My dear friend Omid Safi saw this picture and wrote: “Every once in a while you come across a story, a person, a soul, that touches your heart, inspires you, and fills you with light. This little Palestinian girl does all that, and more, for me. I don’t know her name. I saw her story on Aljazeera American tonight. The Israelis bombed her house, destroying it. Her response afterwards was to comfort her younger brother. Her strength, goodness, faith, hope. I have never seen the resilience of an occupied people so beautifully encapsulated in one person’s face. Little girl, sweet, beautiful, and strong angel…. I don’t know your name, but I have seen something of your spirit in this one glimpse. And here is my own promise to you: I will never, ever, forget you. I will never put your life, your dignity, your wellbeing behind any one else’s. May you someday live to breath freely, walk freely, sing freely, pray freely, and play on the beaches of your ancestors.”
It was not my home they bombed
The little girl said,
But a thin shell
which failed instead.
My home?
It is within a billion hearts
And beyond that,
part of every star.
My name?
It’s spoken in every tongue,
But a different language
For everyone.
And what ever for us,
was willed to be
Before the dawn
of eternity.
No, it’s not my home,
This restless place,
But for the reflection of love
When you remember my face.
