That’s it from us for another week dear reader. While this is an area in which there are heightened sensitivities at the moment for obvious reasons, it feels cowardly in all good conscience to avoid saying something here on AUK given this is a cause I have devoted so many years to – in my other life I have published on it – and this is more than just a political stand, we’re talking about possible genocide which we are in the process of facilitating so to not speak out feels complicit. What’s happening in Israel-Palestine at the moment is beyond words, and we are not well served at all here in the UK by our mainstream media and politicians’ trite angsty soundbites, soundbites which are coming in one instance from a human rights lawyer who appears to have forgotten what international human rights are. Context is everything as Grace Blakely pointed out to Piers Morgan earlier in the week, and as James Schneider noted yesterday, “It is easy to condemn Hamas atrocities that we have no role in. But it seems hard to condemn Israeli war crimes precisely because our political and media class supports them.” The difficult thing is opposing British complicity in Israel turning Gaza into rubble. Hamas’s barbaric attacks on Israeli citizens do not mean that those who retaliate are entitled to act in the same way to civilians on the other side. We pray for peace for the sake of both sides, and salute the heroic Israelis who are sticking their head above the parapet at the moment in Haaretz among other places to call for peace rather than a cycle of violent revenge. We leave you this week with a song from 21 years ago, Steve Earle’s ‘Jerusalem’ – with a message that resonates now more than ever. Take care.
Good words Mark
Let’s hope sanity and humanity prevails as ever it is the innocents that reap the whirlwind of barbarism.
Copy that
Solidarity to the citizens of Palestine may they be free from this apartheid and oppression 🇵🇸✊✊✊🏴
Rubbish. What is wrong with you people?
Great statement Mark. It is good to see that AUK has a progressive angle ingrained in their DNA. It makes no sense to separate the assessment and review of music and culture in general and Americana in particular from the politics / power discourses in which they are conceived, today more than ever. If we separate the two, we are reproducing consumerism and given power structures only. Well done.
Thanks for that Pat, appreciated and I agree of course.
A measured voice is so much appreciated and so vital at this time. Thank you for articulating my thoughts so well
Thanks for this John, appreciate your support
Thanks for this, Mark.
Sadly our politicians with the loudest voices or the most prominent platforms have displayed a desperate need to be seen to be doing (saying) something without thinking through clearly what needs to be said or done. Thus, with the situation in Gaza worsening by the day, the best they can all manage is “Israel must have our support in defending itself”, and the offer of warships… Now who was it who said, “you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing”?
Completely agree Les
Knee-jerk reactions from too many UK politicians that don’t recognise the complexity of the problem or acknowledge the degree of apartheid practiced against Palestinians, many of which have nothing to do with Hamas. As Keith says, let’s hope sanity and humanity prevail, though the evidence so far is not encouraging.
Amen to that Rick