Eye to Eye
Poem by a Palestinian Youth

Look into my eyes
And tell me what you see
You don't see a damn thing
'Cause you can't possibly relate to me

You're blinded by our differences
My life makes no sense to you
I'm the persecuted Palestinian
You are the American red, white and blue

Each day you wake in tranquility
No fears to cross your eyes
Each day I wake in gratitude
Thanking God He let me rise

You worry about your education
And the bills you have to pay
I worry about my vulnerable life
And if I'll survive another day

Your biggest fear is getting ticketed
As you cruise your Cadillac
My fear is that the tank that just left
Will turn around and come back

America, do you realize
That the taxes that you pay
Feed the forces that traumatize
My every living day?

The bulldozers and the tanks
The gases and the guns
The bombs that fall outside my door
All due to American funds

Yet do you know the truth
Of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth that no one knows?

You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of Zionists
I'm terrorized in my own land
And I'm the terrorist?

You think that you know all about terrorism
But you don't know it the way I do
So let me define the term for you
And teach you what you thought you knew

I've known terrorism for quite some time
Fifty- four years and more
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard
It's the bulldozer in front of my door

Terrorism breathes the air I breathe
It's the checkpoint on my way to school
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home
And the penalties of breaking that curfew rule

Terrorism is the robbery of my land
And the torture of my mother
The imprisonment of my innocent father
The bullet in my baby brother

So America, don't tell me you know
About the things I feel and see
I'm terrorized in my own land
And the blame is put on me

But I will not rest, I shall never settle
For the injustice my people endure
Palestine is OUR land and there we'll remain
Until the day OUR homeland is secure

And if that time shall never come
Then they will never see a day of peace
I will not be thrown from my own home
Nor will fight for justice cease

And if I am killed, it will be for Falasteen
It's written on my breath
So in your own patriotic words
give me liberty or give me death

Hassan Mawji