That’s not genocide

That’s not genocide

Of course they are killing people by the thousands

Tanks and bombs and missiles from the sky

Hospitals are working day and night to save lives

So more bombs were needed to wipe the hospitals out

This meant so many more had to be left to die

Still they resisted so new approaches were needed

Why not deny them food except for the crumbs

Slow starvation so that they would eventually die

Whilst pretending that the offered crumbs were aid

Malnutrition of infants had its use for the oppressor

Pregnant mothers would they hoped soon abort

Why not kill the doctors so even fewer survive

Maybe journalists as well to ensure no truth leaks out

In an era where freedom of speech risks repercussion

Should anyone remain they must be driven from the land

But first label them as terrorists and not refugees

Even the toddlers who are not as high as knees

A land which after all is nothing but prime real estate

Why not deny they are a nation or even a state

Then nobody will give a damn about their fate

If they are terrorised sufficiently they will try to leave

In the hope that other nations will receive

Apparently none of this counts as genocide

To the leaders who choose to close their eyes

To those whose aim is to murder and destroy

Yet each act is genocide in law

How did we sink to such depravity

Why are we failing to question a mentality

That accepts leadership with such insanity

Can you look your own children in the face

To tell them such deeds are normal and fine

That all this is part of a greater western design

Where evil is intended to triumph in time

Copyright: David Hopcroft September 2025

The End of the Beginning

The End of The Beginning

They came in the sky at night with their bombs

I saw my school razed to the ground

Then in tanks to roam the streets

Looking like wolves hunting down a prey

Destroyed our homes and told us to flee

Gathering the few things we could we fled

To the area they had reserved

This was the ghetto they had created

Then came the blockades

Denying us medicines and then food

We watched the sick wither away

Old ones starved to protect the young

They try and force us from our home

They want us to leave the land of our birth

To be dumped upon some foreign soil

An uncertain future filled with suspicion

They said we were only animals

Our lives had no value to them

But they wanted the coast for a resort

So we had to be removed for the rich

Our land just a piece of real estate

To be traded in a world thriving on hate

Whilst nations looked on standing idly by

With no real interest whether we live or die

Copyright: David Hopcroft April 2025

Christmas in Palestine

Christmas in Palestine

Death is floating in the air

Like tinsel streaming from above

Missiles are heading out your way

Bringing evil and hate not love

There is no Christmas dinner on a plate

Only starvation with food stopped at the border

Children slowly dying as others celebrate

This is called a western new world order

Bombs are falling from the skies

There is no nocturnal star of hope

Others feast whilst the child dies

Suffocated by the western yoke

Any thread of hope is quickly seized

The desert shall be your bed tonight

Only one voice will be believed

The horror of your world kept from sight

Your tents are burned the manger too

The innkeeper stands guard with a gun

Saying this world has no place for you

Shepherds with their flock hit by a bomb

Wise men sit down and pontificate

Passing resolutions in your favour

Their words are flooded out by hate

That’s Christmas with a western flavour

Copyright: David Hopcroft December 2024

Who buries the corpses

Who buries the corpses?

There was little warning before the missiles came

Raining down upon the street where children played

Each side adamant that the other was to blame

The buildings collapsed upon those who prayed

Upon the dusty street the limbs were strewn

Left as those still alive sought shelter in desperation

Amongst the rubble on a dusty afternoon

A pack of stray dogs feed upon a lost generation

The jeep prowled the avenues in the town

Rifles at the ready the riders opened fire

Women with their young ones swiftly mown down

Medals for those submitting to a leader’s desire

Who dares to step into the road to retrieve

Becomes the prey of the predator in uniform

In a ruined church a priest begs those to believe

Defending some ancient deity with cruciform

The victor celebrates by denial of water and bread

Flesh still clings to the bones of the starving child

The general declares the world now free of dread

With a hand upon the book he has defiled

I watch the horrors unfold upon the screen

I listen to the evil of those who claim a right of deity

And ask myself about all that I have seen

How can we say this is in the name of humanity

Copyright: David Hopcroft October 2024

The Gaza Hotel

The Gaza Hotel is a general comment about the horrors of war and how others look the other way.

It’s a bloody strange place is the Gaza Hotel

The windows are blown out and they broke down the door

The food was all taken we were left to starve

You climb through the rubble when you check in

You’ll leave in a body bag when you check out

You may wonder why we have had to stay here

We are not here by choice we came here from fear

For we used to have a few hectares on the West Bank

It’s a bloody strange place is the Gaza Hotel

We sent out for food to stop us from starving

But the delivery boy was killed by a missile

They missed him first time but got him with the third

The lifts out of order but don’t fall down the stair

Because you’ll find that the hospital’s no longer there

I rang for room service a sniper spotted my light

The bullets came it’s a way of saying Good Night

It’s a bloody strange place is the Gaza Hotel

Once you’ve checked in you may never check out

There’s nowhere that wants you and nowhere to go

You’re just another person waiting to die

You’re not allowed to be a refugee and you may cry

So you’re stuck in this hell hole to live like a rat

There will be no escape you are here to stay

In the Gaza Hotel there’s no going away

Copyright: David Hopcroft April 2024

Warfare 5 Protecting the children

Warfare 5 Protecting the children

From the rubble I heard the child’s cry

A desperate sound to avoid the concrete grave

Whilst the world looked on to let the child die

Lacking in leaders who were brave

Those leaders who looked the other way

When evil claimed that children too were to blame

Exterminate was the order of the day

The brutality of a regime without shame

When bombs failed there was always starvation

The pretence these children were the real enemy

Can this really be the legacy of a nation

Extremist screams exerting hegemony

Shut down down the incubators and let them gasp

Who cares if the newborn baby dies

New lives torn away from the mothers’ grasp

The world is deaf to their final cries

The sick mind proclaims they are protecting democracy

As infants in their thousands maimed and face slaughter

The vomit spills from the mouths of political hypocrisy

Denying millions the right to food and water

Some say that truth is the first casualty of war

I suggest the reality is that humanity is lost

Depraved minds who feel they must settle a score

Hiding the fact that children’s lives are the cost

The tortured face of the child tells the real story

Crushed beneath the rubble of what was their home

The body is messy the scene is gory

Beneath the rubble the child dies alone

Who will protect the children and speak out

Against murderers hiding behind the politician’s shield

Let your voice be heard and shout

These crimes of war must not be concealed

Copyright: David Hopcroft October 2023