Dave’s brief letter in the Guardian today

 

War crimes

I am sorry it’s been a week since I’ve blogged.

I was revving up to tell you about an art course I’ve been on, and various other bits of news from Hepworth Towers, but now, since Keir Starmer’s hopeless statement on Gaza this week, I don’t have the heart. 

We need outright condemnation of Israel, complete sanctions - trade and otherwise - and recognition of Palestine as a state now.  It should have happened years ago. Saying it won’t happen if there is a ceasefire is ridiculous. Israel is not to be trusted: it broke the last ceasefire. Its plans for Gaza and Palestinians are open and obscene. We need an end to the war, and an end to any kind of friendship or support for Israel while they pursue their obscenities.

In his unwavering support for Israel, Keir Starmer is complicit in the genocide. 

First step

 At last the ‘western world’ has spoken out against Israel’s barbarity.

As expected, Israel doesn’t care.

Now, we need concrete action to stop the genocide. And we need it NOW, as starving Palestinians are dying of malnutrition every day, while others are being killed as they queue for food.

On Saturday I was part of a refugee hospitality day, welcoming refugees and asylum seekers living in Derby to a day out in Bakewell.

We run two or three of these every year. We pay for the bus to bring our guests, provide craft activities making things to take away, take them a walk along the river, on a visit to the folk museum; we provide a lovely lunch, games inside and in the garden, but most importantly, a warm and friendly welcome. 

There is a lot of preparation beforehand, and for those on the committee (of which I’m one) it’s tiring. OK, I admit that for various reasons, this time I was so exhausted I stayed in bed until 2 pm the next day. But it was worth it.

We’re not offering solutions to our visitors’ problems, we’re offering a day out from their difficult lives, and we’re creating happy memories too. The feedback we get is heartwarming. The smiles, the thanks, the hugs and the waves from our guests at the end of the day are precious.

Here’s a comment from one of our guests in April “Thank you very much. I have never experienced such a wonderful moment since I arrived in England.”

HOME  by Warsan Shire

Watch and listen

https://www.google.com/search?q=home+by+warsan+shire&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e7de3db0,vid:vR6tqLwInZQ,st:0

Or read it here:

Home

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well

your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.

no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back.

you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied

no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough

the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off

or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important

no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
I don’t know what I’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here

Warsan Shire

 

Only one topic

 Look, I have no idea when I will be able to blog again about something other than Gaza.

I am so appalled by this government’s lack of concern for what is happening there. I am so depressed and so angry.

Look at Starmer’s response in the Commons to this question asked by Imran Hussain in Prime Minister’s Questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aTNGXbcL8U

And this week the EU refused to take sanctions against Israel. So they are complicit too.

Tomorrow there is a big demo in London STOP STARVING GAZA

https://palestinecampaign.org/events/national-march-for-palestine-stop-starving-gaza/

which unfortunately I can’t go to, as I am involved in our Refugee Hospitality Day.

The majority of the British public are appalled by what Israel is doing.

Israeli teenagers are burning their draft papers because they won’t take part in a genocide

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/shorts/israelis-burn-military-draft-papers-in-gaza-protest-243385925845

New graduates of Edinburgh University walked out of their graduation ceremony this week in protest at the university’s investments in companies complicit in the war on Gaza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QehJYTZ7ssc

Have you written to your MP lately?

Are you boycotting Israeli goods?

Have you checked your investments to make sure none of them support Israel?

I am asking you, because I can’t think of anything else that I can do to stop this obscenity, an obscenity that will go down in history as an atrocity allowed by the politicians of the western world.

 

 How has it come to this?

That the United Kingdom is complicit in a genocide.

Lucky

Every morning when I switch on the shower I am thankful. It’s just something that comes over me. I think of all the people who don’t have showers, don’t have food, don’t have safety, don’t have roofs. I think of people in Gaza who are starving, and who get shot when queueing for food. 

I am so fortunate. 

The trainee GP I saw ten days ago saw my Gaza bracelet and asked if I was from Gaza. 

“No,” I said, “but I can’t bear what is happening there. I can’t bear that the world is standing by and letting it happen.”

“I am from Gaza,” she said. 

We had a short conversation about it, but it was my eyes that filled with tears. 

She referred me to the hospital for a gastroscopy, and yesterday I had it.

The consultant gastroenterologist introduced himself with a name of Middle Eastern origins. And when he saw my bracelet he said “Fine bracelet.”

Everything went smoothly. I’d been nervous, but there was no need. The nurses were kind and efficient. The doctor was friendly and skilful. And I came home with the results of what they could see with the camera. The biopsy results will come later. I have some problems, but none of them are dire.

I am so grateful for the care of the NHS, damaged as it is by the purposeful neglect of previous governments. Will this one improve things? We’ll have to see.

I’m so grateful for Dave’s tender care, and for the love of my family and friends.

I’m so grateful for where I live.

This was me picking sweet peas in my pyjamas yesterday morning. 

Today I’ve been instructed by Dave to take it easy; it’s only 7 o clock and he’s already washed the kitchen and bathroom floors. What a guy! 

Liz is dropping by for a quick hello and to bring me some Welsh cakes. 

I’ve got it made.

This week

 I know I owe you a post. Here are the headlines.

The docs have not found a solution to my annoying but minor health problem but they’re still on the case.

Dave is always very nice to me when I'm under the weather. I gave him a big hug the other day and said: "Thank you for being so sweet. I know you'll look after me when I'm old and decrepit," and he said "I already do."

The garden was bone dry and the seedlings not growing, but today we have woken up to steady rain and I’m delighted for the garden and the farmers.

I’ve been:

cooking and freezing stuff for the next Refugee Hospitality Day lunch;

picking raspberries every two days, eating some, freezing some for Eton mess when the Americans come in August;

picked and frozen gooseberries;

picked blackcurrants and we made some jam. There are more to be picked. 

I finished another painting, this one inspired by my holiday in Pembrokeshire. It’s called “To the beach!”

As for the news - Palestine Action, a non-violent protest group acting to stop the genocide, has been classed alongside violent terrorist organisations and proscribed. And yesterday in London, a group of brave people protested about this proscription, including an 83 year old woman. They were arrested, and face up to 14 years in prison for this protest in this fine democracy of ours.

The protest was organised by a group called Defend Our Juries and they put out this statement:

They also said:

BBC photo

There was no need to proscribe Palestine Action. They could be prosecuted under criminal law for causing damage. Our government consulted with the Israelis, Israeli lobby groups, and arms manufacturers before this legal action, but not with the many civil liberties organisations opposing the ban. Since when do we need to listen to what the Israelis think when we are framing our laws?

There is still one thing we can do in the face of a repressive government deaf to the opinions of the majority of the public, and that is give to charities working in Gaza.

Medical Aid for Palestinians

Red Cross/Red Crescent

And you can join the non-violent organisation that has been organising the national protests against the genocide for the last 18 months. It's still legal.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

And you could support conscientious objectors in Israel.

Refuser Solidarity Network