I attended the first of two concerts set up by Anne Lister to raise money for the children caught up in the humanitarian disaster of Gaza, money raised going to the (British) Red Cross. The talent Anne Lister lined up for the concert was terrific, and I thoroughly enjoyed the songs and stories that were presented.

Anyone who followed the thread, now closed, in which Anne Lister announced these concerts will know that I was apprehensive that any public event concerning Gaza might descend into political point-scoring and, in particular, into Israel-bashing. I'm happy to relate that mention of the current situation in Gaza was kept to the humanitarian aspect, the wish to help the children of Gaza. Only two of the ten acts who performed made any mention of Israel at all. One mentioned IDF complicity in the Sabra-Shatila massacre of 1982, and one sang about the shooting by Israeli soldiers of a 16 year old Palestinian girl in Jenin in 2022. I thought both of these contributions were one-sided and would have benefitted from more context, but after all it was a concert and not a history lecture, and neither contribution made me feel threatened.

If the second concert is anything like the first, I can recommend it to anyone who wishes to help children in Gaza, regardless of your views on the wider questions about Israel and Palestine. I regret that I will be unable to attend the second concert