The Ballad of Rivka and Mohammed
A song written in response to sustained bombing attacks by Israel on Gaza, in July and August 2014, which killed several hundred children. In the text, Leon introduces Rivka, a child murdered by the Nazis in the Lithuanian ghetto of Vilna in 1942. Her spirit meets with that of Mohammed, a Palestinian child killed as he played by Israeli troops - and the two children, Jew and Arab, understand at once that their individual tragedies were essentially the same.
The first 'release' was an online video, where the song concluded, "I weep for the people of Gaza / And they are weeping still / And I curse the ones who do nothing / And encourage the monster to kill." When properly recorded in 2016, Leon had second thoughts about these lines, and truncated the ending.
The first 'release' was an online video, where the song concluded, "I weep for the people of Gaza / And they are weeping still / And I curse the ones who do nothing / And encourage the monster to kill." When properly recorded in 2016, Leon had second thoughts about these lines, and truncated the ending.
"And so began Operation Protective Edge ... more than 500 [Palestinian] children were killed, among them four boys from the same family, murdered by a shell from an Israeli gunboat while playing football on the beach. One of them was Mohammed Bakr, age 11." - LR (sleevenotes to Where Are The Barricades?, 2016)
Recordings
Version 1 (2014) Live solo run-through in front of a camera
Version 2 (2016) Studio recording
Version 2 (2016) Studio recording