Monday, 28 April 2025

From the Warsaw Ghetto to Gaza

 




Israel is starving Gaza, inflicting a ‘manmade and politically motivated’ famine (UNRWA) on its people. 3,000 trucks of food and medicine are blocked at the border. The WHO says its supplies are gone. Hospitals are running out of medicine. Children are dying. 

Israel has turned Gaza into a concentration camp and the response from political leaders in the so-called western democracies? Do and say nothing. In the case of my own UK government, say nothing while acting alongside the USA in support of the slaughter.

No change there.When there were concentration camps in Europe more than 80 years ago representatives of the British and US governments met in Bermuda in April, 1943, reluctantly responding to rising pressure to rescue European Jews.They decided to do nothing. Nothing. A UK Foreign Office memo prior to the conference stated that, “There is a possibility that the Germans or their satellites may change over from the policy of extermination to one of extrusion, and aim as they did before the war at embarrassing other countries by flooding them with alien immigrants.” In plain Engish, the UK government feared that the Nazi regime might halt the genocide, and iexpel European Jewry ‘flooding’ the allied countries.

As the conference commenced, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began. The fighters made a final appeal to the world, “The last 35,000 Jews in the ghetto at Warsaw have been condemned to execution. Warsaw is again echoing to volleys of musketry. The people are being murdered. Women and children defend themselves with naked arms. Save us!”

Similar messages are reaching us from Gaza, and I choose here to quote this from Asma Salama Abu Mansi, children’s literature writer, “In the shadow of war and destruction, which has lasted for so long, we stand on the edge, nearly falling into an abyss without bottom, often plunging into a sea of despair from which survival seems impossible. Does hope remain a choice, or does it become something imposed on the people of Gaza? Perhaps hope here is neither a luxury nor a desire, but rather a form of resistance, known only to Gazans, who lack the luxury of choice. They cling to whatever hope remains, as if it were the last straw that could save them from drowning in a sea of ashes. It is a force that renews itself with every moment, not because Gazans choose to be optimistic, but because we are compelled to survive.”

If you are unable to see the parallels between the past and the present, I leave you with these words from one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, who was addressing the leaders of the Palestinian resistance.

To all leaders of Palestinian military, paramilitary and guerrilla organizations; to all soldiers of Palestinian militant groups: My name is Marek Edelman. I am a former Deputy Commander of the Jewish Military Organization in Poland and one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In the memorable year of 1943 we fought for the survival of the Jewish community in Warsaw. We fought for mere life, not for territory, nor for a national identity. We fought with hopeless determination, but our weapons were never directed against the defenceless civilian population, we never killed women and children. In the world devoid of principles and values, despite a constant danger of death, we did remain faithful to these values and moral principles. We were isolated in our fight, and yet the powerful opposing army was not able to destroy these barely armed boys and girls. Our fight in Warsaw lasted several weeks, and later we fought in the partisan groups and in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Yet nowhere in the world can urban guerrilla force bring a conclusive victory, but it cannot be defeated by well-armed armies either. And this war will not bring any resolution. Blood will be spilled in vain and lives will be lost on both sides. We were never careless with life. We never sent our soldiers to certain death. Life is one for eternity. Nobody has the right to mindlessly take it away. It is high time for everybody to understand that … to the State of Israel, you have to radically change your attitude. You have to want peace in order to save the lives of hundreds or perhaps thousands of people, and to create a better future for your loved ones, for your children. I know from my own experience that the current unfolding of events depends on you, the Military Leaders.’ Marek Edelman, August 2002

"The earth constricts around us. It squeezes us into the final corridor, forcing us to shed our limbs just to pass through. The ground crushes us; oh, if only we were its wheat, to die and live again. And if only it were our mother, to show us mercy. We wish to be the stones that our dream will carry."  Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish




Saturday, 12 April 2025

for Rhys







A LETTER TO MY GRANDSON, RHYS MATTEO

This is the letter I would like to give to you, but if I am  unable to do so, have attached a copy to my Will with the request that you receive it after my death.


