11 FEBRUARY—Overhead, the sky. In an inky dome of Prussian blue, stars shimmer. Night noises fill the air. A breeze blows in from the Mediterranean, blessing the land. Palms rustle and sway. A slim crescent moon shines its cool light upon Gaza.
In the quiet of night people sleep. All is peaceful.
At dawn, Fajr, the first call to prayer, is sounded.Â
Later the children come, and the streets are filled with the sound of laughter as they skip and walk and run to school. The cities and towns of Gaza are awake. And like the people, they are beautiful—filled with gardens and fountains, cultural centers and museums, universities and hospitals, government buildings, businesses, and homes, magnificent mosques, churches, and synagogues where people work and live and learn and pray.
The markets are a sensuous riot of colors, sounds, and tantalizing aromas. They hum and bustle. Stalls are filled to overflowing with fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, flowers and fabrics, every imaginable thing for sale or barter. The people haggle. They joke and laugh.
The land of Gaza has been transformed and the people along with it.
Gaza. It is a blessed land. It is a beacon of hope for the world in a new country called Palestine—one country, for one people, in which all of the original land has been restored to Palestine and the right of return has been honored.
In this new country Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews have shown the world the meaning of justice, the power of truth and reconciliation, the necessity of reparations, the importance of historical memory, and the value of forgiveness.
The citizens of a Palestine reborn share equal rights. Everyone is valued and respected. All of the people are safe.
Above all: The children are cherished and protected.
May the legacy of the centuries of trauma and violence inflicted upon the Jewish people of the world be healed. May the scourges of religious and ethnic chauvinism, racism, and apartheid cease to exist. And may the descendent of Abraham live side by side, freely and without fear, in dignity and peace.
I dedicate this, my prayer, to the martyrs of Gaza and to the memory of the six million.
A lovely prayer, Cara. You should consider writing them for religions, some of them need the help. The description in your prayer is worthy of reality. I spent a week in Israel back in 1998 and I was there working for McDonnell Douglas, not vacation. We were mostly in Tel Aviv but since Israel would pretty easily fit in the confines of Connecticut, we got around Caesarea, the Dead sea, Jerusalem etc. But for the most part I was relatively uncomfortable. But then, in Jerusalem, I turned a corner and I suddenly found myself in the Arab quarter. And suddenly I relaxed. The people that were with me got nervous but I just wandered in and started talking to people. I felt I was back in downtown Tehran. The best way to break the ice with an Iranian is to start talking about your family. The Palestinians are the same.
May this dream come true.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Code pink
https://www.codepink.org/cnngaza?utm_campaign=12_15_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.