Rifqa

by Mohammed El-Kurd

We are made up by those we love, and it is by our relationships with people that we are transformed.

Solidarity is a feeling and a doing. It is a series of choices we make with one another. It can only be felt. It cannot be contrived or manipulated. Solidarity is not just about our shared pain or struggle but also, most importantly, about our shared joy, visions, and dreams. It is an energetic force and a resounding love.

The freest people on earth are not controlled by hatred or fear but moved by love and truth.

We are more than what was done to us; we are who we’ve become in spite of it all.

My name: a bomb in a white room,

This is why we dance: My father told me: “Anger is a luxury we cannot afford.” Be composed, calm, still—laugh when they ask you, smile when they talk, answer them, educate them.

This is why we dance: If I speak, I’m dangerous. You open your mouth, raise your eyebrows. You point your fingers.

This is why we dance: Because screaming isn’t free.

Please tell me: Why is anger–even anger–a luxury to me?

In Jerusalem, every footstep is a grave.

A soldier as old as a leaf born yesterday pulls a trigger on a woman older than his heritage.