200 Days
By: Moataz “Taz” Salim
For generations we have endured the oppressor that seeks to crush our spirits and steal our homeland. Yet still our resolve has not wavered, nor our song of liberation been stilled.
For too long Gaza has suffered, unwillingly, due to the settler-colonial entity. Our land has been watered, for over 75 years, with the innocent tears and blood of my people. For over 75 years, we have been carried by an unyielding spirit of resistance that courses through our veins.
In 200 days, 161 of my own blood have been taken from us, 161 of over 40,000 that we know of. 40k too many. While the fools over here debate “safety” on campus, every educational institution in my homeland has been destroyed.
I recall vividly, in my childhood, being glued to the television in terror as our lands and people are massacred yet again. Thousands “mowed down” like stalks of wheat before the mechanical reaper’s blade. Yet still the nations and the people turned their eyes away. They slept while Gaza wept.
No more will we accept this status quo of suffering in silent submission. Our time of waking has come — the fire in our souls will not be quenched.
Never again shall tyranny hold dominion over this sacred ground. Our song of liberation shall ring forth until we sing it in Jenin, in Tulkarem, in Ramallah, in Al-Quds, in Yaffa, in Al-Lydd, and in Gaza. Free Palestine. 🍉
Moataz Salim, a Palestinian-American from Gaza advocating for an end to the genocide and a free Palestine. He has been joining CODEPINK every day for 3 months to be a voice for my people heard in these halls of Congress. This post was originally posted to his Instagram account — you can follow Moataz on Instagram here.