{"id":250072,"date":"2023-12-11T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=250072"},"modified":"2023-12-09T07:25:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T07:25:09","slug":"for-refaat-alareer-a-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/12\/for-refaat-alareer-a-tribute\/","title":{"rendered":"For Refaat Alareer: A Tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>

\u201cI am going to use that marker to throw it at the Israeli soldiers, even if that is the last thing that I do,\u201d Refaat Alareer vowed in one of his final interviews.<\/p><\/div>\n

9 Dec 2023 – They killed a poet in Gaza on Wednesday [6 Dec]. Well, as much as you can kill a poet, anyway. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They killed a poet in Gaza<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Well, as much as you can kill a poet, anyway.
\nKill a poet and his poems fight on.
\nThat poet is still throwing his marker<\/a> at the bastards.<\/p>\n

A poet may have hands like velveteen mittens,
\nbut he can fight on even if he has no hands at all.<\/p>\n

A poet may have a home made of zip-ties and tarps,
\nbut he can fight on even if he sleeps on rubble.<\/p>\n

A poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no legs.
\nA poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no arms.
\nA poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no teeth.
\nA poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no eyes.
\nA poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no hope.
\nA poet can fight on even if he\u2019s got no life.
\nA poet can fight on even after he has drawn his last breath,
\neven after they\u2019ve returned him to earth\u2019s womb,
\neven after his possessions have been divided among his loved ones,
\neven after the flesh has gone from his bones,
\neven after there\u2019s no memory of him besides the poems he left behind.<\/p>\n

Poets can midwife a new world into being.
\nPoets can give people a vision to fight for.
\nPoets can change reality.
\nPoets are powerful.
\nThat\u2019s why people kill them.<\/p>\n

I saw a video of two young boys strolling through Gaza
\nnursing some tea in a paper cup,
\ngossiping like the two old men
\nthey might never get to be.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a bee burrowing a hole in my door
\nand a siren going off in my head,
\nbecause the drones never stop in Gaza,
\nand because there are bodies popped open by girders,
\nburied under ruins rained down on by hellfire,
\nnear where mothers lie awake weighing
\nwhether it would be better to live without her children
\nor for her kids to live without her,
\nand we know this alarm won\u2019t stop
\nuntil the explosions stop,
\nuntil the screams stop,
\nuntil the bleeding stops,
\nuntil healing begins,
\nuntil justice is served,
\nuntil the bastards are beaten,
\nuntil a healthy world has been born.<\/p>\n

Refaat, until there is justice,
\nI will throw my marker at them too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Caitlin Johnstone<\/p><\/div>\n

________________________________<\/p>\n

\u2018If I must die, let it be a tale\u2019<\/em>: A Tribute to Refaat Alareer\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>by Max Blumenthal \u2013 The Grayzone<\/em>, 7 Dec 2023<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly\u00a0<\/em>at <\/em><\/a>Medium<\/a>. Contact: <\/em>admin@caitlinjohnstone.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 caitlinjohnstone.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

9 Dec 2023 – They killed a poet in Gaza on Wednesday [6 Dec]. Well, as much as you can kill a poet, anyway. Plus: A Tribute, by Max Blumenthal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":250086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[1199,87,865,88,715,427,868],"class_list":["post-250072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-israel","tag-massacre","tag-palestine","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250072"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250089,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250072\/revisions\/250089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}