> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.merip.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Poems - URL: https://www.merip.org/1989/07/poems/ - Published: 1989-07-16T00:07:12.000Z - Updated: 2025-07-29T12:36:35.000Z - Description: Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep Sami Shalom Chetrit 1. Eight kids in an army jeep Eight soldiers, one major: eight kids and one minor 2. Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep [1] 3. And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old at the cutting of his uncircumcised flesh. 4. And eight of his sons in the army jeep and his son cri - Author: Erez Bitton - Tags: MER Article, Israel, Poetry, #wp, #wp-post, Issue 159, #Articles **Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep** Sami Shalom Chetrit Eight kids in an army jeep Eight soldiers, one major: eight kids and one minor *Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep* \[1\] And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old at the cutting of his uncircumcised flesh. And eight of his sons in the army jeep and his son cries to the Lord but no one hears And behold his father running: Run, Muhammad, run, your son’s spirit is coming towards you Lord, Lord, where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bore unto Abraham: And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the first- born of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Abdeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadad, and Teman, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah… and Muhammad Said Qarada and Said Qarada whose years numbered thirteen at his death. And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac; and Isaac begot Esau and Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve tribes… and eight soldiers in an army jeep One has officer’s stripes on his shoulder, a Hebrew officer to the Kingdom of Israel: maybe a bleeding heart liberal or a down and out reactionary *Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep,* *what a night it is!* Maybe his name’s Itsik And the seven under him: one’s an eagle eye another’s bound to ritual the third has his feet on the ground the fourth’s got his head in the clouds the fifth’s got to do it all the sixth replies stoically the seventh can’t wait for liberty And there are “dovish intellectuals” amongst them and there are “militant hawks” amongst them and God is there amongst them and an officer is there amongst them soon there’s neither affection nor innocence Black combat boots on their feet: “that oppress the poor and crush the destitute” Subject displayed the following signs: pallor, bleeding from the nose and left ear. Internal hemorrhaging in the vicinity of the left temple. Compound fractures resulting from a blow (not a projectile), on the left temple. Break in the left knee. He was thirteen the day of his murder. Thirteen: the age of obligation. Theater of the struggle: As one they arose and came from the combines and the collective farms from the shareholder’s settlements and their surroundings, from the towns and from the cities. take her to the right And the boy cried to his father: Father, I’m choking Eight pairs of heavy duty combat boots Eight outstretched pairs and there were white amongst them and there were black amongst them *Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep.* Eight soldiers, one a Hebrew major: eight soldiers, and one Arab minor *Hey, everyone agrees: with a jeep the only thing you need is speed* They finally pitched him from the fleeting coach, cast their spirit to the blinding night *Like wind up in the sky* *we’ll fly* *right on by* but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself Jerusalem December 31, 1988 **The Crusader Man** Shelley Elkayam The Crusader man paid the Land a visit and that was around so and so many years back. The Crusader man did the country in this or that many days. The Crusader man became the landlord. An enemy with holdings. Full of trust, sword-bearing, armor-wearing, with a coat of mail. Kind of a jumpy guy, the Crusader man. The Land is a witness, she sees it from the way he laid his place out, from the fact that he never did make himself a home. From the way he’d attack and cut himself off on the mountain tops. **zohra alfasiya’s song** Erez Bitton singer at Muhammad the Fifth’s court in Rabat, Morocco they say when she sang soldiers fought with knives to clear a path through the crowd to reach the hem of her skirt to kiss the tips of her toes to leave her a piece of silver as a sign of thanks zohra alfasiya now you can find her in Ashkelon Antiquities 3 by the welfare office the smell of leftover sardine cans on a wobbly three-legged table the stunning royal carpets stained on the Jewish Agency cot spending hours in a bathrobe in front of the mirror with cheap make-up when she says Muhammad Cinque apple of our eyes you don’t really get it at first zohra alfasiya’s voice is hoarse her heart is clear her eyes are full of love zohra alfasiya **Endnotes** All poems translated from Hebrew by Ammiel Alcalay \[1\] The italicized words are from the enormously popular 1948-generation song, *Hey, Jeep*.