The day will come, when you will beg
for my forgiveness.
I, the child blamed, the one innocent
of your crimes,
I, the grandfather, farmer of a land stolen,
I, the grandmother, singer of ballads forgotten,
I, the father, carer of a family torn asunder,
I, the grandmother, singer of ballads forgotten,
I, the father, carer of a family torn asunder,
I, the mother, nurturer of a home cowardly
demolished,
I, the colonized, the oppressed, the
evicted,
I, the persecuted, the starved, the
forgotten,
I, the imprisoned, the tortured, the
assassinated,
I, the Palestinian, will stand forever tall, and
We will never forgive your silence.
Lilas Taha is a novelist, winner of the 2017 International Book Awards in the Multicultural Fiction category and is the author of Shadows of Damascus and Bitter Almonds.
