Arafat's Ghost Rattles Israel Caged
By Genevieve Cora Fraser
Arafat's ghost is with us
Tonight as the world
Implodes as chaos
Unfolds Arafat
Points to a hand
In his demise
Arch-enemy
Sharon
Boasted
The hour
& method's
Unknown
Until executed
Arafat's ghost
Hovers near
Showered with tears
Funeral wreaths
Ceremoniously laid
On his grave
Though False Partners
In peace
Generous
Offers
Had leeched
His cupidity
They never cracked
His resolve
Inalienable rights
1948
He forced on the table
His triumph
His fall
Heart broken
He failed
To deliver
Irrelevant they claimed
Arafat's finished
Exclaimed
As they hammered
Nails into his coffin
March on Jerusalem
He declared
Raise the flag
Claim our Rights
We are a People
Who will not be subdued
Israel
Crashed down
His wall
Stormed and set siege
And stalled
On the Roadmap's
Promised State
Long overdue
Refugees
Six decades endured
Starved and slaughtered
In spirit
Their rights
Arafat held true
Israel walled up
Their claims
In what little
Remains
Behind concrete
Palestine's
Undeniable state
Of confinement
Henchman
Statesmen
Appeared
The verdict
Was clear
A shadow
Drew near
Death
The only
Card left
On Israel's table
In Ramallah
Jenin
Nablus
Shrines in between
Gaza
Jerusalem
Bethlehem & Hebron & Qalqiliya
Olive twig and hemlock
Prepared
In a broth called despair
Zionists hoped
Would be
Drunk with abandon
Barred from the table
Arafat
Fed the masses
With prayer
Blew kisses in midair
From the cell
Of diminished domain
Held State with world leaders
Well-wishers came through
But Israel's firm grip
Called the shots
In Mukata
Shattered Headquarters
Arafat's
Tank shelled abode
His life
Suddenly waned
Doubled over in pain
He collapsed
Escaped prison
Then died
Ever larger than life
His star has risen thrice
To guide the way
For the Palestinian People
Abbas patiently waits
As Aaron of Old
For the mantle
Of leadership
To pass
Occupation's grip
Enemy Settlements
Shift
State Terror
Assassination
Retaliation
Crushing incursions
Palestine thus yoked
By Israel
Is Choked
But resolve has never been clearer
Listen close you will hear
Of their Rights
Still held dear
Arafat's legacy
His will
Will prevail
Guarded
By ghosts
Of the martyrs
Last boast
The Right to Return
Is never for sale
(Arafat is greater
Than the sum
Of his faults)
ENDS