Tens of thousands have died in the Gaza Strip,
All killed by Israelis we helped to equip.
On October seventh, this last fight began
When Hamas attacked Israel: (funds from Iran.)
Their end goal is clear: to destroy Israel,
But Gazans are burning in their Hamas hell.

Israel, Palestine, the whole “Middle East,”
For thousands of years, fatal strife has not ceased.
First, Homo from Africa had to pass through, (1)
To fill up the world and to make me and you.
Next, kingdoms arose: north, south, east, and west,
And fought over which one would rule all the rest.

Then came the Egyptians and then the Hittites, (2)
And various tribes that we now call Semites. (3)
Then David’s nation in 1,000 BC,
Where Jesus was born in about 6 BC,
And Babylon, Greece, Rome left their legacy
‘Til Islam arose in 600 AD. (4)

Crusading Christians tried asserting control;
But Muslims stifled Christianity’s goal.
The Ottoman empire gained hegemony, (5)
Until World War I, then became history.
And then on May 14th, 1948,
The Zionists founded the Israeli state.

Today, one more war: tens of thousands are dead.
“Israel can’t exist;” is what Hamas said.
Iran is still funding Hamas, Hezbollah,
To make Jews bow down to the will of Allah.
The Children of Abraham’s family feud:
In each generation, is once more renewed.

Jew hatred still simmers; it was ever so.
Hamas still insists all Israelis must go.
The hostages held by Hamas must come back.
Iran must be squeezed ‘til it cannot attack.
And Palestine must have a viable state.
All this has been blocked by ongoing hate.

So, murder goes on in a land they must share.
Men, women, and babies, does leadership care?
Now here in the US, protesters cry, “Stop!”
But will there be peace after no more bombs drop?
Just stopping the fighting won’t bring lasting peace.
A thousand-year puzzle: what’s the missing piece?

(1) We think that modern Homo sapiens began migrating out of Africa about 70,000 years ago. When going through what is now Israel-Palestine, they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals, who were already there.
(2) Rameses II fought the battle of Kadesh against the Hittite king, Mutwatalli, in 1275 BC. Kadesh was located in what today would be southern Israel or northern Sinai.
(3) Today, the term, Semites, refers to all those who speak semitic languages such as Hebrew and Arabic. It used to refer to the native people of what we call the Middle East.
(4) We skipped over some details.
(5) The Ottoman Empire was founded in 1299 and took over Palestine and Egypt in about 1500.