In praise of local libraries. Who is an extremist? Possible ceasefire developments. Airdrops.

 My friend Colin was waxing nostalgic about old-style libraries in his blog yesterday.  He wrote: 

“It’s a long time since I’ve been in a UK library. Indeed, it’s probably 15 years since I was last in Pv city’s library. The one here in Heald Green is probably representative of how these are now in the UK – machines for taking books out and returning them. And for taking your cash once it’s told you how much you owe for being late in doing the latter. All very efficient, but soulless. Especially for someone whose step-grandad was a librarian in a place I loved to visit as a kid.”

Well, in an attempt to reduce the number of books we store in our house, I’ve been making use of our local public library quite a lot over the last few years. There’s a moderately sized library in Oldham town centre, with an art gallery as well. Oh, and a new modern addition, a library shop where you can buy art work and jewellery and greetings cards, supposedly made by local artist. 

And there are smaller branches in the Saddleworth villages. Our local library in Delph is mostly staffed by volunteers. Both it and the one in Uppermill, the ones I am most acquainted with, have the mechanised business of borrowing and returning books but it doesn’t fine you for overdue books. In fact the central Oldham library doesn’t fine you either, although they do send reminders. The staff at the Uppermill branch are friendly and helpful. It has a small computer section. I regularly see people beavering away there. They also have a lovely children’s section where they organise activities in school holidays and where children can take part in a reading challenge. Both my smallest grandchildren have library cards and will happily spend an hour (more if not dragged away) choosing books, reading books, examining things. It’s a fine old building that has nooks and crannies to examine. Their selection of books may not be fantastic but they will order items from elsewhere on request. I’m all in favour of our library. 

Moving on to other matters, my German friend posted this on her Facebook page yesterday, or maybe the day before:

“This gets right under my skin as a German:

"No Other Land, won the documentary prize at the Berlin film festival this week; in his acceptance speech, co-director Yuval Abraham called for a ceasefire, which caused uproar in Germany. As Abraham told us: “To stand on German soil as the son of Holocaust survivors and call for a ceasefire – and then to be labelled antisemitic, is not only outrageous, it is also literally putting Jewish lives in danger.” 

(Guardian 02.03.2024)”

It’s a strange world where Jewish people can be accused of being anti-semitic. It’s a strange world where female MPs in the UK need extra security because of threats to their safety. It’s a strange world where we find our government taking extra measures to make it more difficult to protest about things, anything! 

My German friend, a small person (5 foot 1 on a good day), who couldn’t be a threat to anyone, has been going on as many pro-Palestine marches and rallies as she can. I guess that makes her an extremist and a member of a mob!

Today comes this news: 

"Truce possible ‘within 24 to 48 hours’ if Israel accepts demands - Hamas official:

A senior Hamas official told AFP that if Israel were to meet its demands - which include a military withdrawal from Gaza and stepped-up humanitarian aid - this would “pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours”.

Envoys from the US, Qatar and Hamas have reportedly already arrived in Cairo, as all sides have been scrambling to agree a truce before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month that begins on March 10/11."

Fingers crossed that they manage to sort it out.

Meanwhile the USA is airdropping aid to Gaza (not Ukraine!) because lorries are not getting through. I saw a very telling cartoon which showed missiles and bombs raining down, interspersed with the odd loaf of bread! The amounts that can be airdropped are tiny. The USA should be pressing its friend Israel to allow proper aid to get through. We shall see. 

Life goes on, stay safe and well, everyone!