"Actually—and this was where I began to feel seriously uncomfortable—some such divine claim underlay not just ‘the occupation’ but the whole idea of a separate state for Jews in Palestine. Take away the divine warrant for the Holy Land and where were you, and what were you? Just another land-thief like the Turks or the British, except that in this case you wanted the land without the people. And the original Zionist slogan—’a land without a people for a people without a land’—disclosed its own negation when I saw the densely populated Arab towns dwelling sullenly under Jewish tutelage. You want irony? How about Jews becoming colonizers at just the moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?"

Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22 (via rumiandshit)

"

To Alef, the letter
that begins the alphabets
of both Arabic and Hebrew-
two Semitic languages,
sisters for centuries.

May we find the language
that takes us
to the only home there is -
one another’s hearts.

Alef knows
That a thread
Of a story
Stitches together
A wound

"

Ibtisam Barakat (via rumiandshit)
Graffiti on the wall separating Israel from the West Bank/Palestine
astrangerdanger: Isn’t it funny how despite the fact most of the world seems to recognize Palestine, it is those dozen or so who’s beliefs seem to matter more than the rest of the world.