Plant the Olive Branch

You never got a chance to plant the olive branch
Your planting crew was under curfew
They shot and beat you as you dug
I fall to my knees on the broken earth
Like a ripped up prayer rug
And behold
The hole

The hole
Where they turned their plowshares into swords
And made soldiers of their souls

You never got the chance to plant the olive branch
And let the seed grow to tree
So we could see the free flow of peace

But though the dove’s been released
They’re shootin it down
Olive trees uprooted from the ground
Destroyed and bulldozed
So they can build condos for refugees
Making refugees to house refugees
Refusing peace

The olive gives so we can all receive
Life and sustainability
Producing food abundantly

The olive tree,
So we can all live in peace
All live in peace

So plant the branch

Evacuate the states of hate
Stop stealing land
For only then can we negotiate
As two free peoples
One fruit to another
Olive to olive to all live with roots as brothers

Roots
With our mothers’ branches
Branches carried far away bringing light to all nations
Giving chances of life and of creation

So plant the olive branch
And help it grow
Lets melt the mountains of Justice snow
Let the rivers of peace free flow
Passed the damns, walls, checkpoints, and blocked roads
WE must open the flood gates
Let it cleanse the desert valleys
Wash the blood and oil from the land

Families of Abraham
Time to take Rachel’s hand extending out of the sand

And plant the Olive branch.

A Dove’s Last Song

Let me tell you the story
Of a gory glory
One grand last stand in the land of holy

Rachel gave her life
Defending native rights
And we will never see her legacy die

When the planes hit the towers on 9/11
She knew that her personal war had begun
She sought to stop terror where it may be
And her eyes turned towards Washington DC

And to the army of Israel, the IDF
Exhaling death, with each breath, till there’s nothing left
They kill, catch and cripple women, children, and men
Who’s only crime is that they’re Palestinian

So Rachel went off to Rafah, the forgotten town
Where ISM’s the only internationals around
The world’s fourth strongest power hides our eyes from it all
They create a prison state with guard-towers and walls.

It’s the most impoverished place in all of Palestine
And it’s the sight where the most folks fight and die
It’s one of the poorest and most deadly cities in the world
No tourist trap for ordinary college girls

She thought her western white privilege might do some good
As could other caring people in her neighborhood
She sought to set up a relationship
And Oly sister-city project in the Gaza Strip

So at the tip of January, she said her good-byes
And hit the skies for the land of scary dies and cries
When her plane hit the ground
The word got around
That “Raja” the blond American was in town

She found a fondness for the people and they cherished her so
A white flower in the desert budding peace and hope
Her light-hearted spirit was a breath of fresh air
In this war-zone full of poverty and despair

The children were her favorite and she tried to play
A game of football on the pavement almost every day
When she wasn’t off protecting workers fixing wells
Or networking and connecting NGOs, I could tell

Her initiative and organizing skills were ample
She’s the best kind of leader, she lead by example
I’ll never forget her dedication and commitment
To solidarity and the spirit of resistance

It was this firm stance that opened the door
To her final dance opposing hatred and war
Her final dance that rocked me to my core

On the 16th of March, we marched to the field
To lesson demolition with our bodies as shields

We took on Goliath but instead of stones
We had florescent orange jackets and a megaphone
Our known passports projected and our pale white skin
We thought we were protected from racist violence

Rachel was the first to prove that we were wrong
When she knelt in her pew to sing her final song
When she raised her voice to sing her final song

Potecting the home of Doctor Samir
The family of whom she’d grown to hold dear

She couldn’t let the dozer crush their hopes and dreams
So she pleaded with the soldier, “Go home please!
Disobey your commander and just leave these people be,
For if you remain here you’re ganna have to deal with me.”

