There are no excuses for terrorism, by individuals, by armies or by states. But there must be reasons. It is not acceptable to be an apologist for murder. But it is legitimate and, indeed, important to discuss the reasons.
This poem of mine was first published in The Rialto, Number 70, Autumn 2010. Thanks again to the editor, Michael Mackmin. Maybe worth repeating.
JUST REASONS
The women shot in the back of the neck
and pushed into ditches.
Persecution organised,
genocide industrialised.
The bombs on buses,
in restaurants,
the children blown to pieces
on the beach.
Victimisation, apartheid, the wall,
the bulldozed homes, the olive groves.
Just reason, justice, just excuses.
Executions. Terror. Exile. Torture.
Just reasons. No excuse.
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