On Wednesday evening, in Bloomsbury, West London 500 people watched in stunned silence as comedian Jeremy Hardy was nearly gunned down in cold blood. He was walking down the street with some friends, taking part of an organised, televised peace protest. Suddenly, for no reason, in full view of the international media, an armed, uniformed man, working for the government began firing live rounds into the crowd. Three protesters were wounded, two seriously and one still has a bullet lodged in her stomach.
The fact that this is probably the first you've heard about this shocking and seemingly newsworthy incident might lead you to suspect that we've omitted some details. And yes, you're right, we have. The 500 people were sitting in the Bloomsbury theatre, Jeremy Hardy was on the screen, the documentary we were watching was filmed last Easter in the Israeli occupied territories and the uniformed man was sitting in a big fuck-off tank. Ah. Much less exciting. Just another Israeli shooting, just three more wounded protesters. Only worth mentioning because one of Radio 4's finest happened to be caught up in it. Only worth mentioning if a pretty American girl gets buried by a Caterpillar bulldozer or if a promising photography student gets half of his brain blown out.
It's not like the plight of the Palestinians has gone unnoticed. Actually the problem is quite the opposite - reports of Israeli incursions and shootings have become so commonplace that they barely register in our brains before we switch over to watch something less banal instead. Like the troubles in Northern Ireland and the appalling human rights abuses in China, we've come to accept that there will always be a struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, there will always be senseless killings and there will always be occupied territories. No one listened to us over Iraq so what's the point of getting angry about something we've got even less chance of influencing? Why bother? And why is the Friday Thing banging on about the bloody Palestinians again when it's probably six of one and half a dozen of the other anyway? Suicide bombers, F16s - they're all as bad as each other. And it's a long way away. And shit happens. Blah, blah, blah.
That's how we were starting to feel too. Maybe campaigning fatigue was starting to dull our senses, we were starting to think that maybe, just maybe we should take a back seat for a while and let them get on with it. And then we went to Bloomsbury and watched a seventy five minute film that no major (or even minor) broadcaster has agreed to show. One that showed Israeli troops refusing basic food and medicine to the people that they have driven into refugee camps. One that showed them bulldozing those same refugee camps in retaliation for suicide bombing attacks that the refugees themselves were powerless to stop. One that showed slaughtered mothers and children and bleeding peace campaigners in such a down-to-earth way that it drove home the fact that there but by the grace of God go we. That the streets of Israel's West Bank could just as easily be the cafes of London's South Bank and that we have some responsibility for a mess that we helped to make.
Jeremy Hardy, filmmaker Leila Sansour and the members of the International Solidarity Movement are trying to arrange more screenings of the film and will soon be making it available on the web via http://www.palsolidarity.org . If you're feeling any kind of atrocity apathy, we'd strongly recommend you try to track down a copy. Strongly, strongly, strongly recommend it.
And if, in the meantime, you happen to see Geoff Hoon whose smug face and grossly patronising bullshit about the 'roadmap for peace' on last night's Question Time made us want to be physically sick, do feel free to hop in a bulldozer and demolish his house, won't you?
- The Friday Thing
Time Out London