I plead my words you’ll head
Cause I won’t concede
Till you recede
I won’t leave till this family is freed
And I won’t concede, till you recede

And she didn’t cead
But neither did he

As the dozer came closer, she climbed the mound
And met the soldier at his shoulders for a final show down
Too terrified to join her I raised my lens
And now those few famous photos document the event

She centered into his eyes
But he continued to drive
And pushed her down to the ground till she was drowned out of sight

We found the favorite of our band
Wholly crushed by Holy Land

Wholly crushed by Holy Land
And I can still see her hand
Extending out of the sand
I still reach for her hand extending out of the sand

The man had seen her there pleading, but he didn’t see a human being
A life to be valued with true compassion and feeling

She was concealing terrorists in his twisted mind frame
But somehow he missed he was doing the same
He’s gotta do what he’s told
And turn his heart hard and cold
Required to kill at 18 years old
He too’s a victim of oppression from religion and war
No excuse for his aggression but a reason for

His duty was to drive a diesel death machine
With the treads of terror and the blade of pain
Powered by hate and fueled by fear
With a blend of blood and money oil the gears

US designed, supplied and died green
Modified for the Israeli military machine
The Caterpillar Corporation’s the nation’s biggest fan
They make a killing off of filling the destruction demand

It was a Caterpillar® killer that killed her
They made the Caterpillar® killer
He drove a Caterpillar® killer, to kill her
It was a Caterpillar®, that killed her

As her song was censored and her dance denied
We waved and raved “She’s underneath!” we cried
But he threw it in reverse and cursed her again
Dragging the blade over serrated skin

Torn inside and horrified
We rushed to her side
And tried to keep her alive
Till more help could arrive
The EMTs were an all too experienced crew
Rushed her to the hospital but what the hell could they do?

Her spine was snapped and her chest was smashed
Her skull was cracked and her lungs had collapsed
Far surpassed what the under-stocked doctors could fix
They said “Allah yar hamha”, at twenty past six

They wheeled her out a white sheet shading her head
“It’s over”, my comrade Mohammed said
I couldn’t believe it and I cried to his chest
I still can’t conceive her soul is really at rest
No I still can’t conceive her soul is really at rest

We had services and ceremonies, demonstrations
We did hundreds of interviews and presentations
The world was aware of the vicious attack
Just as Bush and Blair began bombing Iraq

But no distraction
The world rose up and took action

And at many anti-war demos we
Honored her memory
Inspired by her fire now forever burnin’ in me
Rachel’s dedication made the nations fight war
And more have come to Rafah than have ever before

And ISM recruits, have gone through the roof
As have many pro-freedom and pro-peace groups
And we see troupes of doves in a yearly Oly street procession
And a Rachel Corrie Memorial Center for Children
And Rachel’s vision, of the sister-city’s been realized
Olympia and Rafah will forever be tied

All her Oly family will keep it alive and
We will never see
Her legacy
die

No matter how hard they try
They may have crushed her body and crushed her bones
But they’ll never crush her spirit that lives on and on
On and on
From dawn to dawn
A crescendoing, never-ending freedom song

Now every time I lock-down or block town in the street
Every time I write a media or theatre piece
Every time I build a puppet or deliver a speech
Every time my mind’s on Palestine and all the shahid

Every time a freedom fighter dies for a cause
Or we ride with rules inside and don’t abide by their laws
Every time we push our limits and make cultural ties
Every time we use our privilege to assist the denied

Every time we take stand for another man’s strife
We honor Rachel Corrie and continue her life
We will never see
Her legacy
die

Her life is documented in verses and prose
We read the details in her emails to her folks and her bros
And from her journal we can learn all of her thoughts and ideas
And we can study testimony of her family and peers

We know she was a healer who worked in mental health
An Oly girl and greener who loved to teach herself
She was an artist, writer, painter a creator of beauty
We know she was a leader who headed her duty

Yeah a maker of peace who didn’t cease to the end
She was a daughter, a sister, a neighbor and a friend, friend friend

She was a martyr, a true shahida
She had died for freedom, houreeya

For she had come to Rafah to stop the tanks
That were built, bought and brought by her brothers the yanks
And though they’re stronger than ever
They won’t be forever
Extend your hand to Rachel’s and we’ll stand up together, yeah

We’ll never see
Her legacy
die

No, no, no, no, no
Cause true solidarity is such a rarity
And she shared it with me with such clarity
Graffiti, writing in Rafah reads her glory
Rachel Corrie:
An American citizen with Palestinian blood
An American citizen with Palestinian blood
An American citizen with Palestinian blood
An American citizen with Palestinian blood

