I don’t give up easily. Especially not on hope. I always see something good. Some hope somewhere. Hope is stronger than the bond of love and the chains of hate. Hope lives even when souls die. Hope never gives up. But sometimes even hope dies. And with it everything else…
I look at my beloved Africa and I see hope. I see the madness in the Niger Delta area and I know that there is hope. Hope in the people living there. Knowing that they don’t want the lives they live. That someday it will be better. There is madness and death but there is also hope.
I look at Sudan and know there is hope. I see the kids dying and the people murdering and I see darkness. But I also see a spark of hope. Just a little candle light fighting the winds of hate and mayhem. I know the smiles of people and the hope in their eyes.
I see the Congo and can smell the hope in the air. I see evil taking our kids and making soldiers of them. Little kid soldiers willing to pull the trigger and end another life and their own. But I see these kids kicking a soccer ball and know hope lies inside.
I see my people dying of Aids… Suffering at the hands of warlords… Wasting away in the sands of hunger… Begging for life in the fields of poverty… I see all that and I still see hope. I see it. I smell it. And I can feel it. It’s in their eyes and in their souls. Hope, love and peace. It is there. Not strong and hardly standing but it is there being cradled in the arms of a mother feeding her malnourished baby and being carried on the heads of African women coming back from the watering hole. Small and weak… but hope is still there. I see a better tomorrow. I see a hope growing at the pace set by African time. It will come to those who are patient. Hope… Lives…
I see hope in Burma and I see hope in Iraq. I smell hope in North Korea and can hear it in Tibet. I can see it in the darkest of places. No matter where it is. No matter how dark and cold it gets on our world. I always see a little hope flickering in the wind. Sometimes it is just a little glimmer of hope. Not much. Just a little look in the eye. Or a hint of a smile. The soul inside shining through for a split second. Hope…
But what happens when I see no more hope? When there is no light fighting the darkness anymore? When hope is gone? What then?
There is a place where hope no longer shines for me. I see nothing. No life. No reason. No smile. No belief. No light. No nothing. I see no hope.
Israel and Palestine…
I see nothing there. Nothing…
I am not picking sides on this one. I can’t. I refuse. I won’t.
My world is not black and white. I am not either for you or against you. I am for justice, freedom, liberty and equality for all. But most of all… Most of all I am for hope, peace and love.
Come… Give me the reasons. Give me the belief. Give me your heart. Give me whatever you want to give me but I won’t believe in you anymore. Either of you. I see no hope and have given up hope.
I see no end to you killing each other. I see no end to you blaming each other. I see no end to either of you. I see no end to kids dying by your hands. I see no end to the blood of the innocent flowing from your rockets. I see no end to you murdering hope, love and peace…
Both of you…
Don’t give me excuses. Don’t give me the school kid arguments of “they did it first”. I don’t give a damn.
Stop!
Let me repeat that slowly for you. Read it carefully.
I… Don’t… Give… A… Damn…
Or put in another way. Just in case you didn’t understand me the first time.
I… Don’t… Give… A… Fuck…
You have excuses for killing the children of the other. You have excuses for murdering the innocent. You have excuses for every person who dies by your hands. But you have no excuse for killing hope.
Collateral damage…
It’s murder when you know it will happen. It is murder when you know that innocent people will die because of what you do. It is murder when you know all that and you still do it anyway. It… Is… Murder…
I see no hope. I see no hope…
It was killed by you. Both of you. Slowly but surely murdered when you put your hands on the throat of hope and squeezed the life out of love and peace.
You are dead to me. I will not give you hope. I will save that for those who want to live. Who want to peace. Who want love. And who want hope.
I see nothing in your eyes. In your face I see no smile. In your words I see no truth. In your hands I see blood. The blood of hope killed.
Both of you…
You two deserve each other. Hatred like this kills. It kills everything inside of you. Until there is nothing left but shells… Go ahead… See how much love that bullet carries. See how much peace are shared in the grenade. See how much hope explodes with each missile. The empty shells are you…
I know what to do when hope is gone…
I walk away and embrace the hope of the innocent. Elsewhere.
Ubuntu – I am because we are…
You two are not part of my “we” anymore.
Only the dead, the innocent and those suffering because of your hopeless war will be me. For them I reach out and say, “I am because you are”. But to those who war – I am not you because you war. You killers of hope.
When hope is gone…
That is when I nurse it an nourish it. Hold it and protect it. Care for it and love it. For those who really want it. And for those who deserve it.
