Block the Boat--End Israeli Apartheid

PALESTINEBy Marvin X

(Imam Maalik El Muhajir)

Abraham is not my father

Palestine is not my home

But I would fight any man

Who kicked me out of my house

To dwell in a tent

I would fight

To the ends of the earth

Someone who said to me

I want your house

Because my father lived here

Two thousand years ago

I want your land

Because my father lived here

Two thousand years ago.

Jets would not stop me

From returning to my home

Uncle Toms would not stop me

Cluster bombs would not stop me

Bullets I would defy.

No man can take the house of another

And expect to live in peace

There is no peace for thieves

There is no peace for those who murder

For myths and ancient rituals

Wail at the wall

Settle in "Judea" and "Samaria"

But fate awaits you

You will never sleep with peace

You will never walk without listening.

I shall cross the River Jordan

With Justice in my hand

I shall return to Jerusalem

And establish my house of peace,

Thus said the Lord.

Palestine was first published in Black Scholar Magazine, circa 1972. Marvin X is one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement and considered the father of Muslim American literature, along with other BAM poets inspired by the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, such as Askia Toure, Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez. Bob Holman calls Marvin X the USA's Rumi. Ishmael Reed says he is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland. His Academy of da Corner is at 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland.  FYI, his academy is located wherever he sets up shop from coast to coast.