Prakata: Rencananya tulisan ini terbit tanggal 4 Pebruari 2009, tetapi karena sibuk, maka masih ngendon di Draft dan baru tayang sekarang. Maaf kalau agak kadaluwarsa. Alasan sibuk itu pula, maka blog ini tak pernah diurus selama hampir dua bulan. Harus mulai bersih-bersih dan benah-benah lagi…

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Ada sebuah surat yang cukup menyita perhatian kita. Ini tentang saudara-saudara kita di Gaza.

Dear friends,

I have been overwhelmed by the warmth and the friendship you have all given me in response to my song for Gaza, “We Will Not Go Down”. I am doing my best to go through your numerous messages, emails and comments, and ask you to kindly bear with me until I am able to do so. Please forgive me if I am not able to respond to each and everyone of you; but please also know that I really appreciate your messages.

My original intention to donate proceeds from the sale of the MP3 to charity has been complicated by technical matters; therefore, I have decided to make the song available free of charge. I would like to request that after downloading the song from this page, you kindly donate directly to a charity or an organization dedicated to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Worthy of note is UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which has been helping Palestinian refugees since their dispossession in 1949. Please click here to donate through them: http://www.un.org/unrwa/

Thank you for your continued encouragement of my work as a musician, for your purchases of my CD, and for spreading the song, the video and the message as you have been doing. I am grateful for every demonstration of support I have received from you, and for every thought and prayer that has gone to the people of Gaza.

Sincerely,

Michael Heart

Diatas adalah surat yang ditulis oleh Michael Heart, seorang seniman pencipta lagu yang terinspirasi oleh penderitaan orang-orang akibat tragedi kemanusiaan di daerah konflik Israel-Palestina. Lagu ini diberi judul “We will not go down” (song for Gaza). Lagu ini sangat menyentuh dalam syairnya. Silakan disimak dan free download. Sebarkanlah semangat anti peperangan ini. Jika anda ingin mendonasikan sebagian dana anda, bisa langsung ke komite penyaluran dana bagi Palestina (UNRWA).

Untuk yang tidak mau mendownload, dan hanya ingin sekedar mendengarkan lagu ini, saya sudah bikinkan versi bitrate rendah untuk pembaca di akhir tulisan ini.

Ketika sebuah peperangan sudah menganaktirikan hakekat manusia, maka siapapun, dimanapun dan kapanpun akan segera tergerak hati nuraninya untuk membela saudaranya, sekecil apapun. Meski hanya doa maupun lagu. Semangat kemanusiaan yang masih tersisa di antara rapuhnya rasa kasih sayang antar manusia.

Mengutip syair lagu ‘Imagine’ karya John Lennon, sangat pas untuk membela sisi manusiawi pada perang Israel-Palestina ini,

“…Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ..”

Yaah. seandainya tidak ada agama, tidak ada istilah surga, tidak ada istilah negara.. yang ada adalah sesama manusia. Hidup dalam damai dan kasih sayang.

Saya membayangkan, seandainya tidak ditemukan bijih besi, maka tidak ada lagi pedang. Seandainya tidak ditemukan baja, mungkin tidak akan ada tank. Seandainya tidak ditemukan bubuk misiu, mungkin tidak akan ada peluru dan bom. Hidup tanpa kekerasan. Makan nasi pecel bareng-berang, ngerumpi di pinggir sungai bareng, atau sekedar ngopi ditemani pisang goreng dan ngobrol gayeng di tengah swah diiringi angin semilir… hidup terasa indah.

*Mimpi !*

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Lirik Song for Gaza:

WE WILL NOT GO DOWN (Song for Gaza)
(Composed by Michael Heart)
Copyright 2009

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight