Thank you for posting this passage, while deeply sad it's also deeply necessary to remember, think deeply and reflect on the past, in times like these.
When I was just 6-7 years old, in 1967, my family went out to dinner at a restaurant in the Beaches in Toronto, on the lake, called the Jerusalem Restaurant. It was so lovely, we "followed them" when they moved up onto St. Clair just West of Bathurst. Anyone from Toronto will know why that location is significant. As I grew up, we went back again and again, often celebrating something or other.
Brought up as I was on Cheez Whiz and Miracle Whip, the food was a revelation to this young white boy. Labaneh, with a little circle of lemon infused olive oil. Hummus with pine nuts. My favourite was the ground lamb Siniyeh. And the grilled eggplant! I made that eggplant for my friend Bill just the other day, and perhaps for the first time, nailed it. Here in BC, in March, a lemon from a friend's lemon tree perhaps helped.
I remember when the owner's young son George became a busboy, carrying away our plates, thanking us for coming, and I remember being greeted by George again, in his 30s, as the maitre d, when I went back with my own wife and family. George and his family became part of my family. Their restaurant was part of my life. I live far away now, but the experience of meeting them and sharing food will never leave me.
They were Palestinians, of course. Refugees from hatred and war. Canada has made many mistakes, especially in the way we have treated First Nations here, but sometimes we have welcomed refugees well, like in 2015 when my (then) boss, Jim Estill, personally arranged for 50 Syrian refugees to come to Guelph when our government was still dithering, by pulling a team of sponsors together out of his rolodex.
And some of this long stream of refugees over the years came from the USA, like during the Vietnam War. One of my "draft dodger" friends from that time used to build wooden clinker boats, and defend forests. He passed away this year. BC here just took 400 medical workers from the USA, self described refugees from the violence and hatred engulfing their country. One of them said "We couldn't take it any more". Canada took them in gratefully.
And how many Ukrainians do we have, who came over to escape the Holodomor in the 1930s, or Putin. In Vancouver, if you haven't had one of Hunky Bill's pirogies, you haven't really lived! :)
It is one of my favourite things about "Canada". Not perfect by any means, but on the whole, we have created a space where people can come to start a new, more peaceful, life. My ancestors 7 generations ago were refugees from the Highland Clearances. We brought violence from the trauma, but we brought resistance. The resistance has flourished in me, in my life.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put something back onto this page here, in return for the gift Patti has, and shares with us. Next time I make grilled eggplant, I think a few tears are gonna fall, for Rachel Corrrie, and for all of us. As Sting said so eloquently - "How Fragile We Are".
I am not going to take attention away from the reason Peaceable Kingdom was written, suffice to say it holds a very special meaning for me also. What I do want to say is thank you for writing such a beautiful, timeless song:)
Thank you Patti! I'm deeply troubled in these dark and difficult times, I have friends and family in the Middle East on both sides - and your post eases my mind a bit and comforts me - Thank you so much!
Thank you Patti Rachel Corrie was a very special young woman and l too thought of her yesterday. And today still we March, join rallies, write to our politicians, many good young people being arrested, our rights slowly being eroded but as war and the killing of innocent people goes on we can never give up. A March on the 28th of March is going to happen bringing (we hope) millions of people from all over the country to London to say the people together have had enough of what politicians are doing!
Watching the video helped lift my spirits. Much love from London 🙏
Pure bullshit. Patti is old enough to remember when Yasser Arafat invented “Palestinian” as a brand in 1967 and launched the Arab reign on terrorism on Israel. The rest of you are just ignorant and prefer to stay that way. . Arabs have no interest in peace. The US media ignores it but Arab on Arab crime is one of the biggest problems today in Israel, outside of Arab terrorists slaughtering and raping its citizens. Peace? Gaza was supposed to be the model Arab state. Israel left behind factories, greenhouses and gorgeous homes when it left Gaza in 2005. All they had to do was move in and create an economy. Instead they ripped everything up to build their tunnels and set up a nest of terrorists. My friends have all had children murdered by Arabs — stabbed on a bus, shot on Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct 7. Rachel Corrie was on the wrong side of history. Her memory is a curse.
Dear Nadine Bonner, I understand your point of view, I know there is good reason to believe or comment the way you do and of course you describe part of the facts in the region correctly. But allow me to ask some questions - what is the right side of history? Is the current Israeli Government on the right side of history? What is the perspective? What kind of perspective do you have for the Palestinians or let's say the Arabs who lived in Palestine? Do you think there could be any possibility for peace without an attractive solution for the Arab Population in the region? How could Israel achieve peace?
