Do Not Fear
“Do not fear their bullets, the roads and valleys know me. My footprints are still there. The trees protect me, the hills conceal me, the foxes, the birds, the dogs, they will not betray me.”
These videos make me feel like the land itself is rebelling against its abusers, it reminded me of a line from my grandfather’s diaries of the Nakba:
“And this is your land. I feel sorry for you because you have to inherit it while it is in the hands of the aggressors. If you weren’t too young and fragile we would walk quietly in the shadows of the night, you could get to know it up close. I could guide you to the borders of my farms. Why do you look at me like that? Don’t be scared. Do not fear the bullets of the enemies. I know every road. I know the hideouts in the valleys and the valleys know me. My footprints are still there. The trees protect me, the hills conceal me, the foxes, the birds, the dogs, they will not betray me. They all know me and they will shield us from the enemy, they would jump for joy at my presence. You would be safe if you arrived to your land in the nighttime. This time it is just enough to say hello from afar, it is enough for me. In the region between your eyes, in the vast area of our holy land, between Gaza and Beer-Sheba, I lived most of my life. Before it was covered in the shroud of memory.” - Jum’aa Hammad, A Journey Of Loss