The year the sweet peas failed

This is the first summer since we moved here 18 years ago that I’ve not had a good showing of sweet peas. Something like this:

and this:

This year, because I did not dig in my spanking new compost sufficiently well, and despite nightly watering (until I gave up last week) they have failed. There are perhaps five plants that are higher than a foot, and just one that has flowered, and that’s a nasty dolly mixture pink one.

But the failure of my sweet peas is as nothing to the failure of politicians to stop Israel from killing children.

You’re probably sick of my going on about Gaza, but the crisis there burns my days. I have to speak out about it.

Would you consider signing this petition, put forward by Save the Children?

Or this petition put forward by David Ward MP asking the UK government to stick up for Palestine.

Would you write to your own MP, David Cameron, and the Foreign Secretary, and/or the papers, and voice your concerns? It is easy to find the email addresses of all these people on the net. If you’re writing to politicians, you need to include your name and address. (My MP replied to me and I am going to write again today.)

Would you consider giving money to a charity working in Gaza such as Oxfam, Save the Children, or Medical Aid for Palestinians?

Please inform yourself of what is really going on and what are the causes. Channel 4 gives far better coverage than the BBC. BBC radio sees it from Israel’s point of view and doesn’t challenge it.

Twitter also has huge numbers of contemporaneous first hand accounts which you will find through following, just for starters, @millerc4 – of Channel 4 news, @ChrisGunness – of the United Nations,   @intifada and @benabyad

And if you haven’t watched this explanatory animation  by Jewish Voice for Peace, it’s really good.