Khairi Hanoun
26 March 2021
26 March 2021
For Khairi Hanoun
Just because
I don’t succeed,
Does not mean
I’m not there.
My presence
My voice
Is as real
As oppression.
Sprung from
The wellspring
Of loss and pain,
It endures.
It meets and merges
With other voices.
A flowing cacophony
Unending.
Make no mistake,
Like water
Over Stone
We will prevail
Until the stone
Is no more.
https://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/film-detail?fid=2218#trailer
This is a link to a short Oscar Nominated Palestinian movie. The movie is 23 minutes long and it has very recently become available on Netflix. The name of the movie is "the Present". It tells the story of a Palestinian man and his daughter trying to buy a gift for his wife in the West Bank.
The theme today is Peace and Justice
Khairi Hanoun is a Palestinian who was arrested by an Istraeli soldiers who knelt on his neck in the same way as police in the USA knelt on George Floyd's neck. He was peacefully protesting Israeli illegal settlement expansions near Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.
Unlike George Floyd, Khairi Hanoun was not killed, but he and his people face on-going violence, dispossession and harassment. The movie The Present shows what daily life can be like for Palestinians in this part of the world.
The poem is about the ways that oppressed people throughout the world continue to struggle for justice and truth.
What people in history can you think of who did not give up their non-violent actions working for truth and justice?
Can you find out more about the work of organisations like Amnesty International, and the way that they support people who are oppressed or wrongfully imprisoned in different parts of the world.