During the current iteration of the Palestine/Israel "conflict" in early 2024 where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, including thousands of children, have been killed by Israeli forces dropping bombs on the Gaza Strip, I have this song going through my head almost daily. The situation is only getting worse day by day and Easter is just a few weeks away.
Most of the military supplies that Israel are using come from western states in Europe or North America, with the US and the UK being two of the main suppliers. Ships bringing arms from the UK (were this band is from) to the middle east would have to go south before going east to deliver their cargo.
This song was released in 1984. The quoted info below came from Wikipedia...
"The Sabra and Shatila massacre was the 16–18 September 1982 killings of between 460 and 3,500 civilians—mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias—in the city of Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. It was perpetrated by the Lebanese Forces, one of the main Christian militias in Lebanon, and supported by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that had surrounded Beirut's Sabra neighbourhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp....
As the massacre unfolded, the IDF received reports of atrocities being committed, but did not take any action to stop it. Furthermore, Israeli troops were stationed at the exits of the area to prevent the camp's residents from leaving and, at the request of the Lebanese Forces, fired flares to illuminate Sabra and Shatila through the night during the massacre."
Sparkle in the Rain was one of my favourite albums in the mid eighties but I wasn't old or aware enough at the time to understand the meaning to this song. I decided to re-listen to this album recently and these lyrics sent shivers down my spine.
During the current iteration of the Palestine/Israel "conflict" in early 2024 where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, including thousands of children, have been killed by Israeli forces dropping bombs on the Gaza Strip, I have this song going through my head almost daily. The situation is only getting worse day by day and Easter is just a few weeks away.
Most of the military supplies that Israel are using come from western states in Europe or North America, with the US and the UK being two of the main suppliers. Ships bringing arms from the UK (were this band is from) to the middle east would have to go south before going east to deliver their cargo.
This song was released in 1984. The quoted info below came from Wikipedia...
"The Sabra and Shatila massacre was the 16–18 September 1982 killings of between 460 and 3,500 civilians—mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias—in the city of Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. It was perpetrated by the Lebanese Forces, one of the main Christian militias in Lebanon, and supported by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that had surrounded Beirut's Sabra neighbourhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp....
As the massacre unfolded, the IDF received reports of atrocities being committed, but did not take any action to stop it. Furthermore, Israeli troops were stationed at the exits of the area to prevent the camp's residents from leaving and, at the request of the Lebanese Forces, fired flares to illuminate Sabra and Shatila through the night during the massacre."
Sparkle in the Rain was one of my favourite albums in the mid eighties but I wasn't old or aware enough at the time to understand the meaning to this song. I decided to re-listen to this album recently and these lyrics sent shivers down my spine.
[Edit: Corrected a typo.]