Are you kidding me? There are 22 Arab countries in the region, and Israel has to find a solution for a bunch of terrorists that no Arab country wants? Did it ever occur to you that Arabs don't want peace? Not with Israel. Not with one another. Funny how everyone forgets the 1980-1988 Iraq/Iran war. Both sides were drafting 12-year-olds and ended up quitting without a victor because they ran out of cannon fodder. That's the Arab version of peace. From 1948 to 1967, Egypt refused to absorb the Arab population in Gaza. After the Arab initiated 1967 war, Israel did not annex all the territory it captured because the leaders naively wanted to trade land for peace. In 1978, it returned the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for a cold peace, but Egypt refused to take Gaza. After Israel left Gaza in 2005, Egypt erected a wall to make sure no Gazans could enter the country. What about Jordan? They don't want those Arabs on their side of the river either. There is and never has been a country called "Palestine" -- do you believe in Narnia, too? -- but ethnically those Arabs are Jordanians. And Jordan doesn't want them because they are also terrorists. Do you know the group that never calls for a so-called Palestinian state? Israeli Arabs. Because they know they have it better here than in any Arab-run country. My son-in-law's Arab colleague just relinquished his Jordanian citizenship to become Israeli. Peace? Let the rich Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar force their poorer brothers to make peace.
Stop stealing land, stop the slaughter of civilians, stop the infanticide and start to follow international laws protecting those you occupy and oppress. One day, the US empire will fall, and Israel will be held accountable for crimes against humanity. Former Zionist here - until I learned the inconvenient truths.
Okay I got it. Senseless to talk with a person who is not willing to look for a solution that provides perspectives for both sides. And I'm not defending - let me be clear - any of the unbearable crimes committed by terrorists and ruthless murderers.
Yeah, it is senseless to talk to someone who lives in reality while you linger in fantasy-land. In 1977 I stood on the street when Anwar Sadat drove into Jerusalem. And we all believed he would bring peace to the Middle East. Until his own people assassinated him for his efforts. The people Gazans attacked on Oct. 7 were the most Arab-friendly in Israel. They drove Gazans to Israeli hospitals when they needed treatment. They organized play groups so their children could play with Arab children. My friend's son returned to Israel from the U.S. to help Arabs learn effective green farming methods. On Oct. 7, Gazans shot him four times in the chest while he was hiding in a closet, using his body to shield his elderly neighbor. They murdered the woman who drove them to the hospital. The Gazan children posted pictures on social media of Israeli women being raped. So, yeah, you are defending the murderers and the terrorists by implying that their "perspective" need to be "considered." You believe some kind of myth that there are terrorists and "innocent" Gazans. But Gazan civilians sexually molested the hostages. They tortured them. They strangled the Bibas babies with their bare hands. Even during the Holocaust, there were Germans who risked their lives to save Jews. No one in Gaza lifted a finger to save anyone on Oct. 7 or afterwards. So what "perspective" justifies this?
Lots of hasbara and lies to unpack above. And the use of deflection to not deal with what this post is about - Rachel Corrie, murdered way before Oct 7th while protesting for peace. She was murdered by the IDF.
People have a right to resist after 75+ years of land theft, being imprisoned without charges, and being kept stateless and in limbo. If you care about all of humanity, you'd understand. Shame you do not, and justify ethnic cleansing. It's a bad look, and the whole world is aware now.
Thank you for this remembrance. I think of Rachel Corrie often and every time I hear Peaceable Kingdom. I was working at the college where she was a student at that time.
Thank you so much for this poignant tribute to Rachel Corrie. And thank you for Peaceable Kingdom, Patti...
I can't find adequate words for the tragedy of this neverending cycle of death, destruction and loss - Iraq, now Iran and Lebanon and the utter genocide against the Palestinian people - it is a continual nightmare.
I have friends in Lebanon, friends in Ukraine - all caught like pawns - endangered by monstrous regimes.
It all can be overwhelming.
Our current evil regime wants us to be overwhelmed. But no matter how exhausted we may be - we must find energy to resist them. I will fight them to my last breath. Their evil must be stopped. Good must prevail.
Thank you for posting this passage, while deeply sad it's also deeply necessary to remember, think deeply and reflect on the past, in times like these.
Dear Patti Smith,
I keep thinking of the Geneva Conventions—
and how often they are broken.
Killing unarmed civilians violates them.
Yoshihiro
When I was just 6-7 years old, in 1967, my family went out to dinner at a restaurant in the Beaches in Toronto, on the lake, called the Jerusalem Restaurant. It was so lovely, we "followed them" when they moved up onto St. Clair just West of Bathurst. Anyone from Toronto will know why that location is significant. As I grew up, we went back again and again, often celebrating something or other.
