Carol Hallman writes:
Ever since the Nation Law was passed by the Knesset my heart has been saddened and so I thought I’d share with you a lament that I wrote in response….I just traveled to Israel the beginning of this year and a friend of mine will be participating in a protest in Jerusalem this Saturday.
As the High Court ponders, Carol Laments.
Nation Law Lament
“They” say
It is darkest
Before the dawn
But I ask
Isn’t it dark
Enough yet?
Each day
It gets harder
Each night
Fear of
Soldiers pounding
Arresting or
Killing my child
Or my neighbor’s
We have never
Been equal
But now.
Now, even
Less than before
Language
Culture
Religion
(Christian, Muslim, Druze or anything
Other than Jew)
Not welcome
Anymore
No more pretense
Of equality
Just reality
We are “us” and
They are “them”
And “us” are
valueless
It would have
Been better
Had we never
Been born
How much longer
How many more months
(Years-decades—)
Before we find that promised
Light
Before we find
Our way out
Of the darkness
Out of Apartheid
Out of the wilderness
How long, O God?
How long,
Must we suffer
Struggle and starve
Land stolen
Humanity denied
How long before
We are seen?
Before our voices
Are heard?
Gifts in Open Hands 