WED 22 NOV
The cold creeps in. Robins perch amid deep red rose hips. Calling to each other. Sparrows cluster in bare hazel branches. The dogs strain to reach a squirrel. The leaves have dropped suddenly. The damp avenue of lime trees look slug black. Such slugs are emerging in the night kitchen. We’ve now all spotted the mouse so no one can say it lives solely in anyone’s imagination. Thanks to neighbour Glenn I can now hang a thick Welsh blanket across the front room where a wall once was. A fabric barricades against the breeze. Small draught proofing measures have worked. Double glazing the thin glass above the door with a DIY sunburst.
I work in the kitchen in the localised light and warmth of an electric fire. Peaking grid use. Aviva match funding bids. Meetings. Planning. Plotting with Jane as she invites the choir she sings with to sing Bread and Roses with us and we talk about the film Pride where the film was sung at a turning point in solidarity as Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.
A form of McCarthyism re-emerges in the United States. Susan Sarandon is sacked from United Talent Agency for speaking at ‘pro-Palestinian’ marches/marches for ceasefire. Tom Cruise intervenes when his agent Maha Dakhil is sacked by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for pro Palestine tweets. The children talk about the Scream horror film franchise. Mexican actress Melissa Barrera tweeted her support for Palestine and that was enough to end her contract. Calling out genocide is labelled as anti-semitic hate speech. “I too come from a colonized country. Palestine WILL be free. They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”
And in the UK, the Arnolfini Gallery cancel Palestine Film Festival events. Actors at the Scottish BAFTA’s show their solidarity with Palestine through words ‘ceasefire now’ written on hands, on paper and in speech. And the BBC edits them out. "Some edits were made so the content was compliant with BBC editorial guidelines on impartiality."
The immorality of impartiality in the face of genocide.
My daughter asks if I like cranberries and it takes a moment to realise she’s talking about the makers of the songs I used to sing out as she does now.
The familiar words and anger of ‘Zombie’ come back to me…
‘And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?
In your head, in your head they are fighting
With their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head they are crying
In your head
Zombie
We must be mistaken
It’s the same old theme since 1916
In your head they’re still fighting
They are dying’
They are dying. And it’s not in our heads. Silence causes violence. Violence relies on silence, Silence is not an option. But words and anger are not enough. Marvel actor Saagar Shaikh sums it up talking of the costs of speaking out for Palestine. “People are dying. And we’re paying for it. I don’t give a fuck if my job is on the line because I ‘ll find another one. I ‘ll become a carpenter if I have to. Everybody’s got a voice. If you’re not using it, why are you here?”