Brought up as I was on Cheez Whiz and Miracle Whip, the food was a revelation to this young white boy. Labaneh, with a little circle of lemon infused olive oil. Hummus with pine nuts. My favourite was the ground lamb Siniyeh. And the grilled eggplant! I made that eggplant for my friend Bill just the other day, and perhaps for the first time, nailed it. Here in BC, in March, a lemon from a friend's lemon tree perhaps helped.
I remember when the owner's young son George became a busboy, carrying away our plates, thanking us for coming, and I remember being greeted by George again, in his 30s, as the maitre d, when I went back with my own wife and family. George and his family became part of my family. Their restaurant was part of my life. I live far away now, but the experience of meeting them and sharing food will never leave me.
They were Palestinians, of course. Refugees from hatred and war. Canada has made many mistakes, especially in the way we have treated First Nations here, but sometimes we have welcomed refugees well, like in 2015 when my (then) boss, Jim Estill, personally arranged for 50 Syrian refugees to come to Guelph when our government was still dithering, by pulling a team of sponsors together out of his rolodex.
And some of this long stream of refugees over the years came from the USA, like during the Vietnam War. One of my "draft dodger" friends from that time used to build wooden clinker boats, and defend forests. He passed away this year. BC here just took 400 medical workers from the USA, self described refugees from the violence and hatred engulfing their country. One of them said "We couldn't take it any more". Canada took them in gratefully.
And how many Ukrainians do we have, who came over to escape the Holodomor in the 1930s, or Putin. In Vancouver, if you haven't had one of Hunky Bill's pirogies, you haven't really lived! :)
It is one of my favourite things about "Canada". Not perfect by any means, but on the whole, we have created a space where people can come to start a new, more peaceful, life. My ancestors 7 generations ago were refugees from the Highland Clearances. We brought violence from the trauma, but we brought resistance. The resistance has flourished in me, in my life.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to put something back onto this page here, in return for the gift Patti has, and shares with us. Next time I make grilled eggplant, I think a few tears are gonna fall, for Rachel Corrrie, and for all of us. As Sting said so eloquently - "How Fragile We Are".
I’ll never forget learning about Rachel. That’s when I knew something evil was lurking in the settlements.
I am not going to take attention away from the reason Peaceable Kingdom was written, suffice to say it holds a very special meaning for me also. What I do want to say is thank you for writing such a beautiful, timeless song:)
thank you
Thank you Patti! I'm deeply troubled in these dark and difficult times, I have friends and family in the Middle East on both sides - and your post eases my mind a bit and comforts me - Thank you so much!
Thank you for your comment below, and thank you for deciding to "let it be". Both very in tune with Patti Smith's world of peace here.
Thank you Patti Rachel Corrie was a very special young woman and l too thought of her yesterday. And today still we March, join rallies, write to our politicians, many good young people being arrested, our rights slowly being eroded but as war and the killing of innocent people goes on we can never give up. A March on the 28th of March is going to happen bringing (we hope) millions of people from all over the country to London to say the people together have had enough of what politicians are doing!
Watching the video helped lift my spirits. Much love from London 🙏
Thank you so much, Patti. 🕊️🙏
Thank you so much Patti.
Pure bullshit. Patti is old enough to remember when Yasser Arafat invented “Palestinian” as a brand in 1967 and launched the Arab reign on terrorism on Israel. The rest of you are just ignorant and prefer to stay that way. . Arabs have no interest in peace. The US media ignores it but Arab on Arab crime is one of the biggest problems today in Israel, outside of Arab terrorists slaughtering and raping its citizens. Peace? Gaza was supposed to be the model Arab state. Israel left behind factories, greenhouses and gorgeous homes when it left Gaza in 2005. All they had to do was move in and create an economy. Instead they ripped everything up to build their tunnels and set up a nest of terrorists. My friends have all had children murdered by Arabs — stabbed on a bus, shot on Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct 7. Rachel Corrie was on the wrong side of history. Her memory is a curse.
Dear Nadine Bonner, I understand your point of view, I know there is good reason to believe or comment the way you do and of course you describe part of the facts in the region correctly. But allow me to ask some questions - what is the right side of history? Is the current Israeli Government on the right side of history? What is the perspective? What kind of perspective do you have for the Palestinians or let's say the Arabs who lived in Palestine? Do you think there could be any possibility for peace without an attractive solution for the Arab Population in the region? How could Israel achieve peace?
