“Operation Cast Lead” is not the Title of a Movie
After a night of gasping
at fireworks
I nurse the consequences
of champagne.
Somewhere else they are remembering
smoke that takes forever
to clear, the ringing in the ears,
the smell of burnt flesh
among personal belongings.
-o-
This might be the last one for a while. I need to regroup and recover my weary troops of invisible little helpers.
Here’s the link to THE SIDE OF LOVE, a poem dedicated to the late Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. Music from El-Funoun.
Images from the photo galleries of the International Solidarity Movement. Footage of Israeli forces bombing Gaza borrowed from kaiserx30.
As much as I admire pop bands like Faithless, Gorillaz (love them!), Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, The Pixies, Gil Scott Heron, Devendra Banhart, Snoop Dogg, and The Klaxons (the list goes on) who declare their reluctance to perform in Israel, there might be another option.
It is certainly a brave thing to say no to your fans and to high-level exposure, not to mention the big bucks. It might be braver to go there and tell the audience that ticket sales will be donated to pay for much needed medical supplies for the people of Gaza. Now that would be something else.
How to Kill with a Paintball Gun: an International High Seas Musical
for the Benefit of the Israeli Offensive Force (a not so new arm)
“The activists were armed with knives, scissors, pepper spray and guns.”
He said he was armed only with a paintball rifle. “It was a civilian
paintball gun that any 12-year-old can play with,” he said. “I saw my
friends on the deck spitting blood.”
A soldier identified only as a sergeant interviewed
after the massacre in international waters, 31 May 2010
Make bloody certain you only carry a paintball gun
As you descend from the heavens, or a helicopter,
Landing on the deck with images of Peter Pan
In your head twirling, because you can never
Know when the passengers of a ship you are boarding
Without permission might not be willing
To give just all the world’s hugs and kisses
To give just what your world misses
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Sing with me, all of you still rappelling down from the heavens
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Come on now, don’t be shy, to the top of your voices
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Be bloody ready with your paintball gun brothers
Tell the passengers to open their mouths wide
Be bloody ready with your paintball gun brothers
Aim well, not too low and not too high
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Point your toes brothers
Let’s shock and awe
So no one ever forgets
Such magnificent pirouettes
Now flood those bloody mouths with paint
Go ahead, can’t you hear them begging
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
BANG!
-o-
Elders Condemn Israel’s Actions
How to Kill with a Paintball Gun: an International Musical
for the Benefit of the Israeli Offensive Force (a not so new arm)
“The activists were armed with knives, scissors, pepper spray and guns.”
He said he was armed only with a paintball rifle. “It was a civilian
paintball gun that any 12-year-old can play with,” he said. “I saw my
friends on the deck spitting blood.”
A soldier identified only as a sergeant interviewed
after the massacre in international waters, 31 May 2010
Make bloody certain you only carry a paintball gun
As you descend from the heavens, or a helicopter,
Landing on the deck with images of Peter Pan
In your head twirling, because you can never
Know when the passengers of a ship you are boarding
Without permission might not be willing
To give just all the world’s hugs and kisses
To give just what your world misses
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Sing with me, all of you still rappeling down from the heavens
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Come on now, don’t be shy, to the top of your voices
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Be bloody ready with your paintball gun brothers
Tell the passengers to open their mouths wide
Be bloody ready with your paintball gun brothers
Aim well, not too low and not too high
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
Point your toes brothers
Let’s shock and awe
So no one ever forgets
Such magnificent pirouettes
Now flood those bloody mouths with paint
Go ahead, can’t you hear them begging
A paintball gun is all you need
A paintball gun is all you need
BANG!
-o-
Press Release from VIVA PALESTINA
Egyptian Police attack Humanitarian Gaza Aid Convoy
Last night Egyptian police again delayed the Viva Palestina aid convoy carrying much needed aid from reaching the people of Gaza. Having agreed to Egyptian demands whilst being stranded in the port of Aqaba some seven days ago, convoy leaders agreed to re-route their journey after receiving guarantees from the Egyptian authorities of a safe passage to Gaza.
Humanitarians from all over the world transporting the aid were attacked by riot police in the port of Al-Arish last night (5th January). And it is now reported that some of the activists were hospitalised overnight for their injuries. They have since returned back to re-join the convoy members in the port and thankfully have no life threatening issues.
British and national embassies are being kept informed of the situation.
Protests broke out when Egyptian authorities at Al – Arish ordered some lorries to use an Israeli-controlled checkpoint. The activists preferred the goods to be transported via Egypt’s Rafah crossing as agreed.
George Galloway who is leading the convoy said Israel is likely to prevent it entering Gaza – This morning he told Sky News. “It is completely unconscionable that 25% of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza.”
Following Israel’s horrific attack on Gaza, people all over Britain worked for months raising funds for aid and aid vehicles for the Palestinian people. Those taking the aid are humanitarians from all walks of life, who have given up a month to bring the much needed medical aid in a gesture of solidarity with their continuing oppression under Israel’s illegal siege.
Betty Hunter, General Secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, “It is shocking that the Egyptian government is behaving in this way. There can be no justification for preventing this aid and the people who have worked so hard to provide it from reaching Gaza. The Palestinians are waiting for this well publicised international convoy to arrive and these actions of the Egyptian government, and the building of Egypt’s steel wall signal that Egypt is colluding with the Israeli government’s illegal siege of Gaza.”
Viva Palestina ‘The Return to Gaza’ is partnered with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and departed London on 6th December bound for Gaza.
For further information on the Viva Palestina convoy visit www.vivapalestina.org
Press information from Alice Howard on Tel:07944 512 469 or viva email: alice@vivapalestina.org
-o-
I know, silly title. Only makes sense to those who know the not-so-successful album by the late (or in hiding?) Michael Jackson.
Following is a quote from Haaretz.com
-o-
Nice having other dance partners like Egypt and the US in prolonging the siege on Gaza. Viva Palestina 3, the convoy originally started by British MP George Galloway, has been refused entry into Egypt and its members have gone on hunger strike. Turkey has stepped up in support of the international move to break the siege.
A few days old, but I just read it now. Here’s part of an article by Amira Hass that appeared in Haaretz.com:
The Goldstone Commission’s findings are in line with what anyone who didn’t shut his or her eyes and ears to witness testimony already knows.
B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Haaretz and the international media – to Israelis, these have all fallen into the trash bin of the mendacious Palestinians. In the best case, they have become trapped in their own pure-hearted naivete, and in the worst, into collaborating with efforts to besmirch Israel and bolster prejudices against it. Like the Serbs of yore, we Israelis continue thinking it’s the world that is wrong, and only we who are right.
Israel struck a civilian population that remains under its control, it didn’t fulfill its obligation to distinguish between civilians and militants and used military force disproportionate with the tangible threat to its own civilians. Air Force drones and helicopters fired deadly missiles at civilians, many of them children; the Tank Corps and Navy shelled civilian neighborhoods with weapons not designed for precision strikes; soldiers received orders to fire on rescue crews; others fired on civilians carrying white flags; and others killed people in or near their homes. Troops used Gazans as human shields, soldiers detained civilians in abusive conditions, the army used white phosphorus shells in dense civilian areas and, on the eve of withdrawing, destroyed wide residential, industrial and agricultural areas.
There is only thing worse than denial – the admission that the IDF indeed acted as has been described, but that these actions are both normal and appropriate.
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