By Isidoros Karderinis
Two years have passed since October 7, 2023, the day this horrible war began, which continues unabated to this day. And of course the sunlight has disappeared in this tragic region of the planet and everything has been covered in darkness. There are no more smiles on people’s faces, there is no more optimism and joy, and hearts have turned black from deep pain. The children who have been saved from the bombs and bullets that fall like hail, are very gloomy and distressed, seeing destroyed houses and muddy streets around them.
Children in particular have suffered dramatic consequences. According to the UN, in the last 4 years there have been more dead children in Gaza than in the whole world. The humanitarian crisis is deepening every day. Famine threatens the survivors with death. Hunger is taking its toll, especially on children, who faint from exhaustion in the streets, in front of the eyes of desperate parents and unable to help them. According to UNICEF, approximately 17,000 minors have been unaccompanied or separated from their parents since the day the war began.
And the total number of dead since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, which now resembles an open wound in the heart of humanity, has exceeded 60,000, while there are over 150,000 injured, often seriously, many with amputated limbs, without access to care, in bombed-out hospitals. And thousands more remain buried alive or dead under the rubble, in cities and villages that were turned into piles of rubble in just a few hours.
The photos of children emerging from the rubble, covered in dust and blood, are shocking. Photos that can only cause heartbreak and tears.
But why is this war happening? Why is this conflict perpetuated? The Israelis have the right to have their own state, but the Palestinians also have the right to have their own piece of land with statehood.
For 77 years – since 1948, the year the state of Israel was created – there has been a UN resolution to create an independent Palestinian state and it has not been implemented. At that time, from the area designated as “Historical Palestine”, Israel took 56% and the remaining 44% were used to define the borders for the Palestinian state that was to be established. On the contrary, the state of Israel – and the state is those who govern each time – attacks the Palestinian people and has expanded the occupation of Palestinian lands.
And it is certain that people all over the world, and of course the Palestinians and Israelis, in their overwhelming majority, do not want war. They do not want killings, dead people and crimes. They want to live in a peaceful environment, beautifully, peacefully and happily. They want and yearn for peace. They want to smile every day and dream. All people in this world set goals and try to achieve them, thus giving meaning to their lives. They do not want these goals to be interrupted violently, suddenly and abruptly, as happens when a country plunges into the maelstrom of war. They do not want to be immersed for months or even years in this horror. Fathers and mothers want to see their children progress and fill them with pride. They do not want to send them to war and be killed in the most horrific way.
In closing, I would like to emphasize that this incredible tragedy cannot leave anyone who has sensitivity, compassion and humanity in their soul unmoved. All that is happening there is a black mark on human civilization. Especially writers and artists who bear the enormous responsibility of emotional exhortation must shout as loudly as they can: “Stop the war now”, “End the genocide”. So I, too, decided, feeling pain, sadness and anger, to write a poem about this unspeakable tragedy. Recently, this poem was set to music by the composer Pavlos Zissakos and is available on Youtube under the title “The Tragedy of Palestine”. The lyrics of which I quote below:
The tragedy of Palestine
A region steeped in war and in the mud
Without sun, without joy, without flowers
Watered with bitter tears and red blood
Without carefree children, without songs.
Deformed human bodies are found everywhere
Moveless, without various body parts
Destroyed cities that look like death lands
And in the sky the pigeons nowhere.
Caravans of refugees without a compass
With bombs flying in the melancholic air
They leave their beloved homeland in fear
And on the pole the flag, bloody and torn.
Dreams buried in the wounded terrain
And hearts broken into a thousand pieces
Pale faces lacerate by indescribable pain
And around the Death with his black horses.
Victims in this miserable and unfair world
They are always the innocent and good humans
Which give off a nice perfume by their soul
Either they are Israelis or Palestinians.
O Palestine, our soul is full of bitterness
For this terrible tragedy and savagery
Our planet is sinking into darkness
And in our eyes, anger and sadness.
The Tragedy of Palestine (Title)
