This used to be a pretty blog

I never intended to use this blog for campaigning or political purposes. It was merely intended as an internet presence, in case someone had read one of my books and wanted to find out if I'd written anything else.

And perhaps the people who were reading it on a regular basis before Christmas - before the horrific events in Gaza - perhaps they are fed up with my obsession with the bombing and the invasion.

This used to be a pretty blog, with posts about writing, home, and funny stuff, and photographs of my garden, my grandchildren, my favourite places. Now it has pictures of suffering children, and I don't know how it reads. Desperate?

I have tried to write posts which are moderate and restrained, and pro-active, a la - here's something positive to do about the situation in Gaza! When I read a report from Gaza, I have to stop reading because it's so sickening, because it breaks my heart, and I think - if I write this on my blog - click here - how the Israeli army block help to tiny children huddling near their dead mothers in bombed out buildings, for days at a time - no-one will want to read it.

But do you know the full horror of what is going on? Do you know the consequences of a sophistcated army using weapons (no doubt supplied by the West) on a densely populated country which has been under a hard siege, where the amount of aid has been severely restricted by the Israelis and where it is now too dangerous for aid agencies to work?

If you know, if you read the independent reports (try BBC Online), you will perhaps forgive my concentration on Gaza on my blog. This is my only campaign. I don't make a habit of this. Please raise your voices in outrage at what is going on. It is as obscene as the Holocaust 60 years ago.

Save the Children is a charity giving aid in Gaza. They are asking for donations, and for signatures on their petition. Click here to play your part.