Keywords: Indonesian poetry, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In September 1944, the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Amin Al-Husaini1, was broadcast on Berlin radio, in which he openly supported the independence of Indonesia a year before the official proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia. The Indonesian people remember that first recognition, and the Indonesians, expressing fraternal feelings, support Palestine in its struggle for independence, sympathize with its suffering and are ready to help it. During the Israeli blockade of Gaza in 2008-2009, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono repeatedly denounced Israeli brutality, saying that the Indonesian Government always supports the struggle of the Palestinian people to defend their rights and sovereignty, and called on the international community to support Palestine. ²

Indonesian solidarity with the Palestinian people is reflected in Indonesian poetry. The famous Indonesian poet Tawfiq Ismail writes in his poem "Palestine, How Can I Forget You"³:

  
  
 When your houses were bulldozed  
 sand and stones of the walls flew at random,  
 were eyes and ears in suffering,  
 Everything caused pain in the soul and anger.  
 When the expanses of orange plantations  
 And apple trees neat rows  
 Cleared in the course of actions,  
 I became gloomy, as if from my misfortune...  
 Without a name, the lie factory produces,  
 Uses print and the Internet.  
 Refugees find melancholy in tents,  
 Blood in Sabra, in Shatila, there is no salvation...  
 I won't forget you, Palestine.  
 Even though you are far from my land  
 mournful prayer with the explosion of a mine  
 Sounds in my ears, as if two steps away. 
  
 

In 2009, the Mujahiddin Council of Indonesia, a Muslim organization, announced the recruitment of ⁴ volunteers willing to fight against Israel on the side of the Palestinians, and the Indonesian Government sent medical supplies and financial aid to Gaza. Even Indonesian children have a heartache about Palestine, and they think about how to help their peers in the fraternal country. An eight-year-old boy poet, Abdurahman Faiz, wrote the poem "Ianto and Mazda"⁵:

  
  
 Ianto and Mazda, you're sleeping,  
 night is so dark outside.  
 Frodo and Sam are in a tough battle,  
 against Sharon she is.  
 It would be better, perhaps,  
 Sacrificing our bed,  
 be near them too,  
 help them. 
  
 

Helvi Tiana Rosa's poem " Do you get the news about Supernazism?"⁶.

  
  
 What do you know about Palestine?  
 Have you heard about the destroyed houses,  
  the refugees in tosca-kruchina,  
 The river of flowing tears?  
 Is it known about the dead people Who were hit by a bulldozer, About food that is extremely scarce?  
   
   
 There are countless restrictions.  
 Do you get news about children  
  who were left without fathers,  
  About being raped somewhere,  
 About prisons for detained fighters?..  
 Bullets sing of death,  
  Cruelty beyond all imaginings there.  
 People's emotions fell asleep.  
 Rampant Nazi savagery, sins.  
 Hey, Ban Ki-moon, is the UN real?  
 There is no criticism from the UN  
  of extreme Nazi actions.  
 The UN is an empty bell for Palestine.  
 We must pray for Palestine.  
 She is firm, she lives confidently,  
 and Her struggle and her people will be reflected in our souls  
 .  
 We are with her in her time of adversity. 
  
 

The fear of Palestinian children and mothers, the bitterness of boys throwing stones at Israeli children

soldiers, suffering for loved ones in Israeli prisons, blood, tears, groans-all this is reflected in Indonesian poetry about Palestine.

Baekuni Mohammad Khririye, "Palestine" ⁷

  
  
 I can't delight your dream with a story,  
 And is it possible to tell a tale about blood,   
    
   
 I cry, seeing a boy without arms and legs,  
 he sings a song of hopeless sorrow.  
 I couldn't hang a medal for you,  
 your people remain unfree...  
 I remember your heroes, and I grieve with you.  
 Hoary Palestine, I love you. 
  
 

Makmur Dimila, "A Palestinian Elegy" ⁸

  
  
 The night in Gaza is an eternal fear,  
 It is offered to the table.  
 He is a flag drooping in panic.  
 He is a shudder, a path into the darkness.  
 And bullets fall like rain,  
 Rockets in the black sky, thunder.  
 There is fear and trembling all around the children  
 Anger all around the boys... 
  
 

Maulana Rifai, "The Lament of Palestine" ⁹

  
  
 The Palestinians, though not sinful,  
 were victims of Jewish outrages.  
 The Palestinians do not bear guilt  
  at all, and they cherish freedom as a dream... 
  
 

The spirit of struggle is growing stronger in the children of Palestine, and they are preparing to continue the work of their fathers and grandfathers. This is stated in Asmar Abdullah's poem "The Cry of a Palestinian Child" ¹⁰:

  
  
 Today you have ruined us,  
 Killed us with your weapons.  
 If you're afraid of us now,  
 we'll grow up and take revenge.  
 While you cause fear,  
  Because we are still small.  
 Our spirit will not be extinguished in any way,  
 And there will be a firm hand.  
 We wait, taking the leading edge.  
 We'll give all our blood to the fight  
 , and we'll fight  
  until we get it all back.  
 We will get the rights back,  
 And the respect will come  
  That you took away by raiding.  
 Wait, our time is coming. 
  
 

About Palestinian children deprived of their childhood and Nadia Rahmatul Umakh's poem "Little Boy of Palestine"¹¹:

  
  
 The boy squeezes the stones with his fingers, 
 His eyes tell a lot  
  how he said goodbye to dreams, 
 In his palm a stone, like a projectile... 
 Mar was hit by a bullet 
 fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. 
 But there is no end to the Palestinian power, 
 we will see other Umars again. 
  
 

In some Indonesian verses about Palestine, there is a faint hope for the peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews in holy places, for the peacemaking role of God.

Herdi Sahrasada, "Bethlehem" ¹²

  
  
 ...But will the Lord descend from Paradise to   
   
  of whether they   
  
  
 

Hundreds of Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli prisons, and their families cannot even visit them. In Adib Salim^{'s poem, 13} is a complaint from a child whose parents are in Israeli custody and he is in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan:

Father...

  
  
 I'm not allowed to meet you.  
 I can't hug you right now  
 , I can't hug my mother dear,  
  I can't wipe her tears and comfort her.  
 I see on your face, Mother,  
  the marks of tears that flow at night.  
 When can I meet my father?  
 Who will give us such permission?..  
 Fathers, hear the cry of the children's souls,  
  Return their parents quickly! 
  
 

Translated from the Indonesian by Y. I. NOSKOV

¹ Gaza news, 13.01.2009.

² Wikipedia, 01.2014.

³ Sang Pejalan, 28.02.2013.

⁴ Antara, 05.01.2009.

⁵ Untuk Bunda dan Dunia, 2004.

⁶ Bada Subuh, 25.06.2011.

⁷ Kompas, 29.11.2012.

⁸ Serambi, 25.11.2005.

⁹ Puisi Angkuhan, 28.12.2012.

¹⁰ Rumah Sejuta Ide, 22.02.2009.

¹¹ Jendela Sastra, 18.09.2012.

¹² Kompas, 06.04.2008.

¹³ Republika, 19.01.2009.

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