TO: Rhys Douglas-Wilson

written on 10 May 2025

 

Dear Rhys

 

I am writing this to you as your grandfather - your dad's dad. I hope I am still alive when you read it so that we can meet. I have missed being able to get to know you, but if I am no longer alive I hope it will help you understand who I was.

 

I did meet you when you were a few months old, but your mother decided I could not be your grandfather and since that day I have little idea what has been happening in your life. I hope all is good and that you are well and happy. This is the only photo I have of you, with your dog, Whitney

 

I have not been too well in recent years; brain operation, heart surgery, stroke and heart valve infection and epilepsy. I spent a lot of my convalescent time thinking about you and about your dad, my son, who I love very much.

 

I was given a lot of support from my wife Anne and from your uncle Ben. He does not have an easy life, but is very brave and positive. In fact he is the example to all of us as to how we can and should live our lives in self-respect and love for those around us. I hope you have the chance for a good relationship with him. Shame on anyone who stands in the way of this happening.


Even after ten years I still do not know why Jonny has agreed with Maria to cut me out of his and your life. You will have to ask him. 

 

I am sure Maria is a great mum and I know that Renata is capable of giving you a lot of love.

 

When Maria 'sacked' me as your grandfather she told me that her  reason was that I had 'selfishly' taken Jonny into a 'war zone'.  This is UNTRUE as Jonny came to Mostar four years after the war there had ended. He came with Brian Eno and his stay there changed his life for the better **

 

She told others that, I chased 'hookers’ (prostitutes) in New Orleans. Again UNTRUE. She refers to a day in that city when I went to look for an elderly black guy I had met and to whom I had promised $20. After getting the money from a cash dispenser I told Maria and Jonny what I was going to do. Sadly he was not where I had met him and he never got the promised money.

 

So far as I know Jonny has never agreed with any of these allegations made about me and it remains a mystery to me as to why he has agreed to silence me.

 

Here is what your father wrote to me on 1 Jan 2013:

 

You make Maria so happy I think you complete something she missed out on.. and not in a needy way but in a really positive way. The money you gave us rescued us and made this life possible and now this baby will make our family even more. …I am so blessed and you are so responsible for my strength, Anne too. I know Anne will be exhausted and we completely understand if she cant make it but please express to her how much we love her and hope she is happy to be a grandmother.” 

 

And the last communication I received from Jonny was on 30 Jan 2015 when he wrote this:

 

just wanted to write to you to say that I love you and also to say that there really isn't an issue between you and me.”

 

I have no idea why your mother dislikes me and Anne. We both liked her and I can only guess that she experienced unhappiness with men in her past. 

 

I hope that you will be given your own copy of the book which I have dedicated to you. That you will then understand the truth about me. 'Left Field' can be read here:

 

Here is what I wrote four years after Left Field’s publication.

 

Finally I wrote about the grief involved when losing Jonny, a living son here (under a pseudonym) which concludes with a song, “In the Living Years" by Mike and The Mechanics.

 

I am not angry or bitter, but massively regretful and sad. I have so powerfully wanted to see you and get to know you. Perhaps we will still be able to.


I take this opportunity to send you, Jonny, Maria and Renata as much love as can be accepted from me. 

 

David    xxxx

 

 

PS I lived as long as I did because of the love and strength I received from my wife Anne and from the love and solidarity I once received from Jonny and have continued to receive from your uncle Ben, from my sisters, Liz and Joanna and from all my friends. Here is your father and uncle a few years ago! Jonny was so cute and I believe that in his soul he still is.

 

 

**

Someone who knew your dad well in Bosnia recently wrote the following to me when hearing I was writing to you.

Please try to talk about Jonny and his talent, his joy in Bosnia, in what ways it was different and more positive than his life in London. He used to say how he won a scholarship to a fancy Highgate school that was full of spoilt rich kids of war criminals and Russian despots. Kids that took coke and heroin at the age of 15. His coming to follow you in Bosnia saved him from a life of debauchery, selfishness and drugs. He was admired by famous musicians and producers who took him under their wing and tought him many production and post production skills. Talents and connections he used to get where he is now and which eventually led him on the path to meet Maria and make Rhys. It led him on a path to a different kind of education and enabled him to meet people who made a difference in our world of despair and war. Jonny is someone who each and every Bosnian and Croat he ever encountered admired enormously. He had an energy and conviction that was hard to ignore. That inspired people and this energy only came about because he had a father who led him on this path. It is so ridiculous that he cannot acknowledge that now.

