Ibtisam ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Ibtisam

Her long brown hair
holds lines
check points
and spelling bees
young America
and old Palestine

Deir Yassin
remembers
the sound of children
growing up- all ages
and moods
... and the massacre

and the refugees...

Her long brown hair
holds lines
of poetry
lifting in the breeze...
shoes get lost
on moonless nights
but memories don't.

Playing God ... poem by Anne Selden Annab

Playing God

If I were to make a flag today
for a one state Israel/Palestine,
a confederation to stop the conflict
with full and equal rights for all,
I would blend the sky blue of Israel
with the earth green of Islam,
to make each stripe a deep blue green... a teal
like around the eye of the dabbing duck
indigenous to Eurasia... a tertiary teal
blending primary and secondary colors.

Minority and majority rights
play hopscotch:
Every home
and every child is safe...

Every student ready and able
to learn real science... & art.

I'd add six tips to the central six point star.
One new point in between each old point,
transforming it into a twelve point star... a gear.
Each tip color might be a different hue...
... like a color wheel... a rainbow in the round.

And the flag would be hoisted
to help save the River Jordan
from being sludge

"The only deadly sin I know is cynicism" HLS

We need a Golden Rule Peace for Israel and Palestine

Why it's a good thing that Palestinians are returning to negotiations with Israel: "I find the reality of the occupation totally unacceptable and even a slim chance to end it is worth pursuing, and also because I have very grave concerns that if the conflict continues, it will further metastasize and morph into a religious conflict led by bearded fanatics on both sides over the will of God and holy places and therefore become much harder to resolve and much more dangerous for Israelis, Palestinians and all of their neighbors, if not the whole world." Hussein Ibish

Ziad Asali: The sensible Palestinian statehood plan