By 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 –
GazaHaaretzIsraelPalestineWest Bank
Kate Harrison
April 26, 2024Reading today’s poems, I’m saddened by the thought of that many millions never have the opportunity to make even a small mark. We focus on Anne Frank’s diary without considering that it has to stand for millions of young people who came before and after. Amro’s solar system, brave but fleeting. The anonymous bricks.
I suppose at some point somewhere in Europe, Marcus Aurelius probably also said .Be Excellent to Each Other’. Clearly some – people? nations? – don’t feel the need to be.
Jeff Teasdale
April 27, 2024Thank you, David. Very poignant and thought-provoking. Every war has these kinds of images…the ‘victors’ and their ‘victims’. I see no way out of this situation, sadly.
I hope he wasn’t shot through the head by a British-made bullet. There’s a lot of money being made somewhere…
Elise Oliver
April 27, 2024Some weeks ago, when I first saw the photo of the female soldiers taking a selfie in front of the bombed out buildings, I had to defrag my brain and my emotions – it was startling.The original photo was much clearer than the one in your link and a few of them were obviously laughing. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I assumed that the gratification was a consequence of military and cultural conditioning and indoctrination but I wanted to weep in despair. The next Gaza image I came across was of a day-old baby girl, still alive but with fatal head and body injuries, caused by the bombing. How long will it take for their planets to be aligned and who will have the courage to do so? It is already too late for Amro and tens of thousands of other children.
KEVIN DYER
April 27, 2024I really appreciate the reportage of this.
I think it is a writer’s job to write about the big stuff. Not all the time, of course, because we need to laugh and treasure beauty and celebrate goodness etc etc etc.
But this piece is a necessary piece it seems to me. (And damn well put together, too.) Thank you.
Tim Ellis
April 28, 2024Powerful writing. The most innocent looking images can sometimes be the most shocking.
David Press
May 15, 2024Very poignant, and challenging and beautifully written.
I’m interested in your describing the selfie as comprising 9 soldiers where there are, in fact, ten. Was that deliberate?
Also made me think of the selfies taken at the Re’im music festival e.g.:
https://images.app.goo.gl/3kDCWdaP7zBJQ4fB7
David Selzer
May 15, 2024It was an error, David – now corrected! Thank you. And thank you for the kind words, and the chilling link.
Rosanna McGlone
May 17, 2024I completely agree with Kevin Dyer’s comment below. This is a very poignant poem about a genocide from which we can’t look away. Well done for having the courage to highlight it.