[R-G] FW: Warsaw Ghetto Abu Dis: Five Haikus on the Apartheid Wall

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From: Laurie King-Irani [mailto:lkirani at uvic.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 1:02 AM
To: lkirani at uvic.ca
Subject: Warsaw Ghetto Abu Dis: Five Haikus on the Apartheid Wall


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Warsaw Ghetto Abu Dis: Five haikus on the Apartheid Wall
Laurie King-Irani, The Electronic Intifada, 17 February 2004
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An obscene monument to the belief that "too much is never enough,"
Israel's monstrous Apartheid Wall is a visible indictment of the
racist folly of forcibly separating people from each other and the
places they love.

The visual and moral affront of the Apartheid Wall prompted these
observations, expressed through a subtle Japanese poetic form, the
haiku. An ancient Japanese literary form, the haiku embodies the
principle that "less is more" and delights in mixing categories and
crossing boundaries through the magic of metaphor.

Haikus are understated and simple. They consist of three verses,
the first and last of which have five syllables, while the second
has seven. Deceptively light and playful, a haiku often conveys
harsh critiques and deeper meanings. And by linking images and
ideas conventionally separated by the walls of everday logic,
haikus can open windows on new perspectives and encourage new
possibilities.

I.

Concrete smothers sky,
Shadows mar all they covet.
No birds can reach us.

II.

Separation Wall:
No branches, roots or flowers.
A grave in mid-air.

III.

Arrogant tower,
Robotic head so haughty.
How sad you can't dance.

IV.

A scar legions long.
But the operation failed:
Bitterness infects the land.

V.

Their fathers, our sons
encircled by fear and hate.
Bricks are kin to slaves.


(Laurie King-Irani, a co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, teaches
anthropology in Victoria, British Columbia, and resorts to poetry
when op eds and analyses fall on deaf ears.)
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Laurie King-Irani, Ph.D.
Lecturer
Department of Anthropology
B-320 Cornett Building
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC, Canada
V8W 2Y2


lkirani at uvic.ca
250/721-6159 (office)
250/213-6872 (mobile)


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