The song of Boy George is moving even beautiful and it is a peace song an anti war song. There is a cost to be paid for speaking freely even in a free country like ours but it is worth the stress and strife to advance the truth. Yet on this day of hopeful positive developments in Gaza and possible Hamas disarmament, @BoyGeorge has faced a mob of those who have tried to use purity tests, threats of peril and cancellation, and poisonous names to stop him and others speaking freely about the war & its ferocity, the sufferingof Israelis at Nova & in the Oct7 killing spree and the heartbreaking death and suffering of Palestinian civilians in the subsequent brutal Israel vs Hamas war. It is ironic that he has apparently been forced to retire fr Jesus Christ Superstar a rather Jewish story in which he played a Judean prince Herod Antipas. Anyway this was his admirable answer: ‘The suggestion that I feel no compassion for Palestinians is both untrue and absurd. I am devastated for the loss of the innocent lives on both sides of this war and I call for peace. I have read members of the press calling me a ‘genocide denier’ yet those who deny the suffering of Israelis are given a free pass. My song is pro peace and about the emotions I felt after visiting the Nova Exhibition and talking to Michael and Lisa Marlowe who had their son Jake taken from them. Murdered trying help others. Everyone knows what happened to innocent women, kids, babies, sons and fathers on that day, innocent people who were at a festival celebrating life. The Nova Festival is a mirror of my world as a DJ and I have played many such festivals, including in Israel so it resonated with me and I felt compelled to write something. I could have been there and we know that there were people from more than 40 countries who were. I felt these deep emotions and is wrote this song for them. My personal opinion is that this is sadly a war , but not an attempt to wipe out Palestine. ‘

There is great confusion about what Decolonization and indeed Colonization means. The fact is: it means very little except 'a culture or mindset you dont like.' For whatever reason. And that usually means: the West. Since the West decolonized long ago, it really means the Western liberal democracies. It is a smart criticism because it means nothing, and hence it is hard to disagree with nothing and furthermore since the West itself is embroiled in a mix of moral fuddlement, political paralysis and cultural self hatred, you can be sure that Western leaders are very embarrassed by the very use of the word and many in the West will actually agree - even though they are not sure what they are agreeing with. it is a very useful rhetorical tool because Westerns are always going to be worried to answer in any meaningful way other than guilt and shame; and it is a growing industry - perfect for endless conferences. Like this one. The reality of empires and colonies is something else entirely. In early modern times, the Ottoman Turks conquered colonized enslaved exploited murdered and forcefully converted millions and ruled a vast tricontinental empire for four centuries; the Western powers led by Spain Portugal France and Britain later joined by Italy Germany Belgium also conquered colonized enslaved exploited murdered and converted using missionaries huge empires across the continents. The Iberians lost much of their empires first; the Ottoman sultanate-caliphate started to decolonize with the Greek war of independence in 1820s and totally disintegrated in 1918; the British and French decolonized between 1940s and Sixties. You could argue the Americans and Soviets comported themselves like anti-imperial imperialists during the Cold War and after - and indeed today's America toys at times with neo-tsarist expansionism - Greenland etc . Thats it - noone in the Legacy Powers Britain or France etc seems keen on colonizing anything now; there are almost no colonizations left to decolonize - though many love to denounce their own country's past which is for some a most enjoyable enriching and virtuous pastime. But in real life, empire and colonization are happening, often perpetrated by the very proponents of antiWest rhetoric. Russia is attempting to retake its limotrophic empire in Ukraine right now the old -fashioned way: by conquest and killing; a phalanx of Middle East neo-imperial powers are engaged in tournaments of power in failing states like Somalia, Libya and benighted Sudan; Iran established an informal empire across Iraq Syria Lebanon Yemen in its Six Armies strategy - its final destiny as yet undecided on the battlefield of the Third Gulf War; and Turkish leaders now regularly and openly declare their wish to reassert Ottomanist power in former Ottoman vilayets Syria Lebanon Israel, and former Ottoman cities Damascus Beirut Jerusalem.... So imperialism and colonialism just mean: other people, but never you.