Chorus

The tension between the East and the West is not about a cultural clash
It’s about western exploitation
Transforming farming food into cash

In Twani, ancient or modern is no problem
They’ll serve you tea if you pass by
In the east it’s live and let live
In the West it’s steal and let die

Chorus (in Arabic)
Ya Tuwani
Kharbit al hub wa du
Ya Tuwani
Inti arde zetune
Hade Beite min Hajar
Ma biddo rucksa
Lesh matkum mawjuud
Ya Tuwani
Inti Beite

Terrorism Blues

Terrorism
Targeting Civilians
It aint just about the killin
But terrifying by the millions

Though people have died
On every side
Only one whole people is occupied
And terrified
Every minute, every hour, of every day
It doesn’t go away
You can’t eat sleep or pray
Without seeing soldiers over every shoulder
Tanks, planes, helicopters, armored bulldozers

Where ever you go you know you’re under control
That’s the worst form of terrorism that I know

Terrorism
Targeting the children
It aint just about the killin
But outlawing daily livin

You see the fight aint fair
When you start to compare
Single acts of terror to terror everywhere

Lets look at
Suicide bombings and tank fire
Checkpoints, fences and walls and barbed wire

Suicide bombings and house occupation
Land confiscation, economic strangulation

Suicide bombings and missile attacks
Shooting and beating and shelling and looting
Grenades and tear gas

Suicide bombings and home demolition
And random detention, what more need I mention?

Oh Terrorism
Civilian blood spillin
It aint just about the killin
But holdin a whole people in prison

You’ll understand the plight
When you see who furthers the fight
Because self defense is everybody’s right

Imagine livin in violent oppression
Your father’s been shot, your mother’s been beaten your brother’s in prison

They've robbed you bare
left only hate and despair
What would you do?
Maybe respond with acts of terror

So its disgusting all this fussing over blowing up busses
Without even discussing who’s funding injustice
And that’s us
Capitol U.S. us

We’re furthering the conflict for our imperial gains
We get money and power from Arabian pain

Terrorism
Racism, Militarism
Colonialism
Fascist Capitalism

So its up to you and me
To make our governments see
We’ll never have peace till everyone is free

Terrorism
Your taxes terrorism
Homegrown American terrorism
Terrorism

What’s the Point of a Check Point?
Machsum (checkpoint), Fuck You!

What’s the point of a check point?
Like trying to stop drugs by passing out joints

Kids with too much power
Making people wait for hours
Men wallow and they cower
What’s the point?

The West Bank is flanked in a Matrix of Control
With settlements and roads
They’re poking it in holes

They divide it like a puzzle into pieces and bits
It’s bullshit
How the friends and family they split

Into little different ghettos
It’s the size of Chicago
But from here to there you can’t go
Al Quds to Jericho

When it should take 20 minutes it takes all day
And you may not even finish your trip but half way

If you don’t get detained, arrested, or shot
You can try and go around and pray you don’t get caught
You take your life in your hands to leave Hebron for Bethlehem
Mary never would have made it to have the son of man

So I just don’t understand what’s the point
Of these stressful oppressive checkpoints?

Cause You don’t get security by making more enemies
Spreading hate, fear, animosity and enmity

Absurdity!
And we’d certainly see

That if you’re so damn scared you’d secure your borders
Define them get behind them and let Palestine have order

No it aint about safety but oppression
Separation occupation annexation obsession

Catch the lesson
Closing roads builds pressure
Like a kink in hose, it grows and grows beyond measure
Until it blows

Yeah you know how it goes
The longer they make em wait the more time they can plan
And contemplate how to shake off the chains of the Man
No checkpoint can stop a thousand people in form
Whirling and swirling like a dessert dust storm

The tighter the fist the harder they will resist
And hope
The stronger the grip the faster they will slip out
Like soap

Cause Palestine, you can’t hold her
She’ll shake off the closures
And bulldoze the soldiers
And roll to freedom’s shoulder like bouncing boulder

Machsum
Fuck You
I wanna clock the fucking Machsum

Cock zoom
Shock boom
We’re ganna chuck fucking Machsum

My rocks zoom
At the Machsum
We’ll unblock and walk through Machsum

Cause the checkpoint’s point
Is dull