It’s still raining. Or it’s raining again. I’m really not sure which. In fact, it wasn’t raining when I set off running this morning but, forewarned and sensible, I had my raincoat tied round my waist. Just as well, as it started to rain while I was in the village and it doesn’t seem to have stopped since then. So goes!
Before Ferdinand and Isabella (aka Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla aka Los Reyes Católicos) expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492, the year when they began making South American Indians become Christian too, Christians and Jews and Moslems lived side by side, maybe not in total harmony and equality but side by side, in much of the south of Spain. You just need to look at the Mezquita in Cordoba, the mosque that became a cathedral, or the Alhambra Palace in Granada to see the mixed heritage. Not to mention some of the vocabulary of the Spanish language.
The other day a friend sent me this from a post on social media:
“...for anyone who wants a simple proof that Palestine existed before 1948, here’s a coin from 1927 worth 10 Mils (this currency is no longer used). Also note that the word “Palestine” is written in both Arabic and Hebrew indicating not only a Jewish presence, but a substantial one. Jews and Arabs DID live side by side in peace before the Zionists came.”
Now, that’s interesting, in the light of what is going on out there / has been going on for so long now.
Here’s a link to an article about Jeremy Corbyn, who won’t be allowed to stand again as a Labour MP according to his party’s leader. Apparently he would not answer a question from Piers Morgan on television about whether or not he considered Hamas a terrorist organisation. Now he has written an article for Tribune magazine. Here’s an extract:
“Corbyn wrote that he “deplore[d] the targeting of all civilians”, including Hamas’s killing of about 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October.
The MP for Islington North added: “If we understand terrorism to describe the indiscriminate killing of civilians, in breach of international law, then of course Hamas is a terrorist group.
“The targeting of hospitals, refugee camps and so-called safe zones by the Israeli army are acts of terror too; and the killing of more than 11,000 people, half of whom are children, cannot possibly be understood as acts of self-defence.
We should not entertain questions from those who have no interest in applying this basic consistency.””
As ever, Jeremy Corbyn looks at the wider picture. And as ever he is criticised for doing so.
On the BBC radio news I have just heard that 31 premature babies have been evacuated from the AlShifa hospital, which is good news. But at the same time a friend of mine has sent me this:
"Describing the overcrowded environment and lack of medical suppiles at Al Awda hospital, Adnan Radi, the northern Gaza hospital’s head of obstetrics and gynecology, told the humanitarian organization Action Aid:
In the last [few] days, we have become the only hospital in the entire Gaza Strip and the north who receive obstetrics, cesarean sections and gynecology services. Because all hospitals in Gaza and the north, after the siege, lost any services for women and obstetrics.’
Two days ago, we performed 16 caesarean sections under exceptional circumstances. There were cases of very severe bleeding and placental abruption as a result of difficulty in access, strikes etc… We did not have blood transfusion services… Blood transfusion is very limited, the blood bank has been closed and is difficult to access…
There are many children [who] have lost their lives. There are premature babies born at 30 or 31 weeks and we do not have anything to deal with [their cases]. There are no artificial respirators, there are none at all. We look at a child after birth, [their] weight is 1200g, 1300g, 1400g or one and a half kilograms. We do not have anything to deal with them. We look at babies losing their life because we have nothing.
In addition, there are women who suffer from postpartum bleeding and bleeding after operations and there are no blood transfusions at all. Two days ago, had a placental abruption case, and it was opened two or three times. We were trying to find two units of blood to compensate for what was lost. With difficulty, her life was saved."
(Guardian update)”
And Palestinians who have been told to leave their homes, or their temporary refuges, sometimes for the third time in just a few weeks are still being targeted.
And we watch it from the security of our homes and complain about the rain.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment