Gaza is Grievable

This collection of poems was created in a Feminist Theories course, in which we were asked to choose a reading, take inspiration from it, and creatively respond. The theorist I chose to think with was Judith Butler, specifically their article “Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy” in Undoing Gender (2004). This essay has lived in my thoughts since I first read it.

Judith Butler's concept of “grievable lives” and what makes those viewed as “unreal” in society has stayed with me. Considering the current state of wars in the world, between Ukraine and Russia and just south of that an ongoing genocide occurring in Gaza, Palestine. The stark difference between the ways in which these two conflicts are being treated in Western society is an example of Judith Butler's idea of the “unreal” versus the “real” or familiar. The “grievable,” or white, bodies were immediately given aid, condolences, love and unwavering support, whereas the “ungrievable,” racialized bodies of Palestinians have been discarded in mainstream and social public life, with many referring to the deaths as causalities one would expect in any armed conflict.

I decided to create a series of poems as well as a repeated visual poem from the perspective of several people in Gaza as well as and those who are in the diaspora. Poetry holds a certain political power in Palestine and, as stated by Ghassan Kanafani, poems have been a method of resistance for many (Kanafani 4) such as Mahmoud Darwish. Poetry provides a way to express deep emotion and feeling and can allow others to see themselves in words outside of academia. When reading Judith Butler's writing, all I could think of was Gaza. I felt a deep resounding responsibility to talk about Palestine, especially as a Lebanese and Iraqi woman, whose peoples have been oppressed by the same powers oppressing and contributing to the atrocities, violence, and genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. I dream of a liberated Palestine and a Middle East free from violent Western and European imperialism.

“I would like to start, and to end, with the question of the human, of who counts as the human, and the related question of whose lives count as lives, and with a question that has preoccupied many of us for years: what makes for a grievable life?” (Butler, 17)

to be us

violence perceived as our identities
our innocents blood washed from streets
those expelled, those forced to flee
those who are fleas, flee flea flee
but still remember, still hold your keys

habel il katheb asir (the rope of lies is short)

ya baba garaooneh (oh father they have drowned me)[i]
ana makhno3, sam7ooni (i am choking, forgive me)[ii][iii]

the palestinian journalist

i’ve seen parents carrying their children
they appear asleep
but they have yellowed skin
the pink flush of life missing from their cheeks

i’ve seen parents carrying their children
stumps where arms and legs should be
never to kick a soccer ball in the sand on the beach
nor hold mama and babas hands to cross
the street

i’ve seen parents carrying their children
lifting up their torsos
i can’t see this child’s face
clothes in tatters grey matter lost, splattered

i’ve seen fathers shock ridden
digging crying begging calling
his children buried under rubble
his hammer too little, too lacking, too late

i’ve seen a father carrying shopping bags,
what is that i see?
a dusty hand sticking out of one
“this is all that’s left of them, people
come and see”

we are undone by each other[iv]

tears[v] and madness

an earring pinned to my pocket

we are undone by each other

tears[vi] and madness

mangled I lay by a rocket

the splatter

brain matter

the sound

bang bang bang

splintering wood

shattering glass

disassembled concrete

chunks of home

chunks of him

no, that

no, it

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting
be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting
be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail [vii]
be m-[viii]

Mariam Habib

Mariam Habib (b.2000) is a Lebanese-Iraqi multidisciplinary artist born and based in Toronto. She is completing a Bacheor of Fine Arts in Drawing & Painting as well as a Minor in English from OCAD University. Mariam’s work, visual and written, often engages topics such as gender expectations, cultural identity, and the current political landscape, mainly in relation to Middle Eastern geopolitics.

[i] Direct quote from a child in Gaza, her vision and hearing were affected by the bombing and she was in a state of vertigo. She couldn’t recognize her father at first but when she finally did, this is what she said.

[ii] The last line is another direct quote from a journalist in Gaza who could no longer describe what was going on because he simply could not find the words for the horror he was witnessing. He asked for forgiveness before showing the current state of Gaza, because words were not enough.

[iii] The Arabic alphabet has more letters than the English alphabet, therefore numbers are used to represent those extra letters and/or sounds.

[iv] Judith Butler, Page 19.

[v] Tears; an act of weeping or grieving

[vi] Tears; make a hole or split in (something) by pulling it or piercing it with a sharp implement; make (a hole or split) in something by force; come apart; rip.

[vii] be in anguish
be distressed
go on
cry, lament
be miserable
weep and wail
be mournful
be wounded
feel its sting

: Each depicts a mushroom cloud like that seen after the Baptist hospital massacre, they also look like a geometric human silhouette. Represents 500 Palestinians killed by the Israeli Occupational Force (known as the IDF or more aptly the IOF), 32 in total. 32.7 x 500 =16 000 and counting. The exact number of bodies that remain under the rubble is unknown. The exact death toll of the genocide remains unknown, as it is ongoing.

[viii] It must be noted that at the time of submission, April 26th 2024, the death toll has risen from 16 000 to over 40 000, including those outside of Gaza who have been killed by the Occupational Entity and their Accomplices in The West Bank, Southern Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. There should be 48 more poems; 24 more pages.

Gaza is Grievable

HUMN 3014

Feminist Theories

Mariam Habib

Mariam Habib

Arts & Science Review