Why wield words?
I mean,
anymore—
life’s larynx shredded raw from screaming names for this carnage into Palestinian graves eight and more billion bodies deep,
tongues bitten to pieces searching for languages of heartbreak and rage ancient enough to end the butchering of all life’s creations,
their meat still moist, burning chunks buried beneath concrete rubble and cruelty, fresh
flesh drinking in the dust and bone,
greying, greening,
grieving, grieving, grieving—
to the left, a smallish calf, sinews stretching from medic’s hand to land dangling like bat quivered to meet ball before the bombs blew generations into smithereens—
head-less, hand-less, hip-less, knee-less, children’s feet everywhere, not in pairs, not even their parents can seem to match them, neighbours searching for shoes in rivers of each other’s mothers’ blood—
so when, to the soundtrack of Israeli missiles droning through the sky, Saeed smashed the chains yoking a heavy cart to the festering wounds on a starving donkey’s back with his anger and his love
his axe spoke the only honest word.
Dedicated to Saeed Al Err, founder of Sulala Animal Rescue, and his family including eight children, and volunteers. Sulala is the first and largest animal rescue center in Gaza, Palestine since 2006. Saeed and all are risking and dedicating their lives to feed, shelter, heal and care for hundreds of stray animals in Gaza, including disabled dogs and increasingly animals who have been wounded and made homeless or who have lost their human and nonhuman families to the Israeli aggression. As I write this, they have run out of food and medicine for the animals, food for themselves, and much of their hope for supplies getting in or them getting out together. Saeed has told his friends that he will not leave the animals. Just before I wrote this, he posted a video of himself treating a donkey’s terrible wounds from maltreatment. He bought the donkey to rescue it from abuse amidst the ambient violence. You can hear the Israeli drones in the background, as you can in most videos filmed in Gaza these days. In Arabic, Sulala means something near to ‘children,’ ‘descendants,’ ‘family line,’ ‘adopted’ or ‘ancestry’ – in other words, kin. In all languages now, I think it must mean love.
Also dedicated to Norton (the donkey has a new name, and donkey Rose and two other donkeys who have joined Sulala since.
Update (22 December 2023). The cruelty is relentless and these words are already ghosts. It has been one day since I posted this and the IDF has now ordered everyone to leave this area as they will be bombing it too. They are trying to organize to move the many animals and themselves to safety. Nowhere is safe.
Update (23 February 2024). The genocide has relentlessly continued and Israel, the US and their allies have escalated the ethic cleansing and ecocide of the Palestinian people. South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice only to prove the court complicit in the atrocities and Zionist project. The Sulala family has been displaced three times now and each time have taken more the than 150 animals with them, including many sick and disabled dogs, cats and donkeys. Neither the humans nor the animals have enough food. They could be bombed any minute. And still, they are lovingly taking animals into their care and supporting others to do the same.
Sulala Animal Rescue is still benefiting from financial donations, even if they could not be used to buy food for the animals or humans. Animals Australia is collecting for them, and you can donate via PayPal.
Sarah Amsler 