Kill Them With Kindness

"الشهيد"

“The martyr”

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Oil on canvas,

In the first month of the genocide there was so much pro Palestine fervor, more than I had ever seen before. Many zionists were consoling themselves by outright stating that the rest of the world would get tired of seeing the conflict and move on, allowing Israel to act with impunity. And unfortunately all signs were pointing to that. Pro Palestine content was starting to get suppressed on social media. The protests got smaller and smaller.

Then Yemen started seizing and attacking Israel linked ships because Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. Every single statement put out by the Ansar Allah group mentions the genocide, makes sure that everyone knew that's why they were attacking those specific ships. Multiple large shipping companies had to change their routes. Israeli port city of Eliat is practically a ghost town now. America has tried and failed to form a coalition that can take on the Yemenis (for the second time in a decade, the first time being the Saudi-led coalition that has destroyed large parts of Yemen and caused the deaths of over 300,000 civilians).

Suddenly, the whole world was affected by the genocide. It's impossible to ignore it which means the protests, boycotts, disruptions at companies that are arming Israel, etc are still on going. People are still talking about Palestine on social media. More importantly than all of that is countries being forced by their citizens or their own interests to call for a ceasefire. Would Canada or the UK call for a ceasefire if their citizens and the world at large had stopped paying attention to Gaza? Definitely not.

Yemen is doing the heavy lifting. It's grabbing the North's face in its hand and forcing it to watch and not go back to "normal"

When the moon cried as she left the skies. When the sky wept as day was approaching. When the sun rose in agony, regretting the bringing forth of a day that would only draw in on calamities. When the earth trembled in fear. When the river Euphrates broke down in tears, hoping her banks would overflow and reach the tents of Aale-Hussain.

Not a grain of sand that day missed the witnessing of brutality. Not even an atom that day missed the witnessing of the greatest injustice. The cosmos fell to its knees as she witnessed the ultimate crime.

The wind felt the pain of spears and arrows piercing through her, before they pierced heroes. Physical wounds of our heroes translated into emotional and psychological wounds of our heroines. Piercing right through their hearts, minds and souls, with injustice, oppression and betrayal, over and over again.

Heroines the likes of Zainab, Ummul Baneen, Layla, and Sakina to only name a few, who withstood the harassment, torture and disrespect all their lives, yet still remained tall knowing the message also lies in their hands. That without their strength, courage, bravery, intellectual and spiritual wisdom, the true message of Islam would have been no more.

Tell me of women stronger than an army of 30,000 cowardly so-called men!

Tell me of women more powerful and influential than a self-promoted dictator!

Tell me of women who saw the wisdom of God’s plan over the plans of politicians!

Tell me of women who did not change their identity due to fear of their lives!

Tell me of women who stood strong for one another and for Islam, when they were humiliated and harassed daily from every corner of every city they entered.

For one side of the story was so eloquently portrayed, But the second half got semi-lost in translation, Or dare I say, Lost in misconceptions of women perceived as only grieving and crying passively, Of only hair turning grey; Of only imminent death due to incessant grieving.

Instead, Tell me of the valour of women who were actively making a difference; actively standing up against ignorance and injustices.

Tell me how they awoke the masses from ignorance.

Tell me how they turned hearts of stone into cradles of light.

Tell me of women, who spoke so eloquently yet fiercely that the very foundations of illegitimacy crumbled in shame right before them.

Tell me of The Women of Karbala…

"رافقني في رحلتي من الدنيا إلى الآخرة."

Virginia Woolf, A Writer’s Diary