Long live hope…
____________________________
Note: This was not easy to write. I have always stayed away from writing about the Israel-Palestinian war. I have friends there that I love and care for. People I hold dear. People that mean something to me. This is meant for the war itself. Not the people caught in the middle. Not even for those who seeks justification for this war. I know they have reasons. They see reasons. I see excuses on both sides. I see no peace. I see no end. I see people who are willing to kill each other until there is nothing left of the other side. Until there is nothing left anywhere. My ubuntu is with those who suffer no matter what the reasons and excuses might be. But this war… This endless war… Killing hope. I just see no reason for hope anymore. And I pray for them to see hope somehow. But I know not where…
January 2, 2009 at 3:44 pm
If only we could feel “I am because you are” more often.
I too do not understand the conflict and can only relate to the individuals.
January 2, 2009 at 6:12 pm
The killing will stop when the victims have the means to defend themselves.
When people are in conflict and one side finds itself defenceless a humanitarian crisis is almost inevitable.
There is no-one to oppose Israel who can do whatever it likes. You cannot reach a resolution when there is nothing to compel Israel to act reasonably.
Until and unless someone can meet Israel on equal terms the persecution will continue.
January 2, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I think the United States could force Israel to stop. I don’t think it will, but I think it could.
Even though I doubt that my country will do the right thing, I refuse ever to give up hope. If enough people want it, if enough people pray for it, if enough people envision it, then justice will roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Eventually the truth will out, and justice will prevail.
January 3, 2009 at 2:41 am
A powerful post. My biggest frustration is with people who want to blame one side or the other.
How will it help if Israel stops, and Hamas continues?
How will it help if Hamas stops, and Israel continues?
“There is not one righteous, no, not one. ”
Especially not in this hateful war.
January 3, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Beautifully said in the most powerful of ways… Hope is the one thing that will get us through anything and everything, totally undervalued and forgotten more times than it should be
Bravo old man (you are old now right?) … hows the learning of the Bon Jovi rifts coming?
January 3, 2009 at 1:04 pm
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see….and there are none more hopeless than those who prefer their own selfish interests to the life and well-being of others.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a lose lose situation because neither side is willing to entertain avenues of compromise, peace and resolution. They want what they want and they don’t care who has to be sacrificed to achieve it.
This conflict would easily escalate should Iran and other surrounding countries decide to become involved. The dropping of leaflets warning Palestinians to leave is not a good sign.
January 3, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Written in a way I couldn’t have said it.
January 3, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Hope is never gone… as long as there are people in the world who believe… and I for one believe and have hope.
January 3, 2009 at 9:36 pm
It is important to write on this subject. And as South Africans we have some experience of racism and apartheid. To say “oh but this is different” or “it is just too complicated” is a moral cop out. What we need to say to the Israeli government is YOU CAN’T BUILD YOUR SECURITY ON SOMEONE ELSE’S OPPRESSION. It corrodes the soul, and it does not work.
Also as the holder of vastly disproportionate power the Israeli government must take the first, and the second and the third step towards peace.
January 4, 2009 at 3:28 am
[...] After 61 years of defending our homeland, one can start to loose hope, like AngryAfrican has [...]
January 4, 2009 at 8:24 am
Hey Angry African! A very moving piece! I too feel your frustrations!
I came across your blog via migration diary. I love it! I have just returned to SA after an 11 year exile! I returned with my nglish Husband and 3 british born, young children! We have been here now for 6 months! Man – I love this place! It has a pulse! No where else like it!
Keep up the powerful blogging! I am hooked!
Kirsty
January 4, 2009 at 10:19 am
Just finished writing a comment to Amber’s post on this topics, and here I am reading you, brother, pointing out the same critical point (among many others in your case): as long as there is blaming, accusing, speaking of who deserves what…, there will be no hope. How could anything change? Ever? If we continue with: “It is them, not us! We have the right, they don’t! They started it! They are wrong, we are right…!”
As long as there is no empathy for others, sincere hearing of other’s feelings and needs, honest respect for differences…, nothing good will ever happen.
There’s pain on both sides, there are reasons on both sides, there unmet needs on both sides, there’s suffering on both sides… It is not them, it is all of us.
I feel like screaming into the sky! For hours and hours.
I hear you, my friend, it is difficult to have hope.
January 4, 2009 at 11:42 am
Hope is never gone…for the people caught in the middle there is little else other than hope that they can hold on to…hope that it will end, hope that their kids will not know the sound of a bullet, hope that bombs will be the evil dragons of yesteryears when people did not know better. My hope is that people do not lose this last strand by which they hang over this abyss of illogical darkness…
I wrote a poem meant for warriors everywhere a few years back with your permission i post the link here: http://elatedconfusion.blogspot.com/2005/11/suggestion-to-warriors.html
January 4, 2009 at 11:30 pm
…!
(A great piece. Beyond comment.)
January 10, 2009 at 9:28 am
That is one powerful piece of writing. You’ve managed to capture what many, many people are thinking.
January 12, 2009 at 10:39 pm
“…for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth and goodwill for men…” The story behind that man who wrote that song all those many years ago is amazing. And the song offers hope.