This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.

—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a since deleted tweet

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you take the land

but it does not produce for you. 

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you rename the villages

but we still sing their first names. 

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you poison the water 

find us collecting rain. 

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you kill the pregnant mothers, 

but their infants still live 

and drink from the river

eat from the sea. 

‍

you ban our flag

we open watermelons.  

‍

you build walls

but our voices still carry 

our stories still reach. 

‍

you hunt the journalists 

but their truths survive. 

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you bury families alive.

you burn even the house cat 

break the bones of the mule 

‍

you call us animals and we agree

we don’t want any part of your humanity. 

‍

you bomb the bakeries

we all know how to make bread. 

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you arrest the children

they grow starved for freedom. 

‍

you bulldoze the olive 

but we still have the seeds

watch now they’ve taken root 

in every country. 

‍

children of light

you have worked very hard

to have nothing. 

‍

light does not exist 

without darkness. In the beginning

there was darkness. 

We will exist 

in the end.