We are not okay: a call for peace & end to all wars – Candice L. Daquin

“Anti-Jewish misinformation & untruths took such a strong hold in western college campuses and some media that basic historical truths about the Jewish people’s right to their own land was replaced with falsehoods that perpetuate an inaccurate history.”

My Egyptian Jewish grandfather stood on the steps of the memorial
where in 225 C.E., Alexandria murdered their Judea 
mirrored in byzantine period when blood soaked
the sandstone walls like a Mizrahi red flower in time 
b’nei yisroel or b’not yisroel (the sons & daughters of Israel)
he said, out of the ancient middle east, Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian
these places still exist, but histories are lost
you must know your history or you too will die
like all those who trod these steps in the past, your ancestors;

In Canaan, 1000 BCE it began with a liberation from enslavement
Moab, Aram, Phoenicia, Philistia, Judah, Israel, Medea, Egypt
a kingdom until the Assyrian empire conquered 
Jewish peoples in a polytheistic world 
then came Babylonia, crushing the tiny kingdom
of Judea, so began the Jewish diaspora
where in the Seleucid empire, possession of Jewish scriptures was a capital offense
with the Persian invasion, names changed, blood did not
the bnei yisrael (descendants of Israel) returned
afterward, alexander the great, his Greek army plundered
Jewish inhabitants of Alexandria in Egypt absorbed into Hellenistic empire
Jerusalem as their mother city always in their hearts
Judaism part ethnicity, part religion, part culture
Bar Kokhba revolt, 132 C. E., response to Roman Empire anti-Jewish persecution
emperor Hadrian punishes Jews by changing ‘Judea’ to ‘Palestine.’
Palestinian were part of the ‘sea people’ originally from the island of Crete 
the ‘philistines’ disappeared from history as Assyrians conquered and exiled them 700 years before the romans 
DNA proves ancient philistines have no genetic relation to modern Palestinian Arabs
the holy land emptied of Jews after Arab conquest in 7th century C. E.,
Arabs dispossessed Jews of their farmland
Jews maintained a continual presence in the four cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed
with the Roman invasion, 50,000 jews were slaughtered
entire Jewish population of Egypt, both within Alexandria and in the countryside annihilated
Romans conquered Judea and destroyed the temple in 70 C.E.
Emperor Constantine supports new catholic church targeting nonconformist groups 
Manichaeans, Montanists, Ophitans, Priscillianists, all gone
catholic church seized their books, took over churches, exiled leaders, suppressed them
catholic church dictates Jews to be allowed to live, but in a state of subjection
14th and 15th centuries; prejudice toward Jews shifted from religion to ethnicity and race
in European High Middle Ages persecution of Jews is enacted
with blood libels, expulsions, forced conversions and massacres
French jews massacred frequently, subjected to attacks by the shepherds' crusades of 1251 and 1320 
crusades followed by expulsions
all English Jews banished in 1290
100,000 jews were expelled from France in 1396
1421: thousands expelled from Austria. many fled to Poland 
which became a hunting ground for Jews in WW2
900 jews were burnt alive in Strasbourg blamed for the black death
first encounters between Muslims and jews resulted in friendship 
the Jewish people of medina gave Muhammad refuge
later, Muhammad executed all Jewish grown men and women and children enslaved
dhimmis the Muslim name for jew, had an inferior status under Islamic rule
1066 Granada massacre, 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, murdered in one day
Mawza exile. massacre of Jews in Baghdad in 1828
Palestine: riots and pogroms against Jews in 1920 and 1921
1929 Palestine riots, victims were the ancient Jewish community at Hebron 
6,000,000 jews died in the holocaust during World War 2, murdered from 1941 to 1945
do you wish all Jews to die again and again until we are all gone? 
Would that bring you peace? 
In Tsarist Russia, jews subject to racial laws
antisemitism reaches Soviet Union, especially during the anti-cosmopolitan campaign; Yiddish-writing poets, writers, painters and sculptors arrested and killed
before the state of Israel was established in 1948, the only people identifying as ‘Palestinians’ were Jewish
when you march 100,000 strong, do you know your history? 
Turkey ceded all its territory in the middle east, including Palestine to the UK
the UK enacted the1917 Balfour declaration helping to create a national home for the Jewish people in the land of Israel where they came from
after declaration of Israeli independence in 1948, invading Arab armies aimed to eliminate all jews
the Jordanian army conquered Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem (naming it the ‘west bank’) 
the Egyptian army seized the Gaza strip.
jews were forced to flee from their communities that fell on the seized side
the Jordanian army destroyed all synagogues in the old city of Jerusalem 
used Jewish gravestones to pave roads
in the 1967 six-day war, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan tried to destroy Israel (again)
Israel won and took back the Golan heights, Judea and Samaria (west bank)
the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza strip
the Ayatollah says Jews are not ethnically semitic only Palestinians
but we are two sides of the same coin, all middle-eastern
my grandfather is dead now, his voice in my head says; #neverforget
he told me, those who do not know history, are doomed to repeat it
I read and I read and I read and I listen
my heart bleeds for two sides and all who die
let us lay down our arms, let none of us die any more
let us love one another, no more walls 
we are not okay. 
please know our truth before you hate us (again).

Photo by Dave Herring on Unsplash

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Born in Europe, Candice Louisa Daquin is of Sephardi French/ Egyptian descent. Daquin was the Publishing Director at the U.S. Embassy (London) before becoming a Psychotherapist. Daquin is Senior Editor at Indie Blu(e) Publishing, a feminist micro-press and Editorial Partner with Raw Earth Ink. She’s also Writer-in-Residence for Borderless Journal, Editor of Poetry & Art for The Pine Cone Review and Poetry Editor for Parcham Literary Magazine. Daquin’s own poetic work takes its form from the confessional women poets of the 20th century as well as queer authors writing from the 1950’s onward. Her career(s) teaching critical thinking and practicing as a psychotherapist have heavily influenced her writing. As a queer woman of mixed ethnicity and passionate feminist beliefs concerning equality, Daquin’s poetry is her body of evidence.