Peter Boyle
I'll tell you all the news.
I lived in a suburb,
a suburb of Madrid, with bells,
and clocks, and trees ...
And one morning all that was burning,
one morning the bonfires
leapt out of the earth
devouring human beings —
and from then on fire,
gunpowder from then on,
and from then on blood ...
Come and see the blood in the streets.
Come and see
the blood in the streets.
Come and see the blood
in the streets!
<198> Pablo Neruda, I'm explaining a few things (1936).
The famous poet wrote these words in Spain where he was a Chilean consul when the civil war broke out. Seventy years later, these words of horror resonate as Lebanon is, once again, converted into a giant killing field.
Let the Israeli military do its job, say war criminals George Bush and Condoleezza Rice, from a safe and comfortable distance, signalling the approval of the richest and most powerful government in the world.
We watch on our television screens the desperate foreigners evacuating from Lebanon — too bad for desperate Lebanese and Palestinian refugees. They pick up leaflets dropped from Israeli warplanes that warn: "To the people of south Lebanon, for your safety leave now north of the Litani. Don't use motorbikes, trucks or buses, only cars, otherwise you will be a target. From the state of Israel."
Around the world people are seething with outrage — and they are moving into action. The anti-war movement is re-mobilising and Green Left Weekly is right in the middle of this action in Australia. The phones are hot from organising and networking calls, and leaflets and posters are arriving at and being distributed from our activist centres.
Green Left Weekly is much more than just a newspaper. It's a powerful organising tool in the fight against war and oppression. However, we exist only with your ongoing help.
We are trying to raise $250,000 for our fighting fund over the course of this year. Last week we raised $4305, bringing the total we have raised so far this year to 39% of our whole-year target. Can you help?
If you can help, please send your donation now to PO Box 515, Broadway 2007 or phone it through on the toll-free line 1800 634 206 (calls from within Australia only).
From Green Left Weekly, July 26, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.