On birthdays and protests.m

 Today is a day of multiple birthdays. Well, all right, every day is a day of multiple birthdays but as a rule I am not acquainted with many of the birthday boys and girls. But we do joint birthdays in my family: my sister was born on my mother’s birthday: our daughter was born on my father’s birthday; Granddaughter Number One was born on our son’s birthday, which is today. So today our Granddaughter and her uncle have birthdays, as does my Italian friend Guido, the daughter of one of our daughter’s best friends, and the Dalai Lama. Well, I’m not personally acquainted with him but that’s how it goes; he is the oldest of the bunch, hitting 90 today, or so I am told.

Oh, and tomorrow is Granddaughter Number One’s best friend’s birthday. So today the two girls (I think I should call them young women now) are coming to dinner with the rest of the family. But not our son as he lives near London. We’ll see him some time in the summer. In the meantime we might do a family call and show him the cake he is missing. There is, of course, cake as it’s a kind of family tradition that I bake a cake for birthdays. 

Out in the wider world, there have already been repercussions about the bill to make Palestine Action a proscribed group. Zarah Sultana posted this:

“27 people — including a priest, professor and health workers — were arrested today under terrorism laws.

Their crime? Peacefully holding signs opposing genocide.

This is how we sleepwalk into fascism.”

The priest, a woman, is very old, maybe even in her 90s. She perhaps won’t be sent to prison to end her days. Who knows?

Michael Rosen has said this: 

“Are we moving to a moment when it's legal to say this:

'...between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. —Likud Party Platform, 1977'

but  illegal to say that there could be any other kind of sovereignty or governance 'between the Sea and the Jordan'?”

So it goes. 

Here’s a link to an article about photography of protest over the years. And the photographer did get arrested at one point. Plus ça change … etc.

With that, I’m heading back to the kitchen. I have a birthday dinner to organise.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!