Human rights is what we feel and do without reflexive verbs
—Oscar Wilde
The flag of Palestine.
The flag of Israel.
Flying on social media.
But there’s no wind.
Too perfect on our pages.
Even bloody and torn ones
no longer stir up response.
The screen is a filter for pain.
On the street, bang, bang, boom.
Behind the monitor, click, click, zoom.
Israel-Palestine: The Conflict.
A brand we all recognize.
Targets we all see.
Branded people.
Those we don’t care about.
People with brands.
Those we can’t reach.
Targeted lives.
A bit higher aim here.
Lives with targets.
Here just aim a bit higher.
Build fences out of hashtags.
Let doves of peace tweet.
Don’t dare let them fly.
The flag of Ukraine.
Flying on social media.
Again without wind.
But tons of engagement.
Engagement or engagement?
They’re not the same.
Soldiers captured the enemy.
#Hate.
Partners captured the heart.
#Love.
Users engaged with content.
Why? #SlavaUkraini.
Some content caught you like this.
#Z.
Wars on the internet.
Fought by who?
Those who haven’t,
and never will,
fight in real life.
Russians and Ukrainians
getting caught up.
Can it still be?
Yes, in their problems,
but not in each other.
“The past has caught up,
so we can’t catch up now.”
You see how it is—
possible but impossible.
Like Armenians marrying Turks.
The flag of Armenia.
Flying on social media.
No wind. No brand.
Less engagement than Ukraine—
why, almost none.
Yet, Russians
and Ukrainians
still engage Armenians—
so romantic, you see.
But. Alexandr avoids
Armen in love with Olena.
So. Oleksandr avoids
Hayk married to Lena.
Alas, love is just war,
yet war can’t be love—
in the end it’s all
but engagement.
What does that word even mean?
And where lies Armenia?
Did you say Romania?
No, not Dracula,
but Kim Kardashian.
Yes, we know who that is.
She has brand.
Power to catch up with anyone.
But she cannot and will not
get caught up with the enemy.
Cannot—because she will not
marry a Turk.
Will not—because she cannot
pick up a weapon.
That’s the virtue of trademark.
The world loves
Kim K.
It couldn’t care less
about some conflict in the mountains.
Pain is a narcissist.
It only likes selfies.
And don’t expect help.
No one’s got time
to portray this for you.
That plight is yours.
Own it alone.
Share it and like it.
But don’t share anyone else’s.
Your digital temple—
inside you must worship.
Worship what’s higher.
Don’t bring in the “other.”
Jews hurt.
Jews take selfie then share.
Ukrainian hurt.
Ukranians take selfie then share.
Armenian hurt.
Armenians take selfie then share.
But you rarely see this:
“Armenian Pain”
photo by [Jewish name].
“Jewish Pain”
photo by [Armenian name].
Ethiopians slaughtered.
Only Ethiopians spoke up.
No engagement. No brand.
Less photoshoots.
More shooting.
African blood—
too little content.
So many hungry,
not one came to feed.
Keywords: boring,
generic, distant.
Turkey tells us
protect human rights:
“Rwanda was a genocide.
Hamas fights for freedom.
Israel is an occupier.
We freed Northern Cyprus.
China—Uyghur Genocide.
Turkey—No Armenian Genocide.”
Defend one justice
but not another.
What does it mean?
Protect your own interests
by protecting some human rights.
Equity defenders
versus
equity salesmen.
Equity versus equity.
The war of ideologies.
We sell you defense.
We defend the market of justice.
The price of peace.
The price of war.
The price of oil.
The price of life—
those shares
keep going down.
Dump them now.
Invest in Kamikaze drones.
The market is self-regulating.
It never lies.
It always knows what’s right.
What’s hot is true.
What’s sexy is true.
What sells is true.
Truly unthinkable.
And the market just buys—
first, all that’s honest and true,
then, honestly, just the truth it can chew.
The West neither likes Africans
nor does it want them.
Yet, Wall Street
keeps shunning
the value of history.
1936: “It is us today.
It will be you tomorrow.”
The words of Haile Selassie.
Three years later,
Germany invaded Poland.
The chain, so far,
has carried.
Who will be next?
—–
I’m deeply grateful to Arthur Ovanesian for his suggestions