Shalom, (Greek follows English)
Today I felt that the hope for peace in the Middle East was rekindled, through Benjamin Netanyahu’s inspiring speech to the UN. Netanyahu asserted that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is around the corner.
I was listening to the speech on the radio in Jerusalem, and felt the uplifting atmosphere of raprochement present in that UN hall. This special, communal, and cooperative atmosphere, instilled hope in me and reminded me of a poem I wrote back in 2009.
Titled They All Sound Like Love Songs, the poem summarized for me my feeling upon reading all foureen poems that had come to me that night, at my home in Kibbutz Kramim, upon returning home, past the joint Palestinian-Israeli Women’s conference in Beer Sheva, in May 2009.
The project, called Joint Ventures for Peace was funded by the Canadian Government and was jointly organized by the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development along with a Palestinian Women’s NGO that wishes to remain anonymous.
From Jerusalem with love,
Yvette Nahmia-Messinas
They All Sound Like Love Songs
They all sound like love songs
from the yearning to meet you,
Know you, connect to you, love you.
They have tried to keep us away for so long.
Roadblocks,
barriers,
borders,
checkpoints
all aiming to stop
the flow of love and friendship,
peace and understanding,
humanness and common sense of us women.
Όλα Ακούγονται σαν Τραγούδια Αγάπης
Όλα ακούγονται σαν τραγούδια αγάπης
από την λαχτάρα να σας συναντήσουμε,
να σας γνωρίσουμε, να συνδεθούμε μαζί σας, να σας αγαπήσουμε.
Προσπάθησαν να μας κρατήσουν μακριά τόσον καιρό.
Οδοφράγματα,
εμπόδια,
σύνορα,
σταθμοί ελέγχου
όλα με σκοπό να διακόψουν
τη ροή αγάπης και φιλίας
ειρήνης και κατανόησης
ανθρωπιάς και κοινού νου εμάς των γυναικών.