The strong, brown and henna bearing hands dug me a hole to serve as a loving womb. I sat there small yet secure, waiting for the rain – and sometimes the tears – to feed me life. As a sprout I dug myself up to find myself between my rising siblings who were hugging the confident and fair sun. I was showered with love and hate, with peace and war, and with screams and music. When the hands that planted me embraced my trunk, I felt at home...I felt I belonged. However the thunder of gunfire and angry boots crushed the serenity, and shook my existence. I tried to stand but the forces were stronger…and I succumbed watching my lifeless body bidding this land farewell. When I finally fell over the land upon which I once stood tall, I gazed into this beautiful, unjust world. Only then did I find the unborn, fragile seeds hiding in the blood-soaked soil, waiting for death before seeing life. It was then that I realised that my sacrifice was not in vain, and that I will live on in this holy land through the seeds that my lifeless body is protecting. And that through these seeds I was, still am, and will be.
George Orwell said in his famous book 1984 that “first they steal the words, then they steal the meaning”, accurately foreseeing the political actions of world leaders and their manipulation of public opinion. His words are ever so precise once one examines the vocabulary applied by a number of world leaders when describing the policies and regimes of troubling countries: axis of evil, war on terror, terrorist killers, harbourers of fundamentalism etc. Ironic it is to see how those who were once described to have been allies with Satan himself seem to show good will in a matter of very few years. Iran is one very good example of this. The Persian nation has come out as a winner in the Geneva talks that were held in October, where not only did it get applauded for the concessions it offered, but it also ensured the west’s acceptance of its regional weight. Everyone seems to be more relaxed after the negotiations and ...
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