we are not numbers
emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights
Two steps, one, two / His eyes stare, mine too / No steps left, I swallow. We meet. / What will follow?
A woman who was attacked by a canine under the control of an Israeli soldier, being interviewed bout the experience by Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif. Photo circulating on social media
Two steps, one, two.
His eyes stare, mine too.
No steps left, I swallow. We meet.
What will follow?
His silence fills the air.
Eye to eye, head to head,
I wait. My wrinkled hands shake.
The beast of death is here.
He steps over my leg,
and smells my skin.
His nose touches my neck.
One, two … ten.
His tongue licks my face,
one, two … Then, he growls
and attacks. He feasts,
as armed soldiers stand around.
In his teeth, I see my flesh.
And I, bleeding and facing
him alone, cry out
on seeing my bone.
Editor’s note: Read Al Jazeera’s account of Israeli soldiers siccing a dog on an elderly Palestinian woman inside her home in June 2024.
