Daughter of Palestine

I wrote this poem and reflection, along with an artwork I created back in October 2023 and wanted to share.

The woman in the photograph was captured by photojournalist @mahmoudbassam8 whose images have helped me to realize the genocide happening in Gaza. As I’ve sat with this mother and drawn this image, I have lamented that I can’t do anything to help her, and all I can do is sit still “with her” and bear witness to her pain. And allow her pain to break my heart.

The Arabic at the bottom means “open your eyes.” I heard somewhere a Palestinian Christian was gently inviting us in the US to open our eyes. My prayer in sharing my work is just to give another invitation to do that. Come and sit with her, listen to her broken lament, and allow your heart to break as well, because empathy is the pathway to shalom. 💔

Beloved Daughter of Palestine
No one can fix this for you.
My eyes scan image after image of devastation
Horror
Unspeakable suffering
Children calling for their mothers
And no one has time to stop and try to help them
Everyone in a state of shock
Exhausted but still running
Helplessly picking through the rubble
Looking for any signs of life
Asking where is God in all of this?*
Looking in earnest and in haste
Making haste because here comes another bomb. And another one. And another one.
Relentless
I see image after image…

And then I see her.

Frozen in a moment while everything else is a whirl of frantic chaos
My eyes freeze, too.
She cradles her lifeless baby
And sings to her
She kisses her
And sings
And weeps
While everything around her spins she is cradling her whole world that she just lost
In one instant.

I can’t look away…

* @munther_isaac poignantly stated during the Christmas season, that in this war, “God is under the rubble.”

Please consider donating to Churches for Middle East Peace or UNRWA.