Against a greyish backdrop of an entire
block of concrete apartments in Gaza –
hapazardly demolished by aerial
and/or artillery and/or tank
bombardments – a photograph in Haaretz
shows a group of ten female soldiers
in olive green posing relaxedly
for a selfie. I do not know their names.
They are somebody’s daughters, who, no doubt,
would consider themselves and probably are
generally decent, and well meaning.
In another Haaretz photograph,
about an hour and half away by car – the time
it would take me to drive from here to Blackpool –
is a ten year old West Bank boy called Amro,
a name which means ‘To Live a Long Time’.
He has a serious look on his face
as he poses for the camera.
He is holding up a flannelgraph version
of the Solar System, which he has made.
I do not know what has become of the young women
posing like tourists among the ruins.
Sitting on the family car’s front seat
with his dad and his seven year old brother,
Amro – for no apparent reason, by design
or accident – was shot in the head,
and died. The bullet was fired by a young man
in a purpose-built concrete watch tower.
Note: Here are the links to the two photographs described in the poem and published in Haaretz on 20.3.24 & 16.3.24 respectively –
By David Selzer
