On Monday night we went to see Seven Jewish Children: A Film For Gaza. At the entrance of the west end cinema, an angry man waving an Israeli flag, was shouting in our faces. Noone seem fazed. Admirable resolve, I thought.
This is a film of a play by the acclaimed playwright Caryll Churchill, now 86. Audiences eavesdrop on imagined conversations in Jewish households from the Russian pogroms of 1903 to the 2008-09 Israeli attacks in Gaza. When first staged at the Royal Court, Zionists protested vociferously. Director Omri Dayan, a US-Israeli, just 23, was drawn to the play ‘because of its humanity.’ Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed on October 7th by Hamas, is an ambassador for the film. It takes immense courage and integrity to do what these men are doing. Or what Lord William Hague, now Chancellor of Oxford, has just done in a column for the Times. The previous Atlanticist Tory, advises Starmer- the power-pleaser- to ‘prepare for an American divorce’.
Canada is already starting that process. As election fever builds up, usually equable Canadians are showing angry determination to keep their identity and resist the colonizing big power next door. It is quite remarkable.
Even more remarkable are the mass protests in Istanbulby supporters ofEkrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was arrested on corruption charges last week. Police are using violence, but the crowds keep on coming.
We hear little about them, but anti-Trump protests have been breaking out all around the US too. 50 protests in 50 states took place on the 5th of Feb. (PBS) Since then the momentum has grown. Some hate Musk and want him out. Tesla is becoming a toxic brand.
In general though, such cultural and political valour are uncommon. Individuals and institutions are quavering, not because of pesky ‘wokers’ but by those wielding untrammelled power. Trump and other far right wingers want to control their own populations and world. Illegitimate censorship, police control and state repression are spreading across the west as fast as forest fires. Fear spreads. With that, widespread cowardice
The incisive comedian Amber Ruffin – bold, gifted and black- who was to perform at the White House correspondent’s dinner has just been disinvited, because, you know, she could upset the Big Guy and his administration. These hacks say they hold truth to power. Yeah, right.
They know Mr Big is deporting students and others who stand up for Palestine; that his Stasi operators have taken over the Kennedy Centre for performing arts in New York, and put up portraits of Trump and Melania. ( Guardian 21st March Charlotte Higgins); that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the world’s biggest museum, has been accused of ‘wokeness’ and ordered to remove, ‘ improper, divisive or anti-American ideology’ . That means art and narratives on slavery, indigenous peoples’ art and any radical work. 60% of its funding is from federal government.
This American supremacist President is incinerating the body, brain, heart and soul of his nation. Abortion, scientific research, aid, birthright citizenship, migration- which built America- the rule of law are all being thrown on the bonfire of gigantic vanities. As Daniel Geary writes in the Irish Times: ‘Trump and Musk appear to be operating under the philosophy that if you want to make an omelette, you don’t just break a few eggs, you slaughter all the chickens and burn down the hen houses.’
Millions of Americans, including Maga supporters, are getting burnt, some seriously. Democrats do or say nothing. Harris et al seem to have gone into purdah- such a gross offense against democratic responsibility. Worse is the capitulation. Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, whispers: ‘… we can find common ground on some things’. She is a future Democratic presidential candidate https://apnews.com/article/governor-gretchen-whitmer-wants-collaboration-with-trump-c66bf6d351c3da69158b8365d4aa5f9a The left wing idol Senator Bernie Sanders, coos, ‘It can’t simply be, “Oh, it’s a Trump idea, we oppose it.’” As US columnist Moira Donegan cuttingly observes,: ‘Democrats seem less like a resistance than an acquiescence. They are not mounting any meaningful opposition to Trump’s aggressive, sadistic mission. Instead they’re rolling over, like a submissive dog showing its belly, and alternately casting this posture as either a principled commitment to constitutional order or as an unfortunate inevitability for which they can’t be blamed.’