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Never Again Shall We Forget “Len Nensaa” Backdrop: This poem was first published for distribution at the Sept. 24th
2003 unveiling of the first Deir Yassin memorial on U.S. soil (bronze sculpture
of uprooted olive-tree by Khalil Bendib).
Randa Hamwi Duwaji communicates details of the massacre as well as her
impression of the DYR mission as envisioned by its founder, Dan McGowan, who
first set eyes upon Deir Yassin as he emerged from the Yad Vashem Holocaust
memorial near Jerusalem. Note: Hind Husseini sheltered the orphans and founded the orphanage ‘Dar el Tifl el Arabi’ in Jerusalem. The Seeker Near Jerusalem’s gate upon the threshold of Yad Vashem the pilgrim lingered… His spirit hungered for the message to ring true: ‘Never forget Man’s inhumanity to Man!’ He whispered in Arabic, “La tensaa!” From where he stood the northern hilltop crowned with pine blushed in morning light. ‘Givat Shaul Beit’ of Israel, once ‘Deir Yassin’ of Palestine… Arriving there he faltered. Hesitant, knees turning to water. Dare he face the Truth he was after? He knelt. Fingertips cold. Trembling he touched the shattered lives beneath his feet; Dismembered, strewn in heaps of ruin. Trapped in ancient stone. Never forget: La tensaa... “Lord, help me remember!” A Prayer Answered The hills, the trees the wind, the walls responded, resounded. Drowned pleas, wails prayers, moans, gaining voice now pounded at his searching soul, compressing decades of time to Deir Yassin before that fateful dawn La tensaa… La tensaa… Deir Yassin under British rule at peace with neighboring Jews La tensaa… In Deir Yassin mothers, fathers with their young were sound asleep. A brutal awakening before the sun came out behind the monastery to witness another traumatic chapter of history, another line of Scripture spattered with blood… La tensaa! The pilgrim shouted into the wind, “How soon we did forget!” April 9, 1948: April 9, 1948 The tragic day unfolded as the weak, the helpless in wide-eyed terror, groped for the throne of God. La tensaa! The weak, the helpless, slaughtered. Bracelets, earrings, rings torn from severed limbs. Grandmas, grandpas mutilated. Modesty violated. La tensaa! The weak, the helpless lined against the wall… executed en masse. La tensaa! Prisoners trucked arms over heads. Trophies paraded. Set ablaze into night sky; a final coup de grace. “Why?” the pilgrim cried to the stone quarry buried out of sight, its depths pregnant with their charred remains, echoing back: La tensaa! La tensaa! Accursed the killing; Unholy the flame. The Aftermath Then came the Cry: Palestinians, fly to safety! Many fled, traveling light. A temporary escape, unaware of Zionist aims In the Exodus half a thousand Palestinian villages were undone… La tensaa! Inhumanity this time well-rewarded! Assassins applauded, commanders promoted to Prime Ministers, awarded Nobel Prize for Peace! La tensaa! “Humanity, what have we done?” And some lived to tell: By the lofty walls of Jerusalem fifty-five orphans were found dazed. Many saved under parents’ bodies. “God bless you, Hind, for taking them all in!” Len nensaa! Len nensaa! The Memorial The pilgrim wept all the way back to Yad Vashem, passing Israeli towns. Townships built of stones that retain Palestinian remains… “Hope lives when people remember, and millions in Diaspora cry as one over their dispossession begun that April day…” And in so saying he shuddered, “Beware the Lord’s justice O Israel for a Holocaust redone!” And as the pilgrim arrived at Yad Vashem, his resolve to remain a guardian of Truth grew stronger. “I shall not rest,” he promised, “until I see a sign right here at Yad Vashem pointing visitors to the northern hilltop crowned with pine, where another memorial shall stand to commemorate the lives the loves the years the tears lost at Deir Yassin… lost since Deir Yassin for all time. May we never again forget. Help us, O Lord, remember! For Peace, Shalom, Salam!” The hills, the trees, the wind, the walls, responded, resounded: “Amen!” as hope rejoiced, “Never again shall we forget: Len nensaa! Len nensaa!” Randa Hamwi Duwaji | 
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