“The current war on Gaza has since silenced almost 35,000 voices, shut 35,000 eyes and maimed thousands more, many of whom no longer possess the ability for expression. Yet art has a way of transcending, even flourishing, through pain; one even dares to say that pain is its greatest muse, and in Palestine pain has become part of everyday life.” ArtWarPoetryIsraelWritersFreedom Of SpeechMusePalestineGaza Author:Aysha Taryam
“Israel’s well documented systematic targeting of truth seekers is a grave crime against humanity. It is an inexcusable eradication of a people’s interaction with the hideousness of their reality.” ArtWarIsraelWritersFreedom Of SpeechPalestineGaza Author:Aysha Taryam
“Maya Angelou spoke of why the caged bird sings and of the courage it takes for literature to crush racism and face trauma. Angelou said the caged bird sings when his wing is bruised and he beats his bars to be free, here’s hoping that every cage be broken through and every bruised wing be healed by the joy of freedom so that it could soar. There are no gardens in prison for the poet to see yet his words make the cage bloom.” ArtPrisonIsraelWritersFreedom Of SpeechPalestineGazaMaya AngelouWhy The Caged Bird Sings Author:Aysha Taryam
“The West’s credibility as a reference for all things human rights related has waned and is now almost non-existent. The war on Gaza has cost them more than just weapons, it has set the West back hundreds of years and tarnished their image as the leaders of humanity.” AmericaHumanityHuman RightsIsraelPalestineIdeologiesWestern Ideals Author:Aysha Taryam
“Equating a pro-Palestinian stance to an anti-Semitic one is rendering the cause undignified by smearing it with an unjustifiable hatred for another. It is a cowardly way out of a real debate and a productive dialogue.” WarDemocracyIsraelProtestPalestineGazaAntisemitism Author:Aysha Taryam
“The words have forasken us but we continue to write because the brave souls of Gaza continue to bleed. It is as if we are part of an endless funeral procession. The grief comes in waves, it ebbs and flows but mostly it crashes onto our hearts with great force and leaves us breathless. Helpless.” WarGriefIsraelGenocidePalestineGazaAysha TaryamSurvivor Guilt Author:Aysha Taryam
“History will remember this war on Palestinian civilians and their displacement as the moment the world woke up to the Zionist plans of occupation and expansion.” WarIsraelGenocidePalestineGazaZionismAysha Taryam Author:Aysha Taryam
“One must hesitate when calling these protests pro-Palestinian because in that labelling, we lose their truth. They are protests against senseless killings, they are a rejection of regimes that support occupation and a cry for an end to war as a pathway to peace. These protests are pro-humanity in its true sense of the word, an all-encompassing humanity that is not cherry-picked by the powers that be. They are protests against hypocrisy and for a right to life.” FreedomHuman RightsIsraelProtestPalestineGazaPro PalestineStudent Protest Author:Aysha Taryam
“When the contradictions weigh on you, know that this has never been a war of rights and wrongs, of what is just and what is fair. Never has it been a war of political logic or historic sense. All it ever was and will ever be is a war of semantics that altered, redefined and constructed today’s reality and tomorrow’s path.” WarIsraelPalestineZionistGazaZionismAysha TaryamGaza StripGaza WarIsrael Palestinian Conflict Author:Aysha Taryam