Here are some songs that will liven up your protests, actions and flashmobs.
Artwork courtesy of www.polyp.org.uk
Thanks to all the incredibly talented people - both credited and uncredited – who came up with the lyrics.
Happy Singing!
For a 5-page printable songsheet (PDF), click here
THE BOYCOTT ISRAEL SONG
Tune: “Bye Bye Love”
Author: unknown
To help the people of Palestine
we won’t buy grapefruit or Israeli wine
and if you’re wondering what you can do
Please join the boycott and help them too.
Chorus:
Don’t buy dates
Don’t buy Jaffa fruit
Don’t buy Israeli wine
There’s a boycott going o-on. (Repeat)
Tell all your neighbours, please don’t be shy
Read all the labels before you buy
If it says Israel, don’t hesitate
don’t put apartheid upon your plate!’
(Chorus)
Check sweet potatoes, avocados too.
If it says Israel, you know what to do.
Just read the bar codes – those little lines
Things made in Israel start 7-2-9.
(Chorus)
So help the people of Palestine
and don’t buy grapefruit or Israeli wine
And if you’re wondering what you can do
Then join the boycott and help them too -
Yes join the boycott and help them too!
THE BOYCOTT AGREXCO SONG
Tune: “Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam” Lyrics: Sue Blackwell
I know a firm called Agrexco,
It’s got a base in Hayes:
It aids Israeli oppression
In oh so many ways.
Chorus:
Agrexco, Agrexco,
We see your products in Tesco.
Agrexco, Agrexco,
We’re going to boycott them all.
Down in the green Jordan Valley,
Which Israel occupies,
House demolitions and checkpoints
Are good for enterprise.
(Chorus)
Labels like Jaffa or Carmel
On orange, plum and date:
These are the mark of apartheid,
The signature of hate
(Chorus)
Greenhouses need irrigation,
But Carmel does just fine,
Stealing the water from people
Who live in Palestine.
(Chorus)
Carmel exploits Arab farmers
Who can’t go past the Wall,
Buying their fruit for a pittance
And making prices fall.
(Chorus)
Settlement products are tricky:
They’re all against the law.
Carmel pretends they’re Israeli
To make its profits soar.
(Chorus)
Don’t buy your flowers from Agrexco
To give your valentine.
Boycott the fruits of apartheid,
And help free Palestine.
Chorus:
Agrexco, Agrexco,
We see your products in Tesco.
Agrexco, Agrexco,
We’re going to BANKRUPT you all!
ODE TO BOYCOTT
Tune: “Ode to Joy” – Ludwig van Beethoven. Lyrics: Sue Blackwell
Israel, end your occupation:
There’s no peace on stolen land.
We’ll sing out for liberation
’till you hear and understand.
Ethnic cleansing and apartheid
should belong to history.
Human rights cannot be silenced:
Palestine will soon be free.
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
Lyrics: Anonymous
Once in royal David’s city
stood a big apartheid wall.
People entering and leaving
had to pass a checkpoint hall.
Bethlehem was strangulated
and her children segregated.
Though this city is a symbol
To the world of peace and love,
Concrete walls have closed around her;
Settlements expand above.
And apartheid Israel stands
all around on stolen lands.
David’s people once instructed
all the world in righteousness.
Once they spoke of truth and justice;
Now they ravage and oppress.
Nations, look at Bethlehem
And speak out the truth to them.
THE OLIVE AND THE ARMY
Tune: “The Holly and the Ivy” Lyrics: Deborah Fink
The olive and the army
When they are both full-grown,
Every olive tree on the West Bank
The IDF cuts down.
Chorus:
O the rampaging of settlers
And the rolling of the tanks;
The grinding of the bulldozers
As the olives fall in ranks.
The olive bears a berry
As green as any grass;
When the owners go to pick the fruit
They’re not allowed to pass.
(Chorus)
This oppression bears a berry
As red as any blood,
As the owners see their livelihoods
All trampled in the mud.
(Chorus)
The olive and the army,
When they are both full-grown,
Every olive tree on the West Bank
The IDF cuts down.
(Chorus)
GOD REST ALL YE WHO TALK OF PEACE
Tune: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” Lyrics: Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
God rest all ye who talk of peace:
Let nothing you dismay.
A new administration
Has come to save the day;
to put an end to settlements
that keep the peace at bay.
Oh tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
oh tidings of comfort and joy!
From every western nation
a stream of envoys came;
and played with Netanyahu
a long time-honoured game.
We’ll tell you what you must not do
and you’ll go on the same:
Oh tidings of falsehood and lies, falsehood and lies,
oh tidings of falsehood and lies!
“Fear not, then,” said the envoys,
“let nothing you affright;
your western friends won’t let you down
because you have the right
to seize their land, destroy their homes
and utilise your might.”
Oh tidings of falsehood and lies, falsehood and lies,
oh tidings of falsehood and lies!
From Lebanon to Negev
the iron wall extends
dividing people from their schools,
their families and lands.
we’re told “it’s for security,
we know you’ll understand.”
Oh tidings of falsehood and lies, falsehood and lies,
oh tidings of falsehood and lies!
Take heed you military men,
the world must have its say.
Return the farmers’ dunams
your soldiers took a way.
For stolen dates and oranges
we do not wish to pay.
Bring us tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
bring us tidings of comfort and joy!
DING DONG! MERRILY ON HIGH
Lyrics: Alan G and Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
Ding Dong! Merrily on high
The F-16s are winging,
drones appear from out the sky
Their deadly cargo bringing
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
Ding Dong merrily on high:
In Europe there’s a quand’ry
Dingdong verily the Zi-
onists want their own country.
