Author’s Note
This text is an English adaptation by AI of a poem originally written in Arabic in December 2008, in response to the war on Gaza.
While the poem criticizes the State of Israel for actions widely regarded as violations of human rights and international law, its central condemnation is directed at neighboring Arab regimes—for their complicity, political opportunism, and repeated failure of the Palestinian people. The poem rejects the use of Palestine as a proxy or symbol for regional power games that have little to do with justice, liberation, or genuine solidarity.
All criticism in this text is aimed at states, systems, doctrines, and political conduct, never at peoples, religions, or identities.
Image by Ömer Faruk Yıldız
Damascus Rural —
The parting stretched, the nights grew long,
My thoughts in your eyes wandered on.
From where does patience come to meet?
I lost my question at your feet.
Roumani Line 