Iqraa alum Ramsey (2024) shared poems for this week, enveloping the prosaic Iqraa messages. Ramsey’s book Fugitive Dreams (2022) and other works are available here.

From the Sea to the River

I cannot talk about the house of my grandfather

In Lydd

That’s too contro-vers-ial!

I cannot tell you about my cousin

Who “died in an airstrike”

Nor can I name the killer.

I will be banned if I showed you a picture

of his charred toddler,

Deported! if I held a vigil in their honor.

Such actions surely diss-comfort another.

I cannot dispute the forty headless babies,

Rape-lies, or other October horrors.

I cannot name the land of my mother

I cannot say, “From the river…”

The sea, I cannot see

Without the jailer’s letter

Never mind,

This land freely flows in my blood—

Every inch of it

Every tree, every flower

From the Sea,

To the River

It is Palestine—Falasteen

Forever!

In solidarity with Mahmoud Khalil and all

others being persecuted for the defense of human rights.

~Ramsey Hanhan (March 2025)

Ok, the Iqraa prose… First, this Saturday’s run is a 10- and 20-miler from Carderock, the training version of the MCC’s former Revenge of the Penguins race (MCC email has details).

  •  It’s one of two 20-milers on the schedule for marathon trainees and is meant to be a simulated race, so for all our runners: please come if you’re in town!  

Short notes on the importance of fundraising:

  • Most directly of course, it’s our mission: Support education for Palestinian youth.
    • You know what they say when someone messes up? “You only had one job.” Ok, we do have more than one job—and we’re not messing up–but the “brightness” in Running for a brighter Palestine relies completely on us.
  • Our outreach is a genuine opportunity to educate people on what’s happening in Palestine—oppression–and what should be happening: Education toward liberation.
    • You know your audience and yourself; it’s simply a matter of saying what you think and tailoring your message to the recipient. 
  • Finally, an important aspect of asking for support is ensuring sponsors know how to support you. For that, you[‘ll need a fundraising page, so click on the following link and Become a Fundraiser 

And last call for “Why do I run for Iqraa” quotes.

  •  Guidelines: A few sentences, no more than a paragraph
  • Please indicate whether your name can be used: first, first and last, or no name.
  • UPA plans to use the quotes in its outreach, so it’s an opportunity for us to boost fundraising: tuition for university scholarships.

Last week/this week. Last Saturday at Lock 6, Cathy sent photos with Bill and Reza, while I walked near Fremont CA where Shobi and I are vacationing with her cousins. This Saturday, is the simulated race from Carderock. Each of the charities, including Iqraa, is providing an aid station.

And now, back to Ramsey…

Airplanes

The morning of October 7, we woke up in Ramallah to a confusion of news. By afternoon, we were bracing for Israel’s blows. The videos from past Gaza bombings, three in the past two years, reeled in our heads: Whole buildings tumbling down on the lives and families inside.

So everyone in Ramallah understood what that airplane sound above us that night meant.

What do I pray for when planes roar overhead?

That the pilot will have a heart,

And not push the button?

That the plane will malfunction?

Fall from the sky,

Perhaps on a stolen city?

That somehow a homemade rocket will intercept an F-35?

That the bomb

Will not

Kill

Children,

Like every time before?

The planes roar overhead.

What is there left to pray?

~Ramsey Hanhan (October 7, 2023)

Praying for a brighter Palestine.