1948 [English translation]

We trod the Promised Land,

we visited refugee camps.

The children from Aida1 throw a thousand stones,

trying to tear down the wall of apartheid2

We saw carcass on top of the grates,

closed shops at the market in Hebron3;

there are demolished houses everywhere

and brave people who never give up.

We tried to imagine

that the heirs of this land

were finally coming back home

after sixty years of occupation.

The mothers from Askar4 cannot stop crying,

when they tell us about their huge pain.

We witnessed minutes of silence

in front of the graves of martyrs of Jenin5.

We were exhausting our patience

at every checkpoint we had to cross.

We contemplated the twilight

from the rooftops of Jerusalem6.

We tried to imagine

that the heirs of this land

were finally coming back home

after sixty years of occupation.

We strolled through the beaches of Acre7,

while the scorching sun was burning our skin.

It seems impossible not to fall in love

with the fighters of the year 48.

We could see the incredible power

we can obtain if we unite our hands.

We sang together bilādī, bilādī

in the Freedom Theatre8.

We tried to imagine

that the heirs of this land

were finally coming back home

after sixty years of occupation.

1. Aida is the name of a refugee camp in Palestine.2. The term apartheid refers to racial segregation in South Africa in the years 1948-1990; however, the song talks about Palestine.3. Hebron is a town in Palestine.4. Askar is the name of a refugee camp in Palestine.5. Jenin is the name of a town in Palestine and of a nearby refugee camp. In 2002 it became a target of attack of the Israeli troops.6. Jerusalem is the biggest city and the capital of Israel.7. Acre is an Israeli town. In 1948 it belonged to Palestine, but during the 1st Arab-Israeli War it found itself under the Israeli occupation.8. Bilādī, Bilādī, Bilādī {my homeland, my homeland, my homeland} is the national anthem of Egypt, which in the years 1949-1967 was also the national anthem of Palestine.

The Freedom Theatre is a cultural project created in 2006 in Jenin refugee camp.

• Artist:Pau Alabajos