Gloria, they’ve taken someone else’s.
E’en so here below, below
with guns and bricks and mortar
Israel’s colonies do grow
But they need much more water
Gloria, they’ve taken someone else’s.
Pray ye dutifully prime
your policies and spokesmen.
Surely now must be the time
to act for peace and freedom.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis.
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Lyrics: Anonymous
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Netanyahu sent me:
Twelve assassinations,
Eleven homes demolished,
Ten wells obstructed,
Nine sniper towers,
Eight gunships firing,
Seven checkpoints blocking,
Six tanks a-rolling,
Five settlement rings,
Four falling bombs,
Three trench guns,
Two trampled doves,
and an
uprooted olive tree.
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
Lyrics: Anonymous
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
A wall is laid where tourists stayed
and people can’t go by.
And in they dark streets shineth
No cheerful Christmas light.
The hate and fears of eight sad years
are met in thee tonight.
How silently, how silently
The world regards it all,
As now thy heart is torn apart
By Israel’s ghetto wall.
They terrorise a people:
A war-crime and a sin.
Their winding “fence” can make no sense:
Revenge can still get in.
O ye who now rule Bethlehem,
Cast down the iron cage,
The walls of hate that separate
And harden and enrage.
The land grab and apartheid:
This violence must cease
If there’s to be a land that’s free,
a Bethlehem at peace.
AWAY WITH AHAVA
Tune: “Away in a Manger” Lyrics: Sue Blackwell
Away with Ahava! No more Dead Sea mud!
Its settlement products are tainted with blood.
Its foams may be fragrant, its potions quite posh;
But its practices stink, and its excuses won’t wash.
The boycott is biting, the public awakes.
Ahava’s in trouble: no profit it makes.
Come join us in protest, till Palestine’s free
and all of her children can visit the sea.
HARK, THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Lyrics: Anonymous
Hark, the herald angels sing:
“Look what’s really happening
while you sing of peace on earth,
eat and drink with festive mirth.
Nations, open up your eyes:
Stop the silence and the lies,
and throughout the world proclaim:
There’s a Wall round Bethlehem!!
Hark, the herald angels sing:
“Look what’s really happening!”
Symbol of our lack of peace,
symbol that our woes increase;
symbol of the hate and fear
filling places far and near.
If peace comes to Bethlehem,
it will radiate to them.
Nations, join with us to call
For the downfall of the Wall.
Hark, the herald angels sing:
“Look what’s really happening!”
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
Lyrics: Anonymous
O come all ye faithful,
all who care for justice:
O look ye, o look ye at Bethlehem.
Come and behold it
under occupation:
O come, let’s not ignore it;
O come, let’s not ignore it;
O come, let’s not ignore it;
Tell the world.
Sing, all ye people,
sing in indignation;
stand with the citizens of Bethlehem.
Sing out for justice,
freedom from oppression:
O come, let’s not ignore it;
O come, let’s not ignore it;
O come, let’s not ignore it;
tell the world.
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED
Lyrics: Anonymous
While shepherds watched their flocks by night
all seated on the ground,
some occupying soldiers came
and bulldozed all around.
“Fear not”, said one, for mighty dread
had seized their troubled mind.
“We will not do you any harm,
for we are good and kind.
“We’re forced to confiscate your land
to build ourselves a fence
to keep our people safe from all
your people’s violence.
“Some fields will stay, although cut off,
but access won’t be banned.
Yes, permits we will give to you
to visit your own land.
“For in the middle of this fence
we will construct a gate
and open it at certain times
though you may have to wait.
“However, to your flocks of sheep
this access is denied:
We don’t make permits out to sheep
so they must stay inside.
“You say that sheep need pastureland
to feed, or they will die.
I’m just obeying orders here:
Not mine to reason why.”
AWAY AND IN DANGER
Tune: “Away in a Manger” Lyrics: Deborah Fink, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Sue Blackwell and others.
Away and in danger, no roof over head,
Their homes were destroyed in Operation Cast Lead.
The bombs in the bright sky, rained down where they lay,
and for three hundred children ’twas their very last day.
The bombing and shelling came time after time,
is the most moral army ashamed of this crime?
The settlers on hilltops applaud every blast,
world leaders stay silent, their people aghast.
It’s time to raise our voices, end the violence and hate,
for people of conscience can no longer wait.
The siege must be broken and justice appear,
so the children of Gaza can live without fear.
A BALLET FOR BATSHEVA (with apologies to Sydney Carter)
Tune: “Lord of the Dance” Lyrics: Sue Blackwell
I danced for the Zionists who fought for a state,
And I danced when they got one in nineteen-forty-eight.
I danced for the Haganah at Deir Yassin:
We had more guns so we knew we’d win.
Chorus:
Dance, then, from the river to the sea.
The Land of Israel’s the place to be.
And we’ll lead the world to true democracy,
And we’ll all live in peace and security.
I danced for the army in the Six-Day War;
That old Green Line wasn’t needed any more.
I danced in Jerusalem, from East to West,
But Bethlehem’s where I danced my best.
Chorus.
I dance for the government, which sends me abroad
To perform in places I could not afford.
I serve as ambassador for Israel’s art:
They pay my way, so I play my part.
Chorus.
I danced up in Edinburgh, but that went wrong:
I felt unwelcome, so didn’t stay there long.
I danced for the minister and diplomat,
For Daniel Taub and Limor Livnat.
Chorus
I danced into England – what a dreadful place!
It’s hard to dance with protestors in your face.
They booed me in Bradford and in Brighton and Brum.
Now I’m starting to wish that I’d never come.
Chorus
Adalah NY also has a selection of BDS songs here.