Are you kidding me? There are 22 Arab countries in the region, and Israel has to find a solution for a bunch of terrorists that no Arab country wants? Did it ever occur to you that Arabs don't want peace? Not with Israel. Not with one another. Funny how everyone forgets the 1980-1988 Iraq/Iran war. Both sides were drafting 12-year-olds and ended up quitting without a victor because they ran out of cannon fodder. That's the Arab version of peace. From 1948 to 1967, Egypt refused to absorb the Arab population in Gaza. After the Arab initiated 1967 war, Israel did not annex all the territory it captured because the leaders naively wanted to trade land for peace. In 1978, it returned the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for a cold peace, but Egypt refused to take Gaza. After Israel left Gaza in 2005, Egypt erected a wall to make sure no Gazans could enter the country. What about Jordan? They don't want those Arabs on their side of the river either. There is and never has been a country called "Palestine" -- do you believe in Narnia, too? -- but ethnically those Arabs are Jordanians. And Jordan doesn't want them because they are also terrorists. Do you know the group that never calls for a so-called Palestinian state? Israeli Arabs. Because they know they have it better here than in any Arab-run country. My son-in-law's Arab colleague just relinquished his Jordanian citizenship to become Israeli. Peace? Let the rich Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar force their poorer brothers to make peace.
Stop stealing land, stop the slaughter of civilians, stop the infanticide and start to follow international laws protecting those you occupy and oppress. One day, the US empire will fall, and Israel will be held accountable for crimes against humanity. Former Zionist here - until I learned the inconvenient truths.
Okay I got it. Senseless to talk with a person who is not willing to look for a solution that provides perspectives for both sides. And I'm not defending - let me be clear - any of the unbearable crimes committed by terrorists and ruthless murderers.
Yeah, it is senseless to talk to someone who lives in reality while you linger in fantasy-land. In 1977 I stood on the street when Anwar Sadat drove into Jerusalem. And we all believed he would bring peace to the Middle East. Until his own people assassinated him for his efforts. The people Gazans attacked on Oct. 7 were the most Arab-friendly in Israel. They drove Gazans to Israeli hospitals when they needed treatment. They organized play groups so their children could play with Arab children. My friend's son returned to Israel from the U.S. to help Arabs learn effective green farming methods. On Oct. 7, Gazans shot him four times in the chest while he was hiding in a closet, using his body to shield his elderly neighbor. They murdered the woman who drove them to the hospital. The Gazan children posted pictures on social media of Israeli women being raped. So, yeah, you are defending the murderers and the terrorists by implying that their "perspective" need to be "considered." You believe some kind of myth that there are terrorists and "innocent" Gazans. But Gazan civilians sexually molested the hostages. They tortured them. They strangled the Bibas babies with their bare hands. Even during the Holocaust, there were Germans who risked their lives to save Jews. No one in Gaza lifted a finger to save anyone on Oct. 7 or afterwards. So what "perspective" justifies this?
Lots of hasbara and lies to unpack above. And the use of deflection to not deal with what this post is about - Rachel Corrie, murdered way before Oct 7th while protesting for peace. She was murdered by the IDF.
People have a right to resist after 75+ years of land theft, being imprisoned without charges, and being kept stateless and in limbo. If you care about all of humanity, you'd understand. Shame you do not, and justify ethnic cleansing. It's a bad look, and the whole world is aware now.
Thank you for this remembrance. I think of Rachel Corrie often and every time I hear Peaceable Kingdom. I was working at the college where she was a student at that time.
The reminder of this tragic event- the cold-blooded act that ended Rachel's life - is necessary.
And so is remembering the life she lived, fully committed. Thank you, Patti.
I saw you perform the song in Mainz and Cologne last summer and could not stop crying. And I am crying right now.
Your tears are slipping out of my eyes and running down my cheek.
Thank you so much for this poignant tribute to Rachel Corrie. And thank you for Peaceable Kingdom, Patti...
I can't find adequate words for the tragedy of this neverending cycle of death, destruction and loss - Iraq, now Iran and Lebanon and the utter genocide against the Palestinian people - it is a continual nightmare.
I have friends in Lebanon, friends in Ukraine - all caught like pawns - endangered by monstrous regimes.
It all can be overwhelming.
Our current evil regime wants us to be overwhelmed. But no matter how exhausted we may be - we must find energy to resist them. I will fight them to my last breath. Their evil must be stopped. Good must prevail.
Light will overcome darkness. 🕊️
I will remember Rachel Corrie Patti. Thank you for sharing Peaceable Kingdom with us. 🕊💙🎶