This is not a war.
However long or short,
the word ‘war’ tends
to suggest a beginning,
middle and end.
How can it end, when we have lent
favour to one bickering child
over the other for so long;
rewarding Israel with supportive treats
and condemning Palestine for being wrong?
However disillusioned it may be,
the word ‘war’ implies
some kind of victory
when tallying up those who’ve died.
Which volunteers will pick their way
through the mountains
and deserts, search the caves
for what, in theory, should be shredded remains –
the bloody results of expensive missiles;
destructive toys in a guesswork game?
However obscene it might sound,
the word ‘war’ translates as
involving non-renewable resources
i.e. the ones who finish in the ground.
Technically, doesn’t there exist
an unlimited supply
of people believing in the Middle Eastern cause
so much so, they volunteer to die,
as those angry or young enough to be influenced
can forever be taught
that the only solution resides in violence?
However discarded our dictionaries,
the word ‘war’ is defined
by two sides in conflict,
of different nationalities.
What is wrong with Western society,
that we find it so hard to conceive
of citizens all across the world
identifying with a wronged community;
that we are unwilling to swallow our share of the blame,
instead labelling their attempts to resist
thoughtless interference – deployed in our name –
as ‘acts of extremists’?
However biased or ignorant,
the word ‘war’ often produces
one side that emerges as righteous,
the other dubbed as villains.
So how will the roles be divided,
blurred as each commits its atrocities,
showing disregard for human life,
freedom and open-minded compromise;
when hostages are decapitated, and bodies
forever fall from flaming towers; when broadcast soldiers
drop bombs and racial slurs simultaneously;
while we fail to halt extradition to torture;
when, overall, the initial causes are discounted shamelessly?
This is not a war.
