Grief Tsunami

A poem by award winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye from her newest book (2026)

SIDEKICK 

 

                            Grief Tsunami 

Thinking

how Palestinians

would have stopped everything

to feed you.  

 

 

Sidekick

by Naomi Shihab Nye

---

Written by internationally beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye, Sidekick stands as a testament to poetry’s enduring power to bear witness. With each poem, Nye affirms a truth that feels more urgent than ever: every human being deserves safety, dignity, and peace.

Drawing on her family’s deep roots in Palestine, Nye writes with both abiding love and immeasurable heartbreak, offering intimate reflections that illuminate the human cost of conflict. Long a champion of dialogue across borders and divides, she crafts poems that are direct, conversational, and unafraid to confront the systems and structures that perpetuate harm.

Through her signature blend of candor, lyrical grace, and careful attention to everyday lives, Nye offers a collection that urges readers to look more closely, feel more deeply, and imagine a world in which we refuse to turn away from one another.  https://boaeditions.org/book/sidekick/

"Well, Core 5 is going ahead with the demolition of my Great Great Grandparents' farmhouse. While this lack of respect for our local history makes me sad, it pales in comparison to the losses experianced daily by Palestinians who are being systematically forced off their land by the illegal and immoral actions of the Likud government and its settler proxies." David Dietz of York, Pennsylvania, USA

 

 

 

*MORE PHOTOS found online:

Demolition has started on the historic stone farmhouse built by John Strickler in the 1870s. It stands along the Lincoln Highway in Hellam Township. Paul Kuehnel/York Daily Record photo essay https://www.ydr.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2026/08/26/photos-of-an-1870s-farmhouse-razed-to-make-way-for-a-warehouse-complex/91481081007/

 

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Common Words with Arabic Roots

   

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Arabic_origin

 

Given the number of words which have entered English from Arabic, this list is split alphabetically into sublists, as listed below:

• List of English words of Arabic origin (A-B)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (C-F)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (G-J)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (K-M)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (N-S)
• List of English words of Arabic origin (T-Z)
• List of English words of Arabic origin: Addenda for certain specialist vocabularies 

"Suffice to say that, if the tables were turned and Hezbollah had been the one psychotically eradicating 5,000 years of cultural heritage and "collective humanity", western audiences would be hearing a lot more about the depravity of it all." Belen Fernandez

Debris covers ancient stone pillar bases near the archaeological site of the Roman Baths in Tyre, south Lebanon, a day after Israeli air strikes on the city, on 8 June 2026 (AFP/Kawnat Haju)

Israel and the US are erasing Iran and Lebanon's ancient heritage

Belen Fernandez

21 June 2026 

 

The Taliban's 2001 bombing of the Bamiyan Buddhas was condemned worldwide, but the US and Israel's destruction of Tyre's ruins and other ancient sites barely registers

 

 In early 2001, the Taliban blew up two giant Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan, which dated from the sixth century.

The world erupted in outrage at the destruction of cultural heritage, and western media engaged in handwringing over the loss of statues that most people presumably had not known existed in the first place but were nonetheless symbolic of our "collective humanity".

Philip T Reeker, deputy spokesman for the State Department of the United States, issued a press statement declaring the US to be "distressed and baffled" by the Taliban's decision to demolish the Buddhas and other ancient artefacts: "Deliberate destruction of statues and sculpture held as sacred by peoples of different faiths is incomprehensible."

Of course, when the US launched the so-called "war on terror" later that same year and undertook to bomb Afghanistan to smithereens, there was no similar distress over the "deliberate destruction" or the mass slaughter of "peoples of different faiths".

But such hypocrisy is part and parcel of an imperial mindset predicated on orientalist dehumanisation, selective cultural concern and the weaponisation of "heritage".

While the prevailing Bamiyan narrative was that the Taliban had done away with the Buddhas because they were idolatrous, The New York Times presented a slightly different version of events in an article published on 19 March 2001.

The article quoted Taliban envoy Sayed Rahmatullah Hashimi, who claimed that the destruction had instead been ordered by a council of religious scholars enraged by European and other foreign offers of money to preserve the statues – but not to assist a million Afghans facing starvation.

