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Genevieve Cora Fraser: Death by Israeli Checkpoint
Death by Israeli Checkpoint*
By Genevieve Cora Fraser
In Bethlehem
Where Christ
Was born
A
woman died
At the Gilo
Checkpoint
Barred from
going
To Jerusalem
To pray
70 years old
Older
than Israel
She was thirteen
When driven
Out of her
home
By Zionist forces
Bent on the destruction
Of
Palestine
And her people
Ancestral roots
Ancient
as the olive
Trees that shrouded
Village homes
In
peace and beauty
Sustenance
Uprooted driven
Into
exile
Issa Zboun
From al-Azza
Refugee camp
Bethlehem
Was barred by Israeli
Soldiers from
her
Right to Return
Barred from living
Free and
equal
Under the law
Barred from peace
And
security
Barred from Friday
Prayers
al-Aqsa mosque
In Jerusalem
Stands in silent tribute
To the One
God
Spoken of by Abraham
Moses
Jesus
Mohammad
Forced to stand
With
hundreds
Of others
Under the broiling sun
For
hours
She prayed to go
As her blood pressure
Rose
in the heat
Allah had mercy
On her soul
And in an
unguarded
Moment
Took her
Home
* During the
early morning hours of Friday, June 17, 2005, Israel closed
several roadblocks and crossings in the Palestinian
territories barring the residents from moving between the
Palestinian area. In addition to the Gilo checkpoint in
Bethlehem, the IDF closed the Rafah border crossing leading
to Egypt, and the Eretz crossing which leads to the
industrial zone in the Gaza Strip, and to Israel. -
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