Lifta: Palestine's Last Village Faces Bulldozers; Lifta to be razed for new Jewish-only holiday homes

A song for Lifta.

If you like poetry and are intrigued by the notion of learning more about Palestine, you can visit Nahida's blog Poetry for Palestine for more of her writings; prose, poems, letters and dialogues.

(LONDON) - I think of Lifta... I smile.... like a flower

Lifta… The healing touch of my grandmother

The aroma of her bread, baked with tenderness and love

Lifta...The hand of my mother against my face

Her gentle fingers running through my curls

Lifta…The smile of "Amal" my childhood friend

Gazing at Jerusalem in the horizon

Lifta… Rambling roses, lavender and jasmine

Poppies, daisies, chamomile carpets

And a blanket of stars

I think of Lifta... I smile.... like a flower


Lifta... Lifta… Lifta

Lifta... the throbbing wound of my heart

The scent of my buried memories seeping through my tortured being

Lifta… the childhood paradise I yearn to re-grasp

Lifta... the last straw humankind could hold onto

To save its humanity

I think of Lifta... I smile.... like a flower

I think of Lifta... I weep... like a motherless child

I think of Lifta... I sing like a buoyant hummingbird

I think of Lifta... I tremble like an autumn leaf

I think of Lifta... I hemorrhage like slaughtered lamb

I think of Lifta... I smile.... like a flower

I think of Lifta… I gasp for a glimpse of her splendour

I think of Lifta… I melt with love, so tender

I think of Lifta… I rage… rage with blazing anger

Sons of the devil

(Yes, I called you that)

Heed if you have a residue of a heart

“NEVER AGAIN” you said

“NEVER AGAIN” you LIED

Heed if you have a scum of a soul

You destroy Lifta… You unleash your own demise

WRATH as NEVER BEFORE

Torment

Boundless… measureless… bottomless…eternal

It’s your choice


*****

And so it goes

Delightful

Life... goes on

“To smile when confronted with the most severe oppression, is an act of Resistance rooted in unparalleled beauty.”

~ Jonathan Azaziah

Nahida Izzat is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee who has lived in exile for over forty two years, after being forced to leave her homeland at the tender age of seven in 1967, during the six-day war. She has a degree in mathematics, but art is one of her favorite pastimes. She loves hand-made things and so makes dolls, cards, and most of her own clothes. She also writes poetry, participates in written dialogues and believes in building bridges, not walls.

She started writing when her friends insisted she should write about her memories, experiences and feelings as a Palestinian.When she did it all came out sounding—she was told—like poetry! So she self-published two books: I Believe in Miracles, and Palestine the True Story.

Her dream is to return back home to a free and liberated Palestine.

If you like poetry and are intrigued by the notion of learning more about Palestine, you can visit Nahida's blog Poetry for Palestine for more of her writings; prose, poems, letters and dialogues.

You can write to Nahida : nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com