WHAT DO WE TELL THE CHILD ABOUT GAZA?

Tell her it’s a game
Tell her it’s serious

The current onslaught on the people of Gaza, the latest in a series by The Israeli State and Defence Forces, shows:

That if they wish they could blow the people of Gaza into the sea of oblivion. Perhaps that is what they wish.

But don't frighten her
Don't tell her they’ll kill her

That this onslaught does not stop the activities of Hamas and other militants, which include the firing of rockets into Israeli cities.

Tell her we’re stronger
Tell her we’re entitled
Tell her they don't understand anything except violence

That this onslaught is resourced by the highest level of military might on the planet, supplied at commercial rates from the biggest economies. That the onslaught makes profit for those economies.

Tell her something about the men
Tell her they’re bad in the game
Tell her it’s a story

That Gaza is a densely populated strip of Mediterranean coastal land squeezed into a corner of an arc of land that runs from modern day Turkey south into the Arab lands towards the Gulf of Aden, east into Iran and west towards Morocco.

Don't tell her Arabs used to sleep in her bedroom

That there is an immense amount of oil and gas under the ground in all of these lands.

Don't tell her they said it was a land without people

Don't tell her I wouldn't have come if I’d known

That religious fundamentalisms of a variety of hues characterise these lands and give succour to forms of social and political organisation that are hypocritical, despotic, exclusive and apartheid-like.

Tell her there were people who hated Jews

Don't tell her

Tell her it’s over now

Tell her there are still people who hate Jews

Tell her there are people who love Jews

Don't tell her to think 'Jews' or not 'Jews'

Tell her more when she’s older

Tell her how many when she’s older

Tell her it was before she was born and she’s not in danger

That there is a 20^th century history of genocide in the recent memory of the dominant people in the state of Israel that underpins the belligerence of the state and rationalises acts of extreme violence and aggression in the name of defence.

Tell her we want peace

That the activities of the militants in Gaza echo the activities of the militants, who were also embedded in the civilian population and who also dug tunnels, in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943.

Tell her maybe we can share

That worldwide demonstrations are necessary to say that the killing of children is wrong. Otherwise there is a question as to whether we can call ourselves 'human'.

Tell her they’re attacking with rockets

Don't frighten her

Tell her only a few of us have been killed

Tell her the army has come to our defence

Don't tell her her cousin refused to serve in the army. Don't tell her how many of them have been killed

Tell her the Hamas fighters have been killed

Don't tell her about the family of dead girls

Tell her you can't believe what you see on television

Tell her we killed the babies by mistake

Don't tell her anything about the army

That without a thorough-going dismantling of the international arms industry the onslaught will recur.

Don't tell her anything about water

Don't tell her about the bulldozer

Don't tell her not to look at the bulldozer

Don't tell her it was knocking the house down

Tell her it’s a building site

Don't tell her anything about bulldozers

Don't tell her about the queues at the checkpoint

That the dismantling of the arms industry will mean job losses in the major economies, job losses for which the economies and their people are not ready.

….. tell her I wouldn't care if we wiped them out, the world would hate us is the only thing, tell her I don't care if the world hates us, tell her we’re better haters, tell her we’re chosen people, tell her I look at one of their children covered in blood and what do I feel? Tell her all I feel is happy it’s not her. Don't tell her that. Tell her we love her. Don't frighten her.

That the onslaught must stop. That all people must be safe. And free.

Seven Jewish Children – a play for Gaza; Caryl Churchill; stage-play; London; 2010

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/26/caryl-churchill-seven-jewish-children-play-gaza

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THE GARTH BROOKS CONCERT FIASCO

Read the songs. The clues are in the song titles of the Garth Brooks playlist. They tell us it was a Beer Run for Big Money. It's the Same Old Story. A commercial decision, Digging for Gold, to sell a product that doesn't exist, leaves 400 000 people distraught. People pay hard-found cash, reportedly to the tune of stg£21 million, for this non-existent product – a ticket to a concert by American country-pop star Garth Brooks. They scream Squeeze Me In. These tickets don't actually exist, being 'subject to licence'. It goes Against The Grain to say it, but this American Dream Ain't Goin' Down.

Ireland didn't give Garth Brooks the Cold Shoulder. No matter who he asks Why I Ain't Running, the bottom line remains that together with the promoter, he fouled it up. He can sing Please Come to Boston and Please Come to Denver, but he won't sing in Dublin, at Croke Park, a major sporting venue that also hosts concerts, in order to Do What You Gotta Do to make money. It's not a case of The Old Man's Back In Town. More a case of It's A Roller Coaster and Nobody Gets Off In This Town.

Notions of the economic benefit from the putative concerts break down under scrutiny. Small monies into local peoples' hands as casual labour, Workin' For A Livin'. Medium monies into local companies, mainly hotels and bars. Major money to the seller of the non-existent tickets, to Garth Brooks and his associates, much of which leaves the island of Ireland.

There is political leverage when individual desires are pooled together to form a mass desire of 400 000 people. Yet the brouhaha does nobody any good. It simply confirms Ireland as a play ground and a soft touch.

In a master stroke of Burning Bridges before you even get to them, a combination of promoter, sports organisation and City Council create a scenario worthy of Friends in Low Places. It's nobody and everybody's fault. The guilty remain Anonymous and ticket buyers will never met them Face To Face.

Ticket buyers mouth Unanswered Prayers and put up The White Flag. Garth Brooks learns that This Ain't Tennessee, singing I'd Rather Have Nothing than a compromise deal. The promotor, who originally said I've Got A Good Thing Going, now wonders what he'll do If Tomorrow Never Comes.

It is a fiasco. Everybody is in the dark. There is no-one to Leave A Light On. The promoter turns out not to be Mr Right. The Secret Track leads to an empty stadium and empty pockets. It is a Shameless episode. Shameless, because nobody takes the blame. It's been a Good Ride Cowboy and now it's time to get off.

Will We Bury The Hatchet? Only after the monies are paid back, following unreasonable delays and the deduction of service charges by credit card companies and others. Garth Brooks might say That's the Way Love Goes when you catch The Fever, desire The Gift, get into The Dance and face the inevitable; The Change.

Nobody is left Standing Outside The Fire.

Fan options? Limited. You May Be Right. Buy a Gareth Brooks DVD, invite your friends around and have a hooley on your own terms?

http://music.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_3027/garth-brooks/songs

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