I wrote this letter to President Obama following the ground invasion of Gaza by Israelis in January 2009 and the massacre that followed. The invasion and the massacre happened at the time he was elected as president of USA when he defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and before inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009.
The massacre was supported by George Bush claiming that the invasion was an act of self-defense on the part of Israeli government. Prior to the election, in his election campaign, president Obama made several speeches in church halls repeating Martin Luther King’s words claiming that King’s dream had come true. To the disappointment of millions of the people around the globe, when he was asked why he was silent about the massacre, he replied, there is only one president at any one time and refused to make any comment about the situation. I was so shocked by his behavior that I spent days going through his speeches and wrote the following letter to him in the form of poem.
I dedicated the poem to the parents of Ahmed Khatib (a Palestinian boy shot by Israeli Defense Forces soldiers who apparently mistook his toy gun for a real one) who generously donated the organs of their loved child to a child in Israel. Their story was also made the subject of an award-winning BBC World Service program, Heart and Soul, in 2007.
In my view the war in Syria is the continuation of the George Bush’s expansionist policy. I am positive the loss of life of more than one hundred thousand people in Syria could have been avoided if democratic movement of people of Syria did not turn in to full scale civil war by the allies of the USA, namely Israel, Saudi Arabia, Gordon and other Golf states such as Qatar, UAE and the rest.
Here is the modified version of my letter to President Obama:
Your campagin
Dear President Obama
I enjoyed the Drama
Of your campaign and your fight
And your movement and flight
Your words were impressive
And not like Bush aggressive
I heard your words of wisdom
On your pathway to become
The president of USA
On this moment and this day
Unlike Condoleezza Rice
You sounded lovely and nice
Your speeches
I heard all your speeches
In big halls and big churches
Your speech on Dr King
Was very fascinating
I loved the passage you chose
And the way you did compose
The words from the scripture
In your wonderful lecture
You talked about the big wall
Which was so steep and tall
A wall that stopped all kinds
Unite in their hearts and minds
How the chorus and echo
Destroyed the wall of Jericho
How the people’s unity
Destroyed evil and vanity
You talked about deficit
And you were explicit
Deficits of different sorts
In groups and in cohorts
You talked about empathy
The kindness and sympathy
Dr King’s magnificent dream and words
You talked about civil rights
And Dr King’s clean fights
Of his methods and his team
And his fantastic dream
Of his great compassion
And his love and his passion
How he forgave his jailers
And those dreadful rulers
How he pardoned all of those
Evils who used fire hose
Of the madness of segregation
And the chains of discrimination
Of people, being in exile
In their own land and their isle
That the blacks and the whites
Both should have equal rights
That both the Jew and gentile
Should have the same lifestyle
Your victory speech
In your victory speech
You told everyone and each
No one can now argue
That his dream came true
You said those who support peace
You will certainly please
And those who tear the world down
They will face the crackdown
About the catastrophe in Gaza
Where are you I can’t see?
There is a catastrophe.
Please come out of your shell
Gaza has turned into hell
It is worse than Montgomery
They are deprived and hungry
Innocent kids are slaughtered
Hundreds are killed and injured
Put an end to the nonsense
Please stop this offense
Treat Muslims with respect
If in US and Germany
People live in harmony
If in London and Paris
Jews and Muslims live in peace
So can a Jew in Jerusalem
Leave in peace with a Muslim
Please listen to Khatib
Please listen to Khatib
Who donated heart and rib
Of their child who was murdered
By a military coward
To children in Israel
For hope of peace and good will
Father said in this fashion
I want peace for everyone
But Israelis harshly
Ignored their thoughtful plea
There was little coverage
For this act of courage
Instead they were snobbish
So ignorant and rubbish
This is their ideology
Their thoughts and theology
This makes everybody sick
Except those who are so thick
Brutal offense or self defence
Did you know that little boy?
