If/Then

If you’ve heard the news of the beheadings, you’ve seen the planes on bombing runs
Read of the carnage at the weddings, heard about these men with guns
If you’ve seen the photos of buildings mangled, the footage of the fields burned
The shots of bodies left entangled, there’s a basic lesson you should have learned

If you saw them walking into the cafes, if you saw them standing in the crowd
If you’ve watched the videos and the replays, if you’ve heard them shouting out aloud
Death to all the unbelievers, Allahu Akbar, God is great
If you’ve heard the screams there in the theater as they died for the Caliphate

If you saw the planes hit the towers, saw the smoke that filled the sky
Smelled the candles and the flowers – if you looked up and wondered why
Someone would be hell-bent to kill so many fellow men
If you wondered what those people once meant when they said “never again”

Then you know why they are fleeing – you’ve heard the ringing in your ears
Then you see what they are seeing – you know why they’re coming here
Then you understand the only thing to do is to open up the door
Then you – you must give them shelter from the war

 

December, 2015 listening to Radio Deutschewelle, they were interviewing a refugee solidarity organizer in Berlin who said if you’ve seen what happened in Paris, then you must understand even more than before the attacks there why it is so necessary that we give haven to refugees.