Reference :- Photographs revealing the thoroughness of the destruction of Gaza make it impossible to imagine what was there a couple of years ago .
This morning we were all tired and emotional at The Sky Reply . Dog was in a frisky mood last night , and kept us awake all night with his constant demand for a playmate . He even tried to drag Ken junior out of bed with his teeth at 2.00 am . You could almost translate his growls as something like " Come on ! Get up ! What's the matter with you ? Lets go outside and play ! "
Anyway , this morning while dog slept on the verandah , we gloomily ate our porridge and watched the morning news on the tele . Some images of Gaza appeared .
" Holy cow ! That place is well and truly trashed ! " , Ken junior said .
" It didn't always look like that . " Gabbo said .
" I hear it was never very good . They say the Palestinians used all their money to build tunnels and rockets . " , Monte said .
Gabbo , always quick to defend the plight of folk who are suffering at the hands of violent colonialists , spoke up .
" They didn't spend all their money on their military . Just like us they spent some on their military and some on infrastructure for the welfare of their citizens . " , Gabbo said .
" Like what , for example ? ", Monte said .
" Lets see.... 796 schools , 12 universities , 35 hospitals , 4 major cultural museums , 18 major libraries , 9 major mosques and hundreds of gardens including a public park for children in Khan Younis six times the size of our equivalent one in Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens . ' . Gabbo said .
" That does sound like a lot. " , Monte said .
" It is impressive considering the circumstances . On a population basis they had twice as many universities as Australia , and about the same number of schools . They seem to have greatly valued access to education . " Gabbo said .
" A shame . Do you think all those facilities are rubble now ? " , Monte said .
Ken junior broke in .
" Yeah , I think so . Those Palestinians didn't stand a chance against the might of the American Empire " , Ken junior said .
" Everybody is so glass half empty this morning . Can't somebody be a bit more cheery ? " , I said .
Gabbo stood up and dramatically recited his favourite poem about empires , which coincidentally references the Middle East .
" The jackals prowl , the serpents hiss , in what was once Persepolis
Proud Babylon is but a trace , upon the desert's dusty face ,
The topless towers of Ilium ,
Are ashes , Judah's harp is dumb ,
The fleets of Nineveh and Tyre ,
Are down with Davy Jones esquire ,
And all the oligarchies , kings ,
And potentates who ruled these things ,
Are gone . But cheer up , don't be sad ,
Think what a lovely time they had . "
" For the love of God Gabbo , sit down before you wake up Dog ." , I said .
I guess it is consoling to think that every great empire eventually falls . Especially the evil ones .
Your comrade
Ken
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