We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Occupation

from Falasteen Habibti by David Rovics

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Falasteen, Habibti ("Palestine, My Love") is a collection of songs related to the Palestinian struggle that I wrote between 2000-2014. The songs from different CDs were expertly remastered for this CD by Billy Oskay at Big Red Studio in Corbett, Oregon.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Falasteen Habibti via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    31
    releases

    Get all 31 David Rovics releases available on Bandcamp and save 70%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Bearing Witness, Notes From A Holocaust, Live in Boulder, Killing the Messenger, May Day, It's Been A Year, Rebel Songs, Say Their Names, and 23 more. , and , .

    Excludes subscriber-only releases.

    Purchasable with gift card

      $57.90 USD or more (70% OFF)

     

lyrics

Occupation

You ask me how it is that I dare to take a side
You say I loathe myself for pointing out that you have lied
You say it's tribal warfare but I disagree
For the dynamics of the situation are not difficult to see
On one side is the fighter jet, on the other side the stone
On one side is the slave, on the other is the throne
For the many there are checkpoints while foreign soldiers rule the street
For one side there is victory but the people don't accept defeat

The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the tanks return to Tel Aviv

On one side there is hunger and bulldozed olive trees
On the other is the Army, ruling by decrees
Caterpillars maul the streets, destroy entire city blocks
While children swallow shrapnel for the crime of throwing rocks
Fences are erected around the towns they flatten
And Herzl's own fanatics sleep on sheets of satin
And they water their plantations, drilling ever-deeper wells
While the displaced children of the hopeless are filled with bullet shells

The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the settlers return to Tel Aviv

On one side there is the Mossad rounding up the men
Thrown in jail with no trial being tortured once again
On the other there is rage, helplessness and fear
And a growing realization that another holocaust is near
On the outside there are prisons – inside detainees
Being stripped of their humanity, beaten naked to their knees
Outside ghetto prison walls, stormtroopers all around
While inside the hungry people yearn for liberated ground

The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the jailguards return to Tel Aviv

All across the world you can hear the people say
The children of Jerusalem will be free one day
In overcrowded camps, amidst the stench of death and flies
To the suburbs of Detroit, you can hear the anguished cries
While in the land of Israel with God ever on their side
Walls and fences are constructed, papers are denied
People fight for their existence while the world turns a blinded eye
And those who should know better Insist on asking why

The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the refugees return to Tel Aviv

credits

from Falasteen Habibti, released July 30, 2014

license

tags

about

David Rovics image

David Rovics Portland, Oregon

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), anarchist, dad, lover of life.

shows

contact / help

Contact David Rovics

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

David Rovics recommends:

If you like David Rovics, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now