‘You see that we are rising–no longer in the shadows of the ghosts of Deir Yassin’ –Phil Monsour/Rafeef Ziadah

Look at the children's faces. And the old people's. "They pretend that it's forgotten... You see that we are rising... Our day is surely coming... No longer in the shadows of the ghosts of Deir Yassin"

They pretend that it’s forgotten
But somewhere small flowers grow
On the weathered stones of destroyed homes
Somewhere the light’s still in the window

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming
No longer in the shadows
Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin

They change the names on the signs
But it’s in our hearts these words are written
Of the children who don’t know their homes
They will walk the streets from which they are forbidden

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming
No longer in the shadows
Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin

Of the old ones now passed on
But it’s their blood our hearts are pumping
They will walk with us when we return to their towns
Whose names will live again

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming
No longer in the shadows
Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin
You see that we are rising
You know the fear is gone
We will return

You see that we are rising our day is surely coming
We are no longer in the shadows
Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin
You see that we are rising our day is surely coming
No longer in the shadows
Of the ghosts of Deir Yassin

About Annie Robbins

Annie Robbins is Editor at Large for Mondoweiss, a mother, a human rights activist and a ceramic artist. She lives in the SF bay area. Follow her on Twitter @anniefofani
Posted in Israel/Palestine

{ 12 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Thanks, Annie–so moving: exquisite, and heart-rending. On “our hearts these words are written.”

    As the end tells us,
    “The writing on the hands are the names of the original villages in Palestine from which the people were ethnically cleansed to make way for the state of Israel.
    “Buy the album HERE.” From link to australiansforpalestine.net

  2. i cried all over this susie. it just floored me.

  3. Blake says:

    Very moving. One day Palestine will be liberated. Every Inch.

  4. seafoid says:

    Just beautiful. You can sense the pauperisation of an innocent people but also the fact that they are a united people who share the shekel Falastini and speak a shared language and have the shared history that Israelis don’t. And that is whay the settler colonialism of the Israelis will fail in a way that Australia and the US didn’t. The people can’t be kept down.

  5. MHughes976 says:

    We shall see how a shared history fares against a shared religious narrative.

    • seafoid says:

      And the most important thing is the shared future

      • MHughes976 says:

        That’s a very perceptive remark, seafoid. But the shared future in the short term is very dark.

        • seafoid says:

          I think when it breaks down we will see a lot of Israeli parents saying they detested the system that brainwashed their kids into serving in that army and hating the Palestinians as their enemy. You know how Hedi Epstein says “They told me the Palestinians were my enemy. The Palestinians are not my enemy”.
          The psychological damage the war machine does to Israeli minds is massive

        • seafoid says:

          Do you ever look at Northen Ireland now compared to how it was in the 1980s? Isn’t it amazing to see Peter Robinson in government with Martin mcGuinness? What was the point of “the Troubles” ? What is the point of YESHA ?