Chapter Forty-Three ISHMAEL [ a poem ]        Tick-tock goes the time bomb in a crowded train station,         as a thin angry man awaits his final destination        The priest wears fine robes mocking souls he can’t save,         beseeching a wayward flock to somehow behave        Restless children stare out stained-glass windows into space         beyond a statue of Jesus silently weeping in disgrace        “I’m no plastic statue, my name’s Liberty”, but no one hears         amongst rosaries and Christian bells of St. Marie        In between bites of Thanksgiving Day turkey,         on the early-evening six o’clock news        Another crumbled edifice lying in shattered ruins         and another dozen or more dead Jews        As full plates of potatoes and stuffing are passed,         we are reminded of holocaust and of people gassed        And as the media once more defines dubious lines of war,         once again it is explained just who the terrorists are        Oh say, can you see?  America pretends to be free         as she carves up the world how she wants it to be        Amidst politics of expediency doling out military aid         and it doesn’t much matter who ends up enslaved        Democracy is never really considered in the equation,         nor does she stoop to defend a third-world African nation        While ignoring terrorism and tyranny in countries without oil,         In a guise of self-protection, she wages war on foreign soil        Before the Creator there is no dark or light,         no male or female, no one wronged who’s right        There is no ‘homo’ or ‘hetero’ sexual         There is no fool or wise intellectual        No slave or free, no Palestinian, Jew or Greek,         no brave or honorable person, there is no strong or weak        We are one blood, one creation, under God indivisible,         any imagined difference is superficial and artificial ¹        As long as America operates as if superior to other nations         there will be foreign wars and homeland tribulations        And as long as we enslave a single brother of humanity         there are no Human Rights nor are any of us free        So, let there be peace on earth and goodwill toward all         and may insanity's roaring lion cease her battle call        This plea goes up to the Father of Lights and Human Rights,         beyond universes infinity, above who there is no other        Just a note signed father Abraham, on behalf of my son and         Palestinian brother.        The priest wears fine robes mocking souls he can’t save,         beseeching a wayward flock to somehow behave        Restless children stare out stained-glass windows into space         beyond a statue of Jesus silently weeping in disgrace        “I’m no plastic statue, my name’s Liberty”, but no one hears         amongst rosaries and Christian bells of St. Marie        Tick-tock goes the time bomb in a crowded train station,         as a thin angry man awaits his final destination * ** INTERPAL: Helping Palestinians In Need Jewish Students for Palestinian Rights Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Center DEDICATED TO:  Muhammad Ali, America's great world champion of peace.  Also dedicated to George Karsa, who helped the author understand the truth regarding the plight of the Palestinian population.  Since before the days of the reprobate fanaticism of Senator Joe McCarthy, mainstream media sources have consistently misrepresented and otherwise, deliberately distorted and downplayed the plight of the Palestinian population.  Consistently displaying extreme bias towards U.S. backed militant Zionists, they deserve to be severely censured by the Nobel committee and other literary organizations for ongoing deliberate distortion of the truth for monetary gain. Credits: Based on Galatians 3:28; a paraphrase. *FootNote:  How twisted the self-justifying turns of history's bloody path, now pitting Abraham against his own flesh and blood.  For here at the beginning of the 21st Century, we have Abraham from "Ur of the Chaldees", once located in modern-day Iraq, locked in a duel to the death between his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, as self-proclaimed ‘God fearing’ onward Christian soldier warmongering hypocrites of neo-conservative America go out to conquer and destroy what this now famous humble sojourner once called his home.  For whom now, will the cracked corporation-corrupted bell of pseudo-liberty toll and for whom now will Rachel’s voice in Ramah be heard? The United States claims to be a beacon for democracy, liberty and justice for all.  Yet this same modern ‘enlightened’ nation continues to provide more military aid for Israel than humanitarian aid for the entire continent of Africa, where millions of people are currently literally starving to death.  And while millions of her own people remain without health care, jobless and homeless, the United States continues to go to war whenever her supply of cheap oil is perceived to be the least bit threatened.  The United States does not go to war against countries in Africa, South America and elsewhere over gross Human Rights violations and continues to ignore and often supports, dictatorships of tyranny among oil-less nations.  Yet the corporation beholding dishonest and misguided leadership of our country claims to wage war only to protect the Human Rights and liberties of us all. It has become political suicide to not back arms for Israel in the United States and spineless preachers, priests and rabbis go right along with the utterly corrupt genocidal program, fearing backlash from parishioners and peers if they dare speak otherwise.  Likewise, a wicked and soulless media, more concerned with advertising revenue than exposing the truth, continues to misrepresent and deliberately deceive the American public regarding the political reality and gross injustices of the current Palestinian occupation.  The tyrannical Zionist leaders of Israel, apparently no better than the current globally myopic warmongering hypocritical Bush Junior administration, may indeed have the backing and support of the U. S. media and the American conservative Christian community.  But it will be a cold day in hell before Israel's despicable leadership has the backing of Jeremiah, Isaiah, King David and Abraham in their ongoing efforts to subjugate and/or eliminate, the largely comparatively unarmed Palestinian population.  "Ishmael" means literally, "God hears"; apparently virtually no one else does. **FootNote II:  Many throw up their hands in dismay and claim there is no solution to the Israeli/Palestinian problem.  The truth is, the solution for this historically volatile portion of the globe is the same as the solution necessary everywhere else.  We need to move away from destructive ideologies of "I, me, mine" toward the planetary solution of "this land is OUR land." The true and correct political solution remains, to treat each other as we ourselves, wish to be treated.  As long as militant Zionists insist on enslaving the Palestinian population, that is, as long as both Israelis and Palestinians do not both experience a joint and equitable reality of Human and Civil Rights, we can expect nothing better than war and rumor of war.  Where people are subjugated and flagrantly oppressed, it is an historical given that violence will eventually, if not immediately erupt.  All parties involved need to move away from what America, modern capitalism, modern conservative Christians and other radical fundamentalist elements would do and move toward what Jesus would do.  Thus loudly speaks the lessons of the American Civil War and the Russian Revolution and likewise, the Great Lesson coming down through history's bloody pages is clearly defined.             'Click Here' To Purchase This Book 'Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © August 20th, 2003 by Richard Aberdeen. No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author.  Inquiries: Freedom Tracks Records or requested via eMail.  Essays entitled Revolution and Revolution - Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced as often as one likes.