Today, as you are going out in the month of Spring remember that we can wander as the spirit takes us. But three and a half million Palestinians are also here and alive this month, this Spring, living in a huge prison.
From the Hagadah
In the Hagadah, the story of the Passover which is read around the Passover table, one of the traditions is to sing the song "Dayenu".
Dayenu means: "it would have been enough"
Had the Palestinians from Gaza been forbidden to enter the West Bank And not been forbidden to enter East Jerusalem
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had they been forbidden to enter East Jerusalem And the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip via the Erez Checkpoint not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip via Erez Checkpoint been forbidden And the entry of Palestinians to the Jordan Valley not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had the entry of Palestinians to the Jordan Valley been forbidden And their entrance to their own villages, fields, pastures and neighbourhoods in the "Seam Line" in the Western part of the West Bank not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had their entrance to their own villages, fields, pastures and neighbourhoods in the "Seam Zone" been forbidden, And their entrance to the villages of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan in the Nablus area, and Ramadin in the South Hebron area not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had their entrance to the villages of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan in the Nablus area and Ramadin in the South Hebron area been forbidden And their entrance to the areas of the settlements not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had their entrance to the areas of the settlements been forbidden And their access to their own fields which are in the built up areas of the settlements not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had their access to their own fields which are in the built up areas of the settlements been forbidden And the entrance of private Palestinian cars to Nablus not been forbidden
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had the entrance of private Palestinian cars to Nablus been forbidden And children under the age of 16 had not been forbidden to leave Nablus without the original of their birth certificate and without one accompanying parent
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had Jerusalemites been forbidden to enter Area A And Jerusalem Palestinians not been forbidden to enter Palestinian towns in the West Bank
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had Jerusalem Palestinians been forbidden to enter Palestinian towns in the West Bank And residents of Gaza not been forbidden to enter the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had residents of Gaza been forbidden to enter the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge And not been forbidden to transfer their place of residence to the West Bank
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had they been forbidden to transfer their place of residence to the West Bank And residents of the West Bank not been forbidden to transfer their place of residence to the Jordan valley and the villages of the seam area
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had residents of the West Bank been forbidden to transfer their place of residence to the Jordan valley and the villages in the "Seam Zone" And not been forbidden to leave the country via Ben Gurion airport
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Had the northern section of the West Bank not been separated from the southern area and 75 manned checkpoints had not been set up there, together with usually more than 100 rolling checkpoints, hundreds of barriers between roads and villages, 88 iron gates at the exits of the villages, tens of kilometers of separation fence and wall along main roads, 83 "agricultural" gates which separate the fields from their owners
Dayenu: It would have been enough
Not one, but many evil acts committed this Government of ours that issued all these prohibitions, and its arm is still outstretched to enact racial legislation, to build apartheid roads, to prevent family unification and to maintain a consistent policy of keeping remote any possible solution of the conflict.