Holy spectators you stand.
From your pulpits you preach.
“End your sin.”
“It’s love that you must teach.”

A virtuous bellow.
A whole world apart.
Get down from your podium.
Revisit the start.

An invitation.
Take the test.
One month under occupation.
One month is all we request.

Sully your senses with scorched humanity.
Feel the clutches of perpetual poverty.
Endure the daily onslaught
Of their conqueror’s debauchery.

Stand under their darkened cloud.
Listen close for its booming sound.
Soak in the fury, endure oppression’s surge.
Experience life while teetering on its verge.

Get down from your pulpit.
Try on the clothes of the bandit.
In their den – you too can sit.
A witness to the daily blitz.

Walk a month in their shoes.
Walk a month in their skin.
Then you may start to understand
what drives them to “sin.”

Rana El-Khatib, Poet
<i>These Poems are from her publication
BRANDED: The Poetry of a So-Called "Terrorist"
Please note that 3% of all sales of her book go toward the organization Palestine Children's Relief Fund (www.pcrf.net). "It was through them that I was given the opportunity to host two little sisters from Rafah as they underwent treatment here in the US .">/i>