The end of summer. La rentrée. Business as usual … but not everywhere. And weapons.

 I ran in the rain … again! Later, it seemed brighter so I thought I might hang some washing to dry in the garden. Despite the sunshine, it was still raining. There must be a rainbow somewhere. We need some rainbows! In the meantime there’s a lot of washing drying in the spare room!

The French word “rentrée” refers much more than the start of the new school year. People come back from long August holidays. All sorts of institutions re-open and, yes, children go back to school. Our shops here in the UK start advertising “Back to School” clothing and equipment a matter of days after the schools (and parliament) break up for the summer. We need a term equivalent to “la rentrée” to indicate that, like schools, government is up and running (in its fashion) after the summer break. Quite why they need a long summer break puzzles me as MPs as a rule no longer have the kind of estates where they need to go and supervise the harvest. Maybe they could operate like most companies do with employees booking their holidays in a staggered way so that the place can still operate. Just a thought, but instead, like schoolchildren, they return for the start of the autumn term.

But not all children everywhere have returned to school this year. Here’s a Guardian Update, posted by a friend of mine, yesterday I think:

"As we reported in an earlier post, the new school year in the Palestinian territories officially began on Monday. But all schools in Gaza are shut after 11 months of Israel’s war and no sign of an immediate ceasefire.

In addition to the 625,000 Palestinians already registered for school who would be missing classes, another 58,000 six-year-olds should have registered to start first grade this year, the education ministry said.

ActionAid have spoken to schoolchildren whose education has been disrupted because of the devastating impacts of the war.

Arwa said:

[I am] an 11-year-old student in the fifth grade. I lost my right of going to school as displaced people need to live there. Most schools were destroyed, burnt down or bombarded as a result of the ongoing war. I really miss my school. I miss my friends and my teachers very much.

Maryam said:

My house was bombed, and I now live in my school. I wish to go back home. I wish for the war to be over. I don’t want to live in my school. I want to learn in it. I miss my friends and my teachers … My books were burnt to ashes. My bag was torn, and my notebooks are gone … I wish to go back home. I wish to get back to learning. I want to put on my school uniform and get ready for school. And to buy my school supplies.

Raed, aged 9, said:

I really miss my school and wish to go back [to] learn. I haven’t been in school, nor have I studied for 10 months now.

Mona, aged 7, said:

I miss my school and my friends a lot. I miss holding a pen and writing. I miss writing and learning my alphabet."

(Guardian update: 13:55)

And now there is also Jenin.

Here’s a bit of armaments make-believe, courtesy of Michael Rosen: 

“'We have excellent weapons, don't we tutor?' said the King.

'Indeed we do,' said the King's tutor.

'Remind me of what we've got,' said the King, 'I have to admit, it makes me feel very proud of our nation and our history, when you tell me about such things.'

'Well, sir,' said the tutor, 'I would like to tell you about our greatest  weapon of all.'

'What's that?' said the King.

'It's an extraordinary spear,' said the tutor, 'once launched, it only kills enemy soldiers.'

'But what if there are people who are not soldiers who are in its way?' said the King.

'Good point,' said the tutor. 'And indeed, it's the whole point. As this spear flies towards a soldier, and if there's a non-soldier in the way, this spear will fly round the non-soldier and head on towards the enemy soldier. It will miss the non-soldier altogether.'

'That's amazing,' said the King. 

'Not only amazing,' said the tutor, 'it shows what sort of people we are.'

'How so?' said the King.

'It shows that we are good, kind and humane people,' said the tutor. 

'Oh good,' said the King.”

If only … 

Here’s a much older bit of wisdom about war, courtesy of Bob Dylan:  

“Come you masters of war. You that build all the guns. You that build the death planes.

You that build all the big bombs.

You that hide behind walls.

You that hide behind desks.

I just want you to know I can see through your masks.

Let me ask you one question, Is your money that good?

Will it buy you forgiveness, do you think that it could?

I think you will find, when your death takes its toll, all the money you made, will never buy back your soul”

And here’s another kind of protest: 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!