deathscape: a cento
a poem about Palestine and necroviolence
A cento is a poem composed entirely of other texts. In this case, 4 articles and 1 book, cited at the end. Each source uses a different font. A screenreadable transcription is below the images.
Deathscape: a cento
By Alekz Thoms
Necroviolence: violence performed and produced through the specific treatment of corpses that is perceived to be offensive, sacreligious, or inhumane by the perpetrator, the victim (and [their] cultural group), or both.
horror, mass killings and arrests, Israeli forces have an attitude of disregard for civilian lives.
We have seen Israel justifying massacres in order to pursue the alleged killing of a militant. But by this token Israel is given license to kill everyone in Gaza.
The reach of modern necropolitics now extends beyond the moment of death.
A manipulated dead body can also be a vector for violent messages directed at the living.
he can’t sleep for fear
Israeli forces killed at least 274 people to free four captives
The world must stop.
Israeli forces violated every international human rights law
Israel justifying what many would call a ‘bad death’--
a death that occurs in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
bodies burned beyond recognition, bodies with torn limbs, skulls emptied and broken, bodies reeking of chemical smells,
eight families spanning three generations, martyred.
Their mother’s body is torn into pieces.
a ‘bad death’
the hospital only saw her arms,
her intestines had spilled out of her stomach.”
The complete destruction of a corpse constitutes the most complex and durable form of necroviolence humans have yet invented.
a mass grave inside the Nasser Medical Complex
sounds of bombing.
Still in a state of shock,
she began counting her family members that had been killed.
everyone in Gaza has seen a
shocking number of mutilated bodies.
It is also a type of violence that can be easily outsourced
to animals, nature, or technology.
no other option than water Commingled with fecal matter and worms and Flies are in our food.
Hepatitis A cholera gastrointestinal problems Jaundice and diarrhea, and Scabies rashes
a ‘bad death’
scorpions rodents pollution and mosquitoes. Flies, insects and cockroaches are all over you. bugs never seen before in Gaza that stick to skin
Electricity, clean water and fuel have all run out, and there are no medical supplies or lifesaving treatments.
but they are nevertheless part of a larger enforcement paradigm
Since the bombing began,
the displaced, like being in a grave
wait day and night still under the rubble
to be uncovered
With enough time, a person left to rot on the ground can disappear completely.
A grotesque crescendo
an escalation of what I call a tragedy foretold
the intentional killing of civilians
an annihilation of individuals of cultures
There are body parts, bodies everywhere.
Elderly women thrown on the floor.
barefoot Young children in pieces.
These facts become inscribed upon the bones of the dead.
This is The barbarism of this occupation and the immorality of its army
parents, siblings and every one of their children.
Grandchildren
found with their hands tied and stripped of their clothes.
disabled or injured forced to lay out on the ground,
With torn body parts, mutilated bodies outside in the courtyard,
Animals eat the Martyrs face hand stomach
Such grief and horror
The lack of a body prevents a ‘proper’ burial for the dead,
The cemetery in Deir el-Balah has run out of room and as a result, mass graves are being dug
Israel’s siege prevented access to cemeteries.
fear is seeping into the ground
continued and unchecked heinous war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation
The stench of corpses stick to skin
This destruction of corpses erases evidence of the human costs of federal policy
also allows the perpetrators of violence plausible deniability.
Israel described the genocide allegation as baseless.
Sources:
Al Jazeera. (2024, April 24). Uncovering of mass graves in Gaza: What you need to know. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/24/uncovering-of-mass-grave-at-gazas-nasser-hospital-what-you-need-to-know
Alsaafin, L., & Amra, A. (2023, November 3). Mass Graves, rushed burials: Funeral rites bypass gaza dead amid Israel War. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/3/mass-graves-rushed-burials-funeral-rites-bypass-gaza-dead-amid-israel-war
Deadly Israeli attack on Al-Mawasi tent camp not justifiable, critics argue. Al Jazeera. (2024b, June 15). https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/7/15/deadly-israeli-attack-on-al-mawasi-tent-camp-not-justifiable-critics-argue
De León, J. (2015). The land of open graves living and dying on the migrant trail. University of California Press. https://archive.org/details/the-land-of-open-graves-living-and-dying-on-the-mi.../page/n5/mode/1up
Shurafa, W., & Frankel, J. (2024, June 27). In the searing heat of the Gaza summer, Palestinians are surrounded by sewage and garbage. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-dirt-sanitation-sewage-garbage-d96fbbbc37e7a73acfd0aa47978394c7