Was playing with his toy
What sort of a self defence
Is this dreadful offence
These are the words of George Bush
To justify the ambush
The victims of 2nd World War
Don’t want to see this horror
The decent Jews and Muslims
Are sufferers and victims
Please listen to Kaufman
Please listen to Kaufman
The right honourable gentleman
A well known labour veteran
Once a Labour spokesman
Please watch his video
Or listen to audio
Who told us a story
About Nazis history
That Nazis were so vicious
Considered us as worthless
That Israelis today
Behave in much the same way
That all those Jew did not die
So Israelis deny
The existence of Muslims
And cause so much problems
To think Muslims are worthless
But their lives are precious
Please stop giving arms
To Israeli gendarmes
Just for dealing with Hamas
Should not kill people in mass
They had the might and power
To get into and enter
Gaza and search everywhere
And to arrest each member
They should not use heavy hand
And starve them in their land
Libis has caused so much pain
For her election campaign
That woman is disgrace
To Jews and human race
She is a war criminal
Take her to a tribunal
The attitude of peaceful Muslims
My dear Muslim brothers
And also my good sisters
In their prayers every day
In a kind and caring way
Call a compassionate god
And the most passionate god
A god that is merciful
Lovely and beautiful
When they talk about Jihad
It means working very hard
So to become passionate
And the most compassionate
Words not war and reason not prison
There are millions on both sides
On either sides of divides
Who would like to coexist
And they would like to assist
In the twenty first century
Guns should become history
Just like King and Mandela
They believe in kind Allah
And will appeal to public
In every world republic
This is not the people’s war
We don’t believe in terror
Seek the support of public
Seek the support of public
With reason and with logic
Just like in South Africa
And in South America
We were not able to fight
Injustice and apartheid
Without people of UK
The Europe and USA
But the rich and powerful
Were as foolish as a bull
The story is the same
Which is really a shame
For the sake of unity
And for humanity
We must open dialogue
And open a big blog
With honourable citizens
So we all learn some lessons
We will sit down and discuss
With those who are kind with us
We don’t discuss religion
It will cause confusion
It will mud all the issues
And we all begin to lose
Stick to common grounds
We don’t go out of the bounds
We have separate schemes
For our religious themes
This way we win our fights
Fighting for human rights
Just like we fought apartheid
Justice is on our side
We must avoid violence
And we must keep a distance
From those who will spread
Race and religious hatred
Even if we are hated
Don’t get intimidated
This way we get the respect
The respect that you expect
War only serves super rich
The war is for super rich
Who target and aim to reach
Many thousand billions
That is many trillions
Some rich Muslims and rich Jews
Do their utmost to abuse
The faith and the religion
In every and each region
They are partners in crimes
The worst crimes of all times
They build and sell the rockets
But we go out of pockets
They use “Christians!” like Bush
To sell for them and to push
The big wall in Palestine
The big wall in Palestine
I don’t know how to define
Like that passage in Bible
Physically divides people
Come on “Dr Luther King”
Sound your horn so we can sing
Please please ring the bell
So we can march and sing well
And hope like Jericho wall
Will crumble and will fall
Please turn your words to deed
Unity is what we need
Please turn your words to deed
Make up your mind and decide
If you are on our side
Please stop this at once
And stop this nuisance
Now I have a big dream
Now I have a big dream
That together as a team
Hands in hands in unity
Build the Jerusalem city
For both the Jews and gentile
In good fashion and style
That people in Palestine
All feel safe and all feel fine
That people in Lebanon
Live in peace like in London
That people in Syria
Have life like in Georgia
That Iran and Israel
Will have no more quarrel
That the business of war
Will not exist any more
That weapon industry
Will vanish in each country
That in US and Europe
People feel good and have hope
That everyone in the world
Feel very warm and not cold
That we don’t have to mention
About war and its tension
That monsters like Regan
Don’t use chemical weapon
Then we create a file
A file as big as a mile
For current differences
And future references
That war will be history
And just a big story
My ideal democracy and how to achieve this big dream
That governments of the people
Consult with us a little
That governments by the people
Become more respectable
That governments for the people
Are much more accountable
Use internet technology
To advance sociology
Before passing legislations
Engage people and nations
Allow people amend bills
Let the people use drills
Facilitate so we can
Each of us as human
Get involved in discussions
For each and every versions
Say yes or no in response
To respond to you at once
That you don’t go to the rich
To those monster who did teach
George Bush and all his allies
To start the war on lies
Those who messed economy
Worse than any enemy
Those who gave us a big punch
With this credit crunch
Those who advised government
To mess up environment
Those who got us all in mess
And made all of us depress
