Gaza Fundraiser at Mono, Glasgow on Thursday 19th March 2009
I haven’t really mentioned the crisis in Gaza on this site which is, I suppose, somewhat unusual, when you consider my general lack of inhibition when it comes to wading into massive arguments. It’s a difficult one, I suppose, in part because it’s just so fucking obvious.
Israel, by its alliances and by its supporters, seems to have been adopted as a de facto Western nation. Imagine if, erm, say the Republic of Ireland adopted the Israel approach to dealing with Northern Ireland. Maybe that’s the wrong analogy, because Palestine is of course an independent country – albeit one with apparently no right not to have the living shit bombed out of its civillian population on the slightest pretext every six months or so. Maybe it would be closer to Germany razing Copenhagen to the ground every year. But then, Denmark is our friend too. How about if, say, Serbia decided to annihilate a small neighbouring country like, erm, Bosnia for example, and to declare an all-out war on the civillian population of that country. What would we do if Serbia did that, I wonder?
And don’t get me started on the attack on Lebanon. Breathtakingly barbaric, and the act of a rogue nation which knows that having its crazy friend leering over its shoulder makes it absolutely immune to any kind of accountability for its actions.
The other really frustrating part of the argument is the ‘in favour of terrorism response’ anyone who disagrees tends to come up with when you express this opinion. It’s like the Iraq war, when you voiced a dissenting opinion, being asked why you were on the terrorists’ side – a complete non-sequitur, albeit one which tended to arise in the States far more than the rest of the world. Here the equivalent seems to be that in criticising Israel you are somehow condoning the Palestinian acts of terrorism, as if they didn’t also have to be stopped. No, of course not, but if attacking the civillian population is bad, then it’s bad for everyone. It’s not okay for you because you are adamant that they started it.
Anyhow, to help alleviate the suffering caused by recent acts of Israeli terrorism in Gaza, Tom Snowball from Rags & Feathers is organising a fundraiser at Mono in Glasgow tomorrow night. The lineup is superb: Sparrow & the Workshop, Punch & the Apostles, The John Langan Band, Mike & Solveig and Tom himself will be playing, and I urge you to go along and support the cause. Who knows, you might just have an enjoyable evening at the same time.
Punch & the Apostles – The Engineers of Salammbo
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Sparrow & the Workshop – Devil Song
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And yes, that’s a picture of a man carrying a dead child. It’s actually quite serious. Cough up.