 

                                                 - - -

‘You should remind yourself that what you love is mortal, that what you love is not your own. It is granted to you for the present while, and not irrevocably, nor for ever, but like a fig or a bunch of grapes in the appointed season; and if you long for it in the winter, you are a fool.’ Epictetus


SORRY AS THIS LOOKS CONCEITED, BUT WHAT PEOPLE  SAY ABOUT ME IS VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT MARIA AND JONNY SAY AND THINK



BRIAN ENO:“David is an adventurer and a freethinker, who did something truly useful with his life."

SIR TOM STOPPARD: “David has lived a life and a half. The broken world needed people like David; it still does”

MANDLA LANGA, winner of the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize: "David Wilson is a national treasure"

CRAIG MURRAY, ex-UK Ambassador: “David’s entire life has been dedicated to trying to make the world a better place”

HAIFA ZANGANA: " You are free. You pick a sky and name it, a sky to live in, a sky to refuse. A sky as vast as your heart” (Saadi Yousif, Iraqi poet)

OHA MASLO: “Dear father, We, Maša, Zoe, Luna, Lejla, and I, your southern family, are very happy for all these years that we are sharing together with you. Love from Mostar" 

CECILY BOMBERG: “In all the many years I’ve known David, he has not just spoken or written about his anger and despair for the world’s injustices, but has put his all actively and daily into attempting to defeat them, never counting the cost or seeking fame or reward, and I love and bless him for it.This old world needs you”

HIDETO AND CHAKO WATANABE: “The time we were together were one of the most exciting times of our life and remembered fondly always. Big thanks for the friendship” 

LUNA MASLO: ”Know that we love you and cannot wait to spend time with you again”

HENRIETTA SEEBOHM: “You are an inspiration, a legend and a community builder. Thank you for your welcome to the Pavarotti Centre in Mostar in the 90’s” 

DOROTHY BYRNE (former head of Chanel 4 News): "What a life this man has led"

STEVE DAY: "A man intent on reshaping events, and helping rebuild the lives of others - particularly children - who were less fortunate. He held his line even when his own much beloved charity War Child was found to contain corrupt elements - whistleblowing on those he knew were threatening what had been built, and suffering the isolation that comes with this sort of honesty"

DAVID HENCKE: "A determined guy who is prepared to expose fraud and injustice wherever he finds it"

RUSSELL MILLS: "You’ve done so much, achieved so much, that is for the good, the right, the just"

ELVEDIN NEZIROVIC, (former Director Pavarotti Music Centre). "Thank you for everything you've done for my city and for my generation of people here"

DEBBI READ: "It's obvious that David's tireless work before, during and after his time as Director of War Child still sits deep within those whose hearts have been touched by him in Bosnia Herzegovina"


and finally this from JONNY


JONNY WILSON: "I am so blessed and you are so responsible for my strength, Anne too"


 

 





 

Saturday, 5 April 2025

HELP Album 1995-2025

 


I am preparing the manuscript of my music and memory book (My World Music) for my publishers (Riversmeet) , and am adding a chapter on the War Child HELP album which was released 30 years ago. As I do so I am struck by how powerful it was; the quality of the music, the dedication of its artists and the strength of its message - that the war was being challenged by musicians while the politicians and corporate media looked the other way.

Decades later we have a much larger genocide taking place in Palestine and, although there are musicians actively working to expose current war crimes, (step forward Brian Eno and Roger Waters) where is the 2025 HELP album?




In August 1995 I was asked to speak at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in support of the victims of the Bosnian war. Other speakers included Michael Foot and Brian Eno. I said: “I would like to speak on behalf of the young people of Bosnia. They are like young people everywhere. They take pleasure in music …They have the anger of youth and they can love like only youth can love. The young die when they are the ones who should live …In this war, it is the child who is killed because it is the child who plays in the street when the shell explodes.”

