WTC DMZ
After ten years of suffering, I wish I were dead. We have no permanent home and we run from safe zone to safe zone. Yet these safe zones are not safe. I’m the last surviving member of my family in the DMZ. I’ve made a crutch so that I can move more easily without my left leg. It’s been infected more times than I remember. I’ve gone without food for months so I could exchange my rations for antibiotics.
New York City, October 31, 2001
Our supreme leader has replaced Halloween with a 24 hour fast. Not that we have any food to fill our bellies if we desired. There’s no escaping the WTC DMZ. President Bush does not know how to get anyone out. Instead we are bombed daily. Air raid sirens make it impossible to rest and sleep. The Red Cross and United Nations have called for a ceasefire, but alas the Taliban will not agree. They use us as their leverage for negotiations. Food is parceled out in such small amounts that we are left too weak to fight.
Word Trade Center Demilitarized Zone (WTC DMZ), October 31, 2011
People have been divided by their culture, race, ethnicity and religion. Due to the ambiguity of my last name, I’m in a mixed section. Jewish friends of mine have been executed long ago. Christian friends are tortured for praying to Jesus. We must all pray in a warped derivative of the Koran. I have learned enough to survive.
After ten years of suffering, I wish I were dead. We have no permanent home and we run from safe zone to safe zone. Yet these safe zones are not safe. I’m the last surviving member of my family in the DMZ. I’ve made a crutch so that I can move more easily without my left leg. It’s been infected more times than I remember. I’ve gone without food for months so I could exchange my rations for antibiotics.
We eat leaves and grass…
DMZ Strip, October 31, 2021
There is hope. This next year we may have peace over Ramadan. Military leaders around the world are preparing to donate millions of goods to us in exchange for peace. It is probably all a lie.
I’m grateful I never had children. Escape has never been an option. I have heard that the United States President is black. I pray every day for the end of the occupation. As much as I pray for peace, I know freedom comes at price.
New York City, October 31, 2024
We are free. Yet the price I paid for freedom was heavy. Military camps have been set up to evaluate our injuries. President Biden is sending us to hotels across the company in tour buses. There was a time when I rode buses like these to visit New York. Now I don’t know if I’ll ever return.