A Night in Palestine

Dedicated to all civilians lost from both sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

She crouches on the ground,

Her eyes shut tight,

The screams don't stop

At all that night.

The bodies make her gag

And hold her breath,

But there is no escaping

From the whisper of death.

One by one, they blast

And they kill,

She tries to hide

By holding still.

But a man in uniform

Sees her struggling to breath,

And raises his gun,

His eyes – as cold as steel.

I'm not one of them,

She screams at the soldier,

He shoots a bullet

Deep into her shoulder.

The pain makes her scream,

But no one hears,

It buries deep in her,

Blood mingles with tears.

Another bullet follows,

And she gasps with the pain,

La ilaha illal allahu,

She chants in her brain.

Her body lies limp,

As she closes her eyes,

Muhammad urasoolal allah,

She says as she dies.


* La ilaha illal allahu Muhammad urasoolal allah is the Islamic belief / Shahadah meaning 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.' It is usually read when a baby is born, a person converts to Islam or when a Muslim is about to die.