1
It is half term and he is restless.
Take him to Liverpool for a trip.
Show him where the Beatles lived.
Show him all the new buildings and the concert hall.
Take him to the docks at the port.
Don't mention the market where they sold people,
or the ships that took them to America.
He won't understand.
It is too complicated.
Don't tell him where the money for the city came from.
If he hears about these things in school or on television,
tell him that the Americans had slaves.
We never did.
Tell him that we freed slaves.
We gave them sanctuary when they ran away from their masters.
Tell him that we are fair,
that we are just, and
that we are good.
2
It is term break and she wants to go somewhere.
Take her to Derry for a few days.
It is lovely there now.
Show her the countryside, the green rolling hills.
Don't mention the troubles.
Don't talk to her about the shootings on
that Sunday so long ago.
Don't say anything about the 800 years that we
have been there.
The land clearances, the famine, the black and tans?
Don't be silly.
It will ruin the trip.
She can't possibly understand any of this.
Not now, not ever.
It is far too complicated even for us.
She can worry about that later,
maybe in university, for a history seminar.
Anyway, they are a difficult, unruly people.
We gave them law.
We gave them stability.
We gave them our language.
They drink.
They are terrorists.
They have never appreciated what we did for them.
Remember to tell her
that we are fair,
that we are just, and
that we are good.
3
You have to take the kid somewhere for a summer holiday.
What about visiting your aunt in Sydney?
He will love the harbour.
Go on a trip through the outback.
It will be brilliant.
When he asks about the other people he sees there?
You can mention that they have always been there.
Why do they live so badly?
Tell him they drink, and they are lazy.
How did our people get there?
In ships of course.
What happened to the other people when ours came?
Don't go into that.
It is far too complicated.
He can't understand.
No wait.
Tell him the Australians did it.
It had nothing to do with us.
He has to recognize
that we are fair,
that we are just, and
that we are good.
4
She's driving us nuts.
It is the weekend.
We have to find something for her to do.
Take her to the East End.
Show her the old tenement houses there.
Tell her that some of her friends' grandparents
used to live there when they first arrived.
Tell her about whom?
The ones we didn't let in when they
were running away?
And the others who we kept out
before the war,
when the soldiers were rounding them
up from their homes?
No, of course not.
She can't possibly understand.
It is far too complicated.
There was a depression.
There was no work.
What were we supposed to do?
What about the ones in the camps after the war?
Tell her that we wanted them to go back to the
places that killed their families?
Don't be ridiculous.
She will be upset and confused.
You need to explain to her that they are difficult people.
They have trouble fitting in wherever they go.
It is best to have small numbers of them.
If too many are allowed in,
other people, bad people, will hate them.
We want to protect them from that.
Tell her that we have nothing against them.
We just want them to fit in properly.
We want them to be like everyone else.
Talk to her about the blitz.
Tell her about the RAF and the Battle of Britain.
Tell her that we stood alone.
Tell her that we liberated them,
but they are ungrateful.
She has to understand
that we are fair,
that we are just, and
that we are good.
5
He wants to go with his friend on a swimming trip to Eilat?
Definitely not.
Tell him that we don't go to that country.
The people there are not good.
They took that country by force from other people who lived there first.
They came as conquerors and threw them out.
Now they oppress them with soldiers, guns, tanks, and walls.
What about their parents and grandparents, who
came from the camps?
The others who were running away from the soldiers?
The ones who we would not let in here?
Don't go into that.
It is too complicated, and you will confuse him.
What about those who ran away from
countries near that one?
That was the fault of that country.
They made them leave.
The bombs and the wars?
Tell him that it is all very sad,
but it is that country's fault.
Tell him if only they would go away,
it would be peaceful and quiet again.
What are you saying?
Both sides are right,
and both peoples should be there?
That is absurd.
I can't tell him that.
If one side is right, then the other is wrong, right?
Tell him that both sides have done terrible things,
and neither is innocent?
Maybe, but that country is responsible.
That country is at fault.
That country is evil.
That country must go.
He needs to understand this.
Excuse me?
Talk to him about what we did there?
What did we do?
Promised the country to both sides?
Oh that.
It was long ago.
We were fighting a war.
We had no choice.
It is too complicated.
It is important for him to see
that country is at fault,
that country is evil, and
that country must go.
He must understand
that, we are fair,
that we are just, and
that we are good.
(Shalom Lappin)