Tony Crean of Go Discs!, the record company that represented Paul Weller, happened to be walking through Trafalgar square and heard me. He later recalled. ‘Shit, I’ve spent the last couple of years of my life thinking about pop music and not realising what was going on under my nose’.

Andy Macdonald, the head of Go Discs! recalls that Tony ‘came into the office like a man possessed. He said, “Boss, I’ve been watching what’s happening in Bosnia. It’s fucking outrageous. We’ve got to do something.” '

And they did. A few days later my War Child co-founder, Bill Leeson, and I were invited to meet Tony and Andy in a Notting Hill restaurant. They told us of their plan to release the HELP album. It was to be recorded in studios on Monday, September 4th, 1995 and be in the shops five days later.

HELP sold over 70,000 copies on the day of its release, becoming the fastest-selling album in British music history. The artists waived royalties and it raised more than £1.5 million. Brian Eno produced the album and was responsible for making sure the recordings were ready for pressing in time for the Saturday release. Racing against the clock, he said of the experience, ‘Tapes were appearing from everywhere, me trying to keep some mental track of it… Enjoyable panic, but I went into Hitler mode in the last few minutes.’

The tracks included Oasis and friends with ‘Fade Away’, The Boo Radleys and ‘Oh Brother’, The Stone Roses (Love Spreads), Radiohead (Lucky), Orbital (Adnan), Portishead (Morning Air), Massive Attack (Fake the Aroma), Suede (Shipbuilding), The Charlatans vs The Chemical Brothers (Time for Living), Stereo MCs (Sweetest Truth), Sinéad O’Connor (Ode to Billy Joe), The Levellers (Searchlight), Manic Street Preachers, (Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head), Terrorvision (Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt), The One World Orchestra (The Magnificent), Planet 4 Folk Quartet (Message for Crommie), Terry Hall and Salad (Dream a Little Dream of Me), Neneh Cherry and Trout (1,2,2,3,4,5), Blur (Eine Kleine Lift Music), The Smoking Mojo Filters with Paul Weller, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Steve Craddock , Damon Minchella. Steve White and Carleen Anderson with ‘Come Together’.

Paul Weller recalls that ‘I had to self-medicate because I was so nervous, so I was a fucking mess by the end of it. But Macca was great, man. He was really fucking cool.’Noel Gallagher remembers that, ‘As the tape started, it suddenly dawned on me that I’d never played 'Come Together' before. “What key’s it in?’ I asked. ‘I was fucking winging it.’

Listening to HELP 30 years later I am astounded with the entire album and don’t want to place one track above another. But if pushed it has to be Terry Hall and Salad ( Merijene van der Vlugt) with ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’. Terry Hall referred to his love of the Mamas and the Papas recording and deciding that ‘this is the one’. Of the studio recording session carried out over eight hours he says ‘There was a string section, two dogs roaming around, babies, press and a video crew. It seemed like the whole world was listening to me improvising some harmonies. I always say it was the highlight of our career. It meant the world to us.’

The income from the album was used to provide artificial limbs for wounded children, food and clothing to orphanages, the purchase of a refrigerated truck to supply insulin, funding for school meals in central Bosnia, support for a mobile medical clinic, the supply of premature baby units , as well as baby milk, contraceptives and even funding for mine clearance programmes. Linda McCartney supplied 22 tonnes of her veggie burgers which were delivered to three Bosnian cities. Help monies were also used towards the running of the War Child bakery and to expand the charity’s music programmes.

Tony Crean said, ‘we did something with real quality, it’s had an impact that’s lasted. If you chuck a big enough stone in the pond, some ripple will hit something and make a difference.’

Decades later and with another, bigger genocide taking place in Palestine, we need to chuck a fucking boulder into that pond and make a difference.

You can view the 1995 HELP album on YouTube and the Channel 4 TV documentary on the making of the album.You can then donate to Medical Aid for Palestine and if you are in the music business help lift that rock.

David Wilson, co-founder War Child