Most Precious Gifts - Salem-News.Com

(OCCUPIED PALESTINE) - Every now and then, our writers have the most amazing and rewarding experiences and it is to our good fortune, that we receive extraordinary photo pieces like this one from our dear friend Nahida Izzat.

Those who read her work regularly do not need it explained; I would just say that a limited number of human beings have the ability to make us feel pain and hope the way Nahida does. Somehow, even the saddest moments are simultaneously uplifting and motivating.

It just gives me chills to try to imagine how it must have been; a return to her homeland in Spring after so long, since she was just a seven-year old child, ripped away from everything she knew as a fleeing refugee during the terribly destructive Six Days War that led to Israel's annexation of hundreds of thousands of square miles of Palestine.

Now she has returned during this beautiful time of year, and from the images and words below, you will also appreciate the magnitude of the occasion, one many will never know.

Leaving Palestine when I was Leaving Palestine when I was seven put my life on hold

Leaving Palestine today tore my soul away
Shredded, it lingered behind

Scattered between the hills
of El Haram El Shareef and Olive Mount

Casting her shadow
A rainbow of tenderness and love
over the graves of her ancestors

Drenched with sorrow

Imbued with sadness

Empty, as if bereaved;

I walked away

"Cheer up", I whispered in my ear

"Think of what you just had
where have you been?
what have you seen?"

Sparkles of light peeked through my grief

Sprouting lilies

Blossoming hearts and stars

Then I heard my heart singing

I had been to PALESTINE

I had been to PALESTINE

I had seen it IN SPRING

I had seen it IN SPRING

First time since exile

Forty five years of cruel exile

I had been to PALESTINE

A beatific gift... humbling down

Thank you God, Most Gracious, Most Sublime

I had been to PALESTINE

I had the honour to stand before a child

whose gaze caresses Jerusalem hills

as she wanders in her thoughts

At night, she opens the door

Her colourful dreams run out
flying over the village next door

Lifta

Stroking her hills, calming her fears
Giving Lifta solace in her solitude

Praying with her for the return of her loved ones

Humbled, besotted, full of adoration

I fall on my knees

Thank you God, Most Gracious, Most Sublime

I had been to PALESTINE

I had the pleasure

of looking into the eyes of my grandmother

To kneel before her, kiss her hand

To see her smiling

To hear her voice

To hold her close

To dry my tears with her veil

To soothe my heart with her prayers

Thank you God, Most Gracious, Most Sublime

I had been to PALESTINE

With the eyes of my soul

I had seen my many loved ones

my parched heart swells with gratitude

Flowers with joy

Smiles grow broad, sincere and serene

Thank you God, Most Gracious, Most Sublime

YES,

I had been to PALESTINE

Thank you God, Most Gracious, Most Sublime

Posted by nahida -Exiled Palestinian

Our special thanks to Uprooted Palestinians

http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/most-precious-gifts.html

_________________________________

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 helping the Palestinian people and learning more, you can purchase Nahida's books, I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story by visiting: I Believe in Miracles: a Collection of Palestinian Poems

ISBN 13: 9780954839109 | ISBN 10: 0954839102

£12.99 paperback Nahida Izzat (2004)

You can write to Nahida: nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com

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