Palestine currently, know that you have a share in all inhumanity carried against Palestinians and many many other arabs directly or indirectly, if you are somewhere else, know that by such an attitude you contribute to ignnorance which strikes harshly among your own set of principles carried out as one civilized nation in this world.

    If you would like to go to non baised history books, you would find alot of non arabs mentioning the virtues of arabs at time of their prime.

  • Solomon,

    Can you say what country you are from? because I am almost positive that your country at some point in the past or present:

    Displaces or displaced people (Think Israel)
    Destroying or Destroyed lives (Think WWI, WWII, Israel)
    Forcibly took wives (Think Henry the 8th, England)
    Advocating or Advocated lies in the name or religion (Think Europe and Catholic Church, Think Israel)
    Committing or Committed massacres (Think serbia, Think Napoleon, Think Rowanda, Think Israel sabra and shatella)
    Celebrating or Celebrated history of people abused, robbed, raped by their fathers (Think USA-Native Americans)
    Held cheap value for the lives of their brothers and sisters for the sake of their own ends (think universal Black-White sentiment, Think USA-KKK)

    It’s a big, big world out there. Acts of evil can never be justified. Be aware not to fall in the trap of generalization, especially when it comes to people and races of an established long history of ups and downs.

    you SHOULD NOT hold your pity for suffering people, simply because ‘some’ of the people suffering have no pity for themselves. what you say is ridiculous.

    you SHOULD hear the plea of palestinians, loud in your ears, because thats our responsibility for being the world’s citizens of today. You and me, can stop the suffering of palestinians, because we can, its the present.

  • Thanks for a nice post… I am sorry too. I just came back from al hanouneh’s guardians of the memory…. was great to reconnect with the palestinian culture.

  • Naseem, this is an amazing piece! i join your voice and apologize to Palestine for us failing it over and over… let’s hope for a brighter future one day, inshalla …

  • I’m just sorry the Palestinians and other Arabs cannot accept that, irrespective of whose historical outlook is ultimately correct, there will never be a major return of Palestinians to pre-1967 Israel. Therefore, Palestinians can neither reach a final compromise with the Israelis or move on with creating a better existence for their heirs.

  • The most wounded bit in me is Palestine.I admire your flow of sincere words .I am so silent and in pain…a broken Arabic state of mind…

    Optimism is what I preach but when the Palestinian wound aches I know it is deep..
    The Palestinians inside and in the diaspora deserve a better leadership..deserve a better reality .How self responsible can we become when it hurts so much…

    To heal takes more than a broken peace..a broken leadership.. a broken hope.. an arrogant enemy ..and a biased international community …..

    I am sorry too black Iris…sometimes we need to mourn..before we can transform the pain to action and activism

Your Two Piasters: