Between here and there
There is no difference
Believe me, humans are humans
In my country
The nationalists fill the streets with hate speech
And here – sixty, seventy or eighty years ago –
The nationalists filled the streets with hate speech
There, everyone hates the Jews
And the neighbours
And dark-skinned people
And the prematurely born
Here too – sixty, seventy or eighty years ago –
Everyone hated the Jews
And the neighbours
And dark-skinned people
And the prematurely born
There, neighbours destroy whole cities
Thousands die and everyone fights everyone else
On the holy ruins and at the doors of hospitals
To rule the world
Or what remains of it
They are the best nation on earth, thanks to the chance of where they were born
And a little bit because of oil and because of an inheritance,
Half of which is holy, and the other half of which is built from daydreams
Here too – sixty, seventy or eighty years ago –
Neighbours destroyed whole cities
Thousands died and everyone fought everyone else
On the holy ruins and at the doors of hospitals
To rule the world
Or what remained of it
They are the best nation on earth, thanks to the chance of where they were born
And a little bit because of oil and because of an inheritance,
Half of which is holy, and the other half of which is built out of daydreams
There, children dream of victory for the national football team
And girls dream of the day when they may fly
Without surveillance by the beard of their younger brother
Or of a religious leader, surrounded by fatwas of prohibitions and bans
But here, children celebrate the victory of the national team
And the girls fly between continents
In search of a different life
Without surveillance by the beard of their younger brother
Or of a religious leader, surrounded by fatwas of prohibitions and bans
And that is the difference between here and there
Believe me, my friend
Only sixty, seventy or eighty years