Fields of Palestine (Adaptation) by Seth Staton Watkins
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On the heels of yet another massacre of Palestinian civilians retrieving food aid, this time by an Israeli military helicopter, here is my adaptation of the poignant and timeless 'Fields of Athenry' by Pete St. John. The parallels between the Irish struggle for Independence and the Palestinian struggle are many, including their origins in British colonial occupation and the deployment of the Black and Tans in both Ireland and Palestine to subdue Irish and Arab nationalists through acts of terrorism and barbarity.
To quote British Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, "Since 1948 the Israelis have had the whip hand, and their victory in June 1967 has turned them into violent oppressors…from his [Edward Said's] perspective both peoples [Jews and Palestinians] were ‘communities of suffering’. It is precisely because the Jews suffered so much as the hands of the Nazis, according to Said, that they became obsessed with security and ended up as oppressors. This perspective helps to explain the psychology behind Israel’s violence and inhumanity towards the Palestinians, but it does not justify them.”
Today, Israel has killed or injured more than 100,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7th. At least 27 people, including 23 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration as Israel continues to block aid on the ground. Even the humiliation of air dropped food has not come without its toll, as five Palestinians were killed when the parachute malfunctioned on one such airdrop in Gaza city on March 8th. This barbarity must end and the people of Palestine must be granted their freedom.
Lyrics:
By a lonely border wall
I heard a mother crying
“Waladay, they're tak’n you away
For you dared to throw them stones
At the mighty Israeli drones
Now an army truck lies waiting in the lane"
Low lie the fields of Palestine
Where every Spring the olive trees once bloomed
Our love was in the toil, as we nurtured land and soil,
Now it’s lonely 'round the fields of Palestine
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young boy calling
"Nothing matters, mother, when you're free
Against soldiers taking our land
I tried to take a stand
Now I’m forced to suffer cold indignity”
Low lie the fields of Palestine
Where every Spring the olive trees once bloomed
Our love was in the toil, as we nurtured land and soil,
Now it’s lonely 'round the fields of Palestine
By a lonely harbor wall
She watched the last stars falling
As missiles lit up the evening sky
Still in hope, she dwelled, night and day,
For her kin she fervently prayed.
It's so lonely 'round the fields of Palestine
Low lie the fields of Palestine
Where every Spring the olive trees once bloomed
Our love was in the toil, as we nurtured land and soil,
Now it’s lonely 'round the fields of Palestine