I want you to be free and alive.
Even though many of your people have been attacked and have died.
Though rubble surrounds you, your spirit won’t fall.
You carry the strength of the mighty and small
I see your courage in each tear you hide,
And in dreams that still bloom though the world has denied.
Why does my government side with Israel?
Children of Palestine, we have failed.
Why must the media fill us with lies?
We’re becoming desensitized.
If I don’t speak up I’m just like them.
If I choose to stay silent I’m part of the problem.
We don’t care about injustice till it affects us,
Till the pain breaks our comfort and dares to test us.
But your cries echo louder than borders or pride,
And the truth keeps on knocking though we try to hide.
I sit with the weight of a world gone blind,
Where profit and power outweigh being kind.
But you are not numbers, not footage or noise
You’re futures and families, you’re dreams and joys.
I cannot undo what’s been done,
But I’ll speak, I’ll resist, I won’t be just one
More silent witness to your stolen years.
I’ll shout through your sorrow, I’ll fight through your tears.
Let my words be a shelter, my voice be a flame,
That burns through the apathy, guilt, and shame.
Because if love means anything at all,
It means standing beside you each time you fall.
Dear children of Palestine, this world may be cold,
But your story, your struggle, deserves to be told.
So continue to grow, with power and grace,
For no wall can cage a soul or erase
The truth of your story, your right to be
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Jessica Johnson (UK)
