{"id":42025,"date":"2025-11-26T13:28:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42025"},"modified":"2025-11-26T13:45:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T11:45:39","slug":"42025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42025","title":{"rendered":"GAZA \u2014 A Lament by Salah Gomaa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Poetry:, Ashraf AboArafe<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">O<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Gaza\u2026 since your distant cry drew near,<br \/>\nmy heart has rallied, trembling yet sincere.<br \/>\nAnd <strong>Salah Gomaa<\/strong>, with a watcher\u2019s faithful flame,<br \/>\nsets down the truth though sorrow speaks its name.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You linger still within my soul\u2019s embrace,<br \/>\nas faith once carved its light upon your face.<br \/>\nI walk your thirsty streets; their broken doors<br \/>\nreach out with longing no siege ever ignores.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Your ageless tale has shaped my inner years,<br \/>\nand planted patience deep beyond my fears.<br \/>\nI saw a child, an orphan of the fire,<br \/>\nwear honor as his shield, his lone attire.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I saw a mother\u2014grief upon her throne\u2014<br \/>\nrelease her final light to save her own.<br \/>\nO Gaza of endurance\u2026 children\u2019s song,<br \/>\nteaching the tears to rise, proud and strong.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And now destruction like a blazing tide<br \/>\nsweeps through your alleys; nothing stays, nor hides.<br \/>\nYet <strong>Gomaa<\/strong>, walking through the smoke and night,<br \/>\nbears witness still, and will not veil the light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What harm had your small smiling homes begun,<br \/>\nthat every feast returns with mourning undone?<br \/>\nBut still you stand, like water\u2014pure and clear\u2014<br \/>\nno bomb can stain the depths you hold sincere.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You live as long as breath in humankind,<br \/>\nas long as history turns and calls your mind.<br \/>\nYou stand\u2014O shrine of free hearts\u2014testifying<br \/>\nthat dignity is born where all is dying.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">O Gaza of tomorrow\u2026 from your pain<br \/>\na city rises, crowned with steadfast grain.<br \/>\nFor twenty years your tale has taught the earth<br \/>\nwhat truth is worth when blindness steals its worth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">From Gaza\u2019s shore to Jerusalem\u2019s height,<br \/>\na people claims again their stolen right.<br \/>\nNo dream of theirs is lost; only those fall<br \/>\nwho fail to see the greatness in their call.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">O home whose doorway opened freedom\u2019s gate,<br \/>\nyour noble blood has never bowed to fate.<br \/>\nAnd still one truth endures, through fire and flood:<br \/>\nthe land is one\u2014<br \/>\nand you remain its living, beating blood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poetry:, Ashraf AboArafe &nbsp; O\u00a0Gaza\u2026 since your distant cry drew near, my heart has rallied, trembling yet sincere. And Salah Gomaa, with a watcher\u2019s faithful flame, sets down the truth though sorrow speaks its name. You linger still within my soul\u2019s embrace, as faith once carved its light upon your face. I walk your thirsty &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,388],"tags":[22385,22386,7459,22387],"class_list":["post-42025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chief-editor","category-slide","tag-a-lament","tag-by-salah","tag-gaza","tag-gomaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42029,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42025\/revisions\/42029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}