The scholars had been "so angry" at the misplaced priorities, the envoy told the outlet, that "they said, 'If you are destroying our future with economic sanctions, you can't care about our heritage.' And so they decided that these statues must be destroyed".

War on civilisation

Fast forward a quarter of a century to the 2026 war on Iran by the US and its genocidal buddy Israel, and the Bamiyan Buddha hypocrisy once again comes to mind. Iran, after all, is home to a lot of cultural heritage and ancient sites, many of which have been damaged in the months-long assault.

But because it's Us and not Them doing the destroying, no one is terribly up in arms over the loss of history - to say nothing of the vast loss of life. In one of the war's opening salvos, a US cruise missile strike on an elementary school in the city of Minab killed more than 175 people, most of them schoolgirls... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-and-us-are-erasing-iran-and-lebanons-ancient-heritage 

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"We live in an age saturated with Holocaust books, films, documentaries, and lessons that teach us how dangerous dehumanization can be. We are reminded time and again that before people can be mistreated, displaced, or killed on a mass scale, they are first stripped of their humanity through words and imagery. And yet, when similar language is used today to describe Palestinians, much of the world remains silent—or worse, offers its support. If history has taught us anything, it is that when human beings are reduced to weeds, thorns, insects, or any other nuisance, the groundwork is being laid for people to accept what would otherwise be unacceptable. That is why the language matters. And that is why the silence is so troubling." ~ Mike Odetalla

Mike Hanini Odetalla

tspoSnerodf2f7m4000m15847f1l64fh32m5a97380l7tu1f0g4u14518m4f  ·

Morning reflections regarding Gaza with coffee as I look over my yard:

6/08/26

I can't look at my lawn without thinking about the terminology that has been used over the years to describe military assaults on Palestinians.

"Mowing the lawn" was one such phrase used to describe repeated assaults on Gaza, reducing Palestinian men, women, and children to little more than blades of grass to be cut down.

More recently came "Field of Thorns," a term associated with the current Israeli leadership, where Palestinians are once again reduced to an unwanted nuisance that must be removed.

What I find most disturbing is not merely the language itself, but the world's reaction to it.

We live in an age saturated with Holocaust books, films, documentaries, and lessons that teach us how dangerous dehumanization can be. We are reminded time and again that before people can be mistreated, displaced, or killed on a mass scale, they are first stripped of their humanity through words and imagery.

And yet, when similar language is used today to describe Palestinians, much of the world remains silent—or worse, offers its support.

If history has taught us anything, it is that when human beings are reduced to weeds, thorns, insects, or any other nuisance, the groundwork is being laid for people to accept what would otherwise be unacceptable.

That is why the language matters.

And that is why the silence is so troubling.

~ Mike Odetalla

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10166147366441977&set=a.10150390714236977

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B'Tselem: "Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem through discriminatory legislation, planning procedures, funding allocations and service provision, all designed to advance the Judaization of the area. "

B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم

@btselem

 

Immediately after occupying East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel annexed about 70,000 dunam (1 dunam = 0.1 hectares) from the West Bank to its territory in violation of international law. Parts of this area were added to Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries. 

 

One third of the annexed territory was used to build settlements expressly designed to secure a Jewish majority and create a contiguous territorial bloc, while pushing Palestinian communities out of the urban space. 

 

The Silwan area, located near the Old City, is home to about 20,000 Palestinians who suffer from systemic, criminal neglect in terms of public infrastructure and services the Jerusalem Municipality is obligated to provide: Many streets are unpaved, waste is left to pile up in the streets, and street lighting is limited. 

 

On top of this neglect, residents face daily harassment and violence by both Israeli security forces and settlers. 

 

Right now, about 1,800 Silwan residents are being forced out of their homes, which Israel is granting to settler families. This follows the past two years in which hundreds have already been uprooted and left homeless, as their houses are being demolished to make way for a national park and a parking lot. 

