Watson Institute, Brown University: US military aid to Israel
This report includes the $17.9 billion the U.S. government has approved for Israeli military operations in Gaza from 10/7/23 to 12/31/24.
Nasser Rabah: We Are Not Iron
We are not iron, O God, so that we can be melted down every year. We are not copper or lead that they fire among the armies and leave behind after the end of the war as mere ammunition and ashes.
Alison Luterman: At First
as the days bled into each other and I bore helpless witness
to the plagues rained down in my name on those we called other,
when I saw that the soft bodies of children were the battleground,
the stone began to burn with rage and then shame
Nasser Rabah: The War That Just Won’t End
In wartime the heart expands, becomes a boat for little kids.
An hour of peace and quiet is pure heaven for writing.
Angele Ellis: The life and legacy of Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer (1979-2023)
Refaat Alareer stands in a field in Gaza, holding a container of freshly picked strawberries. What evokes the earth’s sweetness more fully than a ripe berry? The expression on his face—scholarly, bespectacled—is gentle and tender.
Madison Bannon: This activist group chat has been blocking a weapons shipment to Israel for weeks
There is an African proverb: If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.
Emily De Ferrari: Mark the Day
measure the time
since the last poem
since the lost word
Marianne Dhenin: The Quiet Success of the Israel Divestment Movement
Grassroots efforts to divest local U.S. taxpayer dollars from Israel over its ongoing genocide of Palestinians are gaining steam.
Vanessa Chakour: My Innate Connection to Stolen Land
When people are distanced from land, they lose the intimate knowledge necessary to be effective stewards.
Abby Zimet: Unspeakable | We Are Swimming In A Pool of Blood
Israel’s blithe defiance of both world censure and ICJ rulings goes on apace.
Abe Louise Young: New Seeds for Old Stories
When I was a child, everything I heard & read about Israel was aspirational. We saved our quarters in cardboard boxes emblazoned, “Plant Trees In Israel!” People said, “Next year in Jerusalem!” to mean goodbye, to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Naomi Shihab Nye: Jerusalem
He’s painting a bird with wings
wide enough to cover two roofs at once.
Mosab Abu Toha, et al: Ceasefire Cento
Each morning
I wake
in the shape
of an ancient
song
Zeina Azzam, Andy Young, David Adès: Three poems about Gaza
Only the children, terrified, wide-eyed,
have no complicity as we lead them, again,
sacrificial lambs to the slaughter.
