Mentors and artists from around the world have joined with youth in Gaza to create a platform for mentoring youth to tell the human stories behind the numbers in the news.
By Basman Derawi | We Are Not Numbers | July 26, 2020
I swallow my sour saliva and try to hold on to what I believe.
Hello, God.
How are you today?
I don’t know what day
of the global lockdown it is.
Here, we are always
in lockdown.
News swirls in the rumor mill
that is social media:
Young people committing suicide.
Not just one, but five.
I swallow my sour saliva
and try to hold on to what I believe.
I want to die, but I want to live first:
out of prison, in a place where
I can move freely,
light is not a privilege
and hope is realistic.
I hate counting time.
I escaped once,
to the capitals in my dreams.
I miss the crowded airports,
the mix of languages,
the swirl of cultures:
freedom.
HolyLandJustice.org 