 

Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem through discriminatory legislation, planning procedures, funding allocations and service provision, all designed to advance the Judaization of the area. Read the full article >> https://btselem.org/jerusalem/2026

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NPR: Israel seizes medieval castle as it expands major offensive in southern Lebanon... "Israel must know that its scorched earth policy, collective punishment and expropriation of villages and towns will not achieve security and stability but will instead deepen the divide with the Lebanese people"

Israeli troops patrol at the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon. Israel said Sunday it had captured the hilltop castle, which provides a commanding view of southern Lebanon and northern Israel. Israel has been rapidly expanding its offensive in Lebanon in recent days.

Courtesy of Israel Defense Forces

Jane Arraf  reported from Beirut and Greg Myre  reported from Tel Aviv.

May 31, 20269:33 AM ET

 

BEIRUT, LEBANON — Israeli forces have captured a medieval castle in southern Lebanon which dates back to the Crusader era and raised their flag on the strategic mountaintop, part of Israel's deepest military push into Lebanon in 26 years.

Video showed the Israeli flag fluttering from atop the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle while black smoke billowed from the nearby town of Arnoun. The rapidly expanding Israeli operation, including a swathe of destroyed villages, suggests Israeli forces are planning an extended presence in the region.

Israel previously held the castle during an 18-year-old long military occupation that ended in 2000. A quarter-century later the Israelis are still fighting Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Iran.

In recent days, Israel has rushed in ground troops and intensified air strikes — while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to "crush" Hezbollah — despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that is officially still in place.

The fighting threatens to complicate, or even undermine, the U.S.-Iran efforts to end the war in Iran. Iran says any agreement must also include an end to the conflict in Lebanon.

"Our brave soldiers have captured the Beaufort once again — and they will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon," Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the invasion.

Middle East conflict

Mirroring Gaza, Israel is destroying towns and villages in southern Lebanon

"Israel must know that its scorched earth policy, collective punishment and expropriation of villages and towns will not achieve security and stability but will instead deepen the divide with the Lebanese people," he said in an address to the nation Saturday.

Israeli attacks and demolitions have leveled entire villages in southern Lebanon and have now displaced more than 1.2 million people. The Lebanese ministry of public health says more than 3,300 people have been killed, about 20 percent of them women, children and first responders... READ MORE  https://www.npr.org/2026/05/31/g-s1-125056/israel-seizes-medieval-beaufort-castle-southern-lebanon

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This isn't Gaza today, it's Yaffa (Jaffa) in 1948. No H*mas, no October 7. Just the same story repeating itself: erase, then occupy.

 queenofpalestine

Yafa (Jaffa), once known as the Bride of the Sea, is a Palestinian city rich in history, culture, and resilience. Overlooking the Mediterranean, Yafa was a thriving Palestinian hub before 1948—known for its bustling markets, historic architecture, and vibrant cultural life. Today, though much has changed, the heart of Yafa remains deeply Palestinian, a testament to the unbreakable bond between its people and their land.

A City of History and Prosperity

For centuries, Yafa was one of the most significant cities in Palestine. With a history dating back over 4,000 years, it was a center of trade, agriculture, and culture. By the early 20th century, Yafa was a leading Palestinian city, known for:

• Thriving orange groves, especially the famous Jaffa oranges, which were exported worldwide. The famous Jaffa cakes were invented in Yafa.

• A bustling port, connecting Palestine to the rest of the world.

• A cultural renaissance, with newspapers, theaters, and literary circles flourishing.

The city was home to tens of thousands of Palestinians—Muslims and Christians—who lived, worked, and contributed to its rich social fabric.

The Nakba and the Loss of Yafa-

In 1948, terrorist Zionist gangs carried out a genocide on Yafa residents, forcibly displacing more than 95% of its Palestinian population.

Before Hamas existed.
Before 7th October 2023.

📸 @mohammedsh.gaza #repost @corkhcw

 https://www.instagram.com/p/DQO5IsrjYae/

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"They massacred Arab babies" -1948 headline reporting on the Palestinian village of Dier Yassin where Zionist terrorists armed with bayonets slaughted men, women, and children.

Headlined in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, 1948. 

Monson did not try to downplay Zionist crimes and he humanised the Palestinian victims. 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/973772025/?match=1&terms=They%20massacred%20Arab%20babies&clipping_id=189895560

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