Before dawn

There is no other way around this wall of fear and anger than non-violence. There is no other option than the most basic principle of love. No more bombs, neither on civilians nor fighters, no more gunning down of anyone—anyone! No more hate speech, kidnappings, rapes, brutality towards children. It must stop. We must demand a moratorium on violence in all its forms. Immediately! Stop the drones, pick the bombers and the tanks apart, help those hurt into the bone and depths of their selves to heal. Every single one of us must accept our responsibility for the well being of every other single individual on this planet. We must reach beyond our deepest fears to hold on to our humanity.

Så kom du då till sista, du var en främling,

en mytgestalt som jag hört talas om.

Så många hade målat dina bilder

men det var bortom bilderna du kom.

We have for too long told ourselves that our behaviour is righteous. That we must fight evil with evil. That brutality is justified—in the name of profit, development, war, or God. We have sold out our innermost Selves for the sake of false securities.

Vi trodde du var användbar, till salu,

vi skrev ditt namn på våra stridsbanér.

Vi byggde katedraler högt mot himlen


men du gick hela tiden längre ner.

For how many centuries have we accepted what no one should ever—ever!—accept? For how long have we refused to listen to the instinct of care and love, which we, as humans are born with? For how much longer will we continue to reject what is our most basic behaviour? We depend not on violence, but on each other. Without Other, Self is nothing, without Self, Other is lost.

Du är ett barn som ligger på ett jordgolv,

du fryser om vi inte griper in.


Du rör vid kroppar, hatar orättvisor,


Du bjuder älskande på moget vin.

The choice is ours. It has always been ours. We are offered the option of a different decision again and again. We need to stop and ask ourselves which choices will lead us in another direction, than the ones we are currently striding with fierce boots.

Du stiger ut ur alla tomma gravar

Du är en vind som säger: det blir vår.

Du kommer som en flykting över bergen

Du följer oss dit ingen annan går.
Du är den sång om livet som jag glömde

den sanning jag förrådde dag för dag.

Jag svek mig själv;
den spegel som jag gömde

bär dina bråddjup, dina anletsdrag.

I believe in the Difference. I refuse to be caught in the maelstrom of hate and fear. I know that we can change this if we wish to, if we dare.

Kom närmare, bli kvar hos mig.

Det mörknar, och kanske ljusnar det på nytt igen.

Ditt liv ska bära mig;
jag hör en koltrast
som sjunger timmen innan gryningen.

Je suis Ahmed—the revolution betrayed

This day, as the two before it, is a very sad one. We have witnessed fear and its massive shadows. Eighteen dead. At least two of whom had parents from a former colony, heavily disgraced and violated by its coloniser. After the second imperial war. Most likely all of the killers in this drama have experiences of exclusion, and have most likely grown up with parents who have felt racism into the bone. Whether in France or outside of her. We are all victims. What differentiate us is how we react. Ahmed Merabet, one of the police officers killed in the French drama, was French, with Algerian decent. He was doing his job, as the other police officer who was killed. They had both chosen the French, democratic state, rather than an opposing, globalised resistance group. The woman expressing her fears of 'what's going to happen to France.' The journalists. The cartoonists. I. I am a victim. And an accomplice. We all are. The French Revolution is betrayed. We disgrace the very basic, deepest human rights of of us all: the right to live in dignity. The right to show and experience respect. The French Revolution betrayed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNy4Lli83-I