Deja Vu as 'peace' activists spit on Diggers

[axiom]

Jetblast covered a lot of this, but with a different slant. From this post by Lo"n"Slo

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said son
It's time to stop rambling cos there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Galipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that town that they called Suvla bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried our and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those who were left well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And I woke in my hospital bed
I saw what it had done and I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying

For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples the wounded the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless the legless the blind the insane
those proud wounded heros of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one waiting for me
To grieve and to mourne and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
as they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered they just stood and stared
then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades how proudly they march
Renewing old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly all bent stiff and sore
the forgotton heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "what are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question

And the band played waltzing Matilda
And the old men answered the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass by the billabong
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me

(Eric Bogle)



Wherever this discussion leads and whatever is right or wrong, "don't spit on our Diggers" PLEASE

[Wiley]

Totally of the subject and hijacking my own thread here, but someone, perhaps Danny, could quote Arafat's speech to Muslims in a mosque in Johannesberg (in Arabic) after the Oslo agreement. He was being abused for giving so much away to the Israelis and he told the congregation to look no furthewr than what the Phophet (PBUH) did with the treaty he signed with the non-believers of Medina during the initial war to take control of the area that now surrounds Islam's most holy sites.

I'll leave it up to Danny also to tell you what the Prophet (PBUH) did with the treaty when he didn't need it anymore.

[axiom]

"Struth" Wiley; not sure if your last was totally "off" or "of" the subject

You started this with a "Deja vu post" about diggers being "spat at". I guess sort of Vietnam all over again?

How the "bloody hell" would I hyjack your thread?

If you want to promote a for/against thing with capt pprune and the rest, go ahead, but most of this has been covered on jetblast and the whole thing is going political and historical.

Unless you have a crystal ball that will tell us about how our Diggers would be welcomed home, I can only suggest you return to the original and start another topic with Danny.

Most ex Diggers don't give a rat's arse about the politics and history, but do get a bit "thingy" about being spat at as a consequence of the actions of the politics of the day.

Personally someone needs a kick up the arse and I don't particularly want to go into favourites, but if anyone blames Private Bloogs for War Crimes, I'll get very upset.

Be this as it may, the whole thing has been very enlightening, educational and worthy of a re read.

[BrisBoy]

Danny,

I could print reams in reply from the renowned Jewish linguist and author, Noam Chomsky, to counter your article and examine broken treaties and agreements on both sides, but at this stage I think we both have made our points. We could go tit for tat, debate who has the most simplistic arguments and perhaps go all the way back to 1917. However this may achieve little more than has been achieved so far.
The posts are written and can stand. I would like to think I have put forward an alternate view that at the least questions the credibility, wisdom and motives of some who claim to speak for all. As Woomera says, we have a valuable tool. Those who wish can chase the references and links, assess the information and form their own opinions.

[bitter balance]

Another angle to look at? Crass politics are not the exclusive right of the western world. At the time when Arafat called for the recent Initfada he was most unpopular, becoming marginalised and under constant death threats. His power base within the Palestinian population had eroded and was in danger of slipping altogether. There is nothing like a showdown with the old foe (especially when its Sharon) to unite a disparate group of people.