Compañero

in memory of Eric Levy

by Pete Godfrey, with photo above by Katherine da Silva

Assange is free – and how you worked
for that, fragile as spindrift, drumming
up a storm wrapped in your keffiyeh,
that badge of honour loose around
your neck and freckled black and white,
waylaying drivers with your flimsy
leaves of truth and digging in for justice.

Not the faceless walls of Belmarsh or
scales of the Old Bailey could hold you,
hem you in, as you climbed up the bare
staircase to your council flat – ‘I don’t
believe in property’ – sifting the thought
of Marx and Mao, a sea shanty – the song
of workers deep within your throat.

Nine decades on the picket line with
Robeson and Joe Hill willing an end to
lairds and labourers, the magnate and
his drones, quite clear that flunkeys
went out with the Romanovs – we must look
eye to eye. No ownership of vast estates,
bequests of daddy’s pile, but an arm

around our neighbour to climb higher
and bestow the spoils. We’ll have no truck
with hunger, will lift up the downtrodden –
every person’s sweat a treasure to be mined –
and make a land where each flower may
still bloom. Where friendship bursts forth
like a spring – we’ll call it Palestine.

White Phosphorus

A Ghazal for Gaza written on 5^th November 2023

All Hallows’ Eve 2023, tenth anniversary
Of my mother’s passing from Huntington’s Disease;

Outside the half-curtained living room window
Excited laughter of children doing trick or treat—

Over 2,000 miles away, screams in the dark
Of Gazan night, pitch black but for sparkly

Blossoms of white phosphorus tinselling down,
Fluorescent flowers of destruction—deadly

Firework display pre-empting this fifth
Of November 2023… Gaza will be

A burial ground of rubble, its grey-limbed children
Pulled out from under it, ashen ghosts grown in debris…

This Nakba broadcast live to traumatised Westerners,
Nerves numbed by jump scares. Gaza under siege.

Gaza under rubble. Gaza an open grave, an open wound.
But from that rubble blooms indomitable solidarity—

Protests & marches swell in numbers each weekend,
Hundreds of thousands chanting “ceasefire now”, “free, free

Palestine”, “in our thousands, in our millions, we
Are all Palestinians”—in our iPhone open prisons

That pretend to protect us, but only contain us,
Doomscrolling in apocalypse dependency

Unputdownable attempts at coming to terms
With a graphically unacceptable telepathy,

& gruesomely gaslighting hegemonies—
But our suffering is nothing on Gazan agonies

That slow burn through to the bone, scald the soul,
Scar lives forever with obliterating bouquets,

Silver tentacles of giant jellyfish streaking in the sky
Streaming down stinging tendrils lethally, illegally…

Remember, remember, this fifth of November
White phosphorus fireworks stream down on Gaza.

Shellshocked Lives

by Viktoria Simanovski

These days I see an unjust world fragmented into fractions, thrusting children into battles and wars that are not of their making. In my film I try to express my hope for justice and understanding between people and between nations. We all start our journey as humans, but somewhere along the way we get tangled up in the web of nationalities, religions etc. It pains me to witness the transformation of children, who may once have been playmates, into pawns that are drawn into wars they never wished for. I really want people to allow themselves to see the difference between their own feelings and what is imposed from the outside.

Viktoria Simanovski is a member of a group called Just Building Bridges. It includes sanctuary seekers, refugees and asylum seekers in north-east England that has produced a series of photographs and short films on the theme of justice. The group itself is very diverse, from several different countries and continents. All of them are trying to ‘build bridges’ from a relatively marginalised position, and resettle peacefully and successfully in various local communities.

The photographs, films and zines made by the group cover a wide range of themes. There are local issues of waste, litter, and noise; bigger economic issues such as the fast fashion industry; and some very topical issues of global significance, such as the conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East.

The project was facilitated by Theresa Easton, lecturer in Fine Art at Newcastle University; Carl Joyce, photographer and filmmaker; and Michael Quille, writer and editor of Culture Matters. Thanks are due to Newcastle University and the Hatton Gallery Learning Space for the use of premises and equipment, and the Passionist Community for their financial support.

The exhibition materials are a fine body of authentic, heartfelt work. There are around 28 A4 photographs in A3 frames; 2 short films for playing on a loop; and a series of accompanying zines. If you are interested in displaying the exhibition, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Adam Shehada introduces one of his artworks.

This drawing is called Al Nakba, which is the Arabic for Disaster. I drew it from a photograph, using pencil and charcoals on paper,

My intention is to express the long history of steadfastness and suffering implied in the old Palestinian woman's wrinkles, and to show us that the Palestinian cause can never die. Our cause is reborn with every newborn child, whose parents and grandparents will protect him or her and transmit the story and passion for this land to them.

This artwork is part of a historical sequence of artworks depicting the suffering that started at the time this photograph was taken, in 1948, when Zionist groups invaded Palestine to try and destroy its existence.

The drawing a part of the artist's debut collection 'Inextinguishable Suns' which will soon be going on international exhibition. Adam's blog is here.