Look Into My Eyes- Palestine Slide Show

[Guest]

I came across this video on "youtube" the other day showing a slide show of pictures from Palestine to the song "Look Into My Eyes" by Outlandish. It seems like something good to share. Here is some more info on the song from www.al-awda.org:

Words to Look Into My Eyes

Gihad Ali, a volunteer with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) and the Palestine Solidarity Group, both in Chicago, wrote a poem called "Eye to Eye" a couple of years ago. She has since performed this poem dozens of times, including at performances such as "Women Warriors" at the Chicago Cultural Center, the AAAN's Cafe Intifada, and "Mixin' It Up," a project of the Chicago Field Museum's Cultural Connections program.

Danish rap group, Outlandish, based its single, "Look Into My Eyes," on Gihad's poem. Their album, "Closer Than Veins," was released on October 31st, and "Look Into My Eyes," which was the first single from the album, reached NUMBER 1 on the national airplay hitlist in Denmark.

The following is the text of:

Eye to Eye - by Gihad Ali

Look into my eyes
and tell me what you see.
You don't see a damn thing,
`cause you can't possibly relate to me.

You're blinded by our differences.
My life makes no sense to you.
I'm the persecuted Palestinian.
You're the American red, white and blue.

Each day you wake in tranquility.
No fears to cross your eyes.
Each day I wake in gratitude.
Thanking God He let me rise.

You worry about your education
and the bills you have to pay.
I worry about my vulnerable life
and if I'll survive another day.

Your biggest fear is getting ticketed
as you cruise your Cadillac.
My fear is that the tank that just left
will turn around and come back.

American, do you realize,
that the taxes that you pay
feed the forces that traumatize
my every living day?

The bulldozers and the tanks,
the gases and the guns,
the bombs that fall outside my door,
all due to American funds.

Yet do you know the truth
of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth that no one knows?

You blame me for defending myself
against the ways of Zionists.
I'm terrorized in my own land
and I'm the terrorist?

You think you know all about terrorism
but you don't know it the way I do.
So let me define the term for you.
And teach you what you thought you knew.

I've known terrorism for quite some time,
fifty-four years and more.
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard.
It's the bulldozer in front of my door.

Terrorism breathes the air I breathe.
It's the checkpoint on my way to school.
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home,
and the penalties of breaking that curfew rule.

Terrorism is the robbery of my land.
And the torture of my mother.
The imprisonment of my innocent father.
The bullet in my baby brother.

So American, don't tell me you know about
the things I feel and see.
I'm terrorized in my own land
and the blame is put on me.

But I will not rest, I shall never settle
for the injustice my people endure.
Palestine is our land and there we'll remain
until the day our homeland is secure.

And if that time shall never come,
then you will never see a day of peace.
I will not be thrown from my own home,
nor will my fight for justice cease.

And if I am killed, it will be in Falasteen.
It's written on my every breath.
So in your own patriotic words,
Give me liberty or give me death.

 

[Guest]

I think the song would have been better if they would have not replaced "zionists" with "my enemies". "Zionists" defines who the enemy is while people could take "my enemies" as meaning "jews" or "all Israelis".

 

[a.saccus]

Sometimes you just can’t beat good ol’ Dumb Luck!

It all started because I was moved by the poem by Gihad Ali, “Eye to Eye". I was moved by the simple, direct, and genuine emotion expressing what life is like for someone who lives in the Occupied Territories. And by the fact that it was directed to people like me, who don’t.

Thank you for the recommendation, cycling thoughts. Thank you very, very much.

For without your initial stimulus, I would never have unintentionally wound up invoking the god of Good Ol‘ Dumb Luck. And I certainly wouldn’t have awakened at 3 AM to check my email, and then wound up spending the next two hours listening to a song and writing about it!

That’s where the Dumb Luck comes in.

Now not being a regular “youtuber", I actually had to register to get access. And not being a regular, I also had to stumble around a bit, finally finding a search box and typing “Outlandish Eye to Eye". What came up was this, which was probably NOT what you intended -- can’t actually say yet because I haven’t been able to find that, and, after all, it is about 5 AM now and I really should get some sleep -- but boy! What an unexpected delight I found! What fun!

First the music.

You’ve read the lyrics. They are serious words tempered by courage and a philosophical view of things. The music the words were set to, however, was much lighter in emotional tone, reminding me very much of James Taylor’s fine 1997 album, “Hourglass", a mostly acoustic and mellow album. But the Outlandish song "Eye to Eye" had a touch more sprightliness and bounce to it. Definitely Upbeat. Enough words about music, a dangerous enterprise under any circumstances. Go listen for yourself.

But this is a music video, and the video was just a delight.

Imagine eavesdropping on a child of about 4-5 years old, who lives in the Occupied Territories, telling another child of about 4-5 years old, who lives in the USA, what life is like. The lyrics begin to take on another level.

And then imagine a group of children from ages 6 to 11 acting out a version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood to the music. Only once Little Red leaves her sweet, beflowered, picket fence type American home on the way to school, her surroundings become those of the children of the Occupied Territories going to school: Green Wall, Checkpoints, Searches. And then there’s Grandma’s house and the Big Bad Wolf (who was also at the checkpoints doing the searches). And the scenery was done in the spirit of children’s paintings, but very professional, as was the acting.

The combined effect of lyrics, music, fairy tale, children, and terrible reality is something to experience. It is a very sophisticated combination and powerfully delivers its message. And it’s only 3 minutes and 53 seconds long.

The first time I saw it, I burst out in tears. And the second time. And the fifth time. And the last time. The other 9 times I saw it, I was laughing. Like all good songs and videos, it just gets better and better every time.

It was so joyful! The human spirit -- never better portrayed than as a child -- triumphing over the most terrible of evils.

Did I say it was just 3 minutes and 53 seconds long! You should probably plan to spend more than that. A lot more. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P12aqVeZkQ

Thank you again for the recommendation, cycling thoughts.

Thank you very, very much. :( :)