Introduction by Pam Bailey: As France responds to the terrorism attack over the weekend by pounding Syrian targets, and the United States vows to step up its own attacks on the beleagured country, these words written by Hossam Al-Madhoun on August 20, 2014, are presceint.

Al-Madhoun, an actor and director with Gaza's Theater for Everybody, worte this poem 45 days into the summer assault on Gaza — six days before a ceasefire finally brought the attack to an end in which no side "won." More than a year later, only one of the more than 100,000 homes that were destroyed or severely damaged has been rebuilt, and the people still reel from the loss of more than 2,000 loved ones and the injury of over 11,000 others.

And so it shall be with Syria, Iraq, Yemen and…..

The words to Hossam's "poem":

In the war, like in every war, sadness prevails.
In the war, like in every war, you don’t watch the news, you are the news.
In the war, like in every war, you look for safety and some bread.
In the war, like in every war, you cannot alleviate the fear of your children, as you
     are as afraid as they are.
In the war, like in every war, you want to escape, but there is no way out to escape.
In the war, like in every war, faces are gloomy and you do not ask why;
     you already know why.
In the war, like in every war, wherever you go, destruction surrounds you.
In the war, like in every war, you postpone all of your plans.
In the war, like in every war, you cancel your holidays.
In the war, like in every war, you miss your friends who live nearby, but
     you cannot visit them.
In the war, like in every war, there’s no time for 5 o’clock tea.
In the war, like in every war, you don’t walk your dog as you used to do
     every day.
In the war, like in every war, you don’t go to the cinema anymore.
In the war, like in every war, there is no time for music.
And in the war, like in every war, war continues……