Some thoughts about freedom. And the ceasfire.

 Another grey day. Still cold. People I have met while out and about this morning have commented on how much “better it is underfoot” - in other words, we can walk or run without fear of slipping. Quite a big plus I suppose, however, it is still cold!

Here’s something BBC News:

“MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday, the BBC understands.

The former Labour leader, 75, and former shadow chancellor, 73, voluntarily attended a police station in the capital as the Metropolitan Police investigates what it says was a coordinated effort by organisers to breach conditions imposed on the event.

The pair were interviewed on Sunday afternoon.

Nine other people have been charged with public order offences following arrests at the protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

The Met said 24 people had also been bailed and 48 remain in custody.”

Here’s a comment from Zarah Sultana:

“From the outset the Met sought to ban pro-Palestine demonstrators from peacefully protesting.

The crackdown is an attack on freedom of expression & false claims of “forceful behaviour” are dangerous.

Charges must be dropped & the government must end this authoritarian exercise.”

And here is something from Michael Rosen: 

“I wrote this for History Works TV and the school projects run by Professor Helen Weinstein 

freedom has no warning lights

when it slips away

it’s doesn’t flash red.

When they start saying you can’t 

speak your mind

and you weren’t doing harm

that’s it again, slipping away

but it’s not flashing red

When they start to talk of how

some people are born bad

that’s freedom slipping away

but it’s not flashing red

When they say you’re the wrong kind of person

to go to school

that’s it, slipping away

but it’s not flashing red.

When they say that you can’t work here

you’ve got the wrong face

sure enough, that’s it, slipping away

and it’s not flashing red.

When they start locking people up

without giving them a fair hearing

there it goes,  slipping away

but it’s not flashing red.

When people start disappearing

and they don’t come back

that really is it, slipping away

but it’s not flashing red.

freedom has no warning lights

when it slips away

it’s doesn’t flash red.”

So far three Israeli hostages, three young women, and 90 Palestinian prisoners, many of them  women and youngsters, have been returned to their families. Some Palestinians are returning to (what remains of) their homes and aid lorries have been queueing up to enter Gaza. There is still a long way to go. Let’s hope the ceasefire holds.  

Here is a post from someone called Mahmoud Darwish:

“The war will end. 

The leaders will shake hands. 

The old woman will keep waiting 

for her martyred son. 

That girl will wait

for her beloved husband. 

And those children will wait 

for their heroic father. 

I don’t know who 

sold our homeland. 

But I saw who paid the price. “

That’s all.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!