9/10/24
i was outside the gates of columbia and a young man my age, wandering, looked lost, asked me, do you support violent resistance?
do you support hamas and the killing of israelis? all i could hear him saying was, do you love me?
i was talking to a cop lined up with arms linked to his comrades blocking the station where myself and hundreds of others stood waiting
to offer jail support to nyu students who had just been arrested. i said, long day huh? he looked at me and nodded. after a moment, hesitating,
he blurted out, well, yeah. small chuckle. and it's gonna get even longer. i gotta pick up my wife from the airport... all i could hear
him saying was, do you love me?
at the memorial for refaat alareer, just martyred by the iof, i read his poem if i must die you must live to tell my story to
the hundreds of mourners gathered at washington square park, in a light drizzle which contained a deafening silence. all i could hear myself
saying was, do you love me?