The late poet Haim Gouri’s song “Ha’Re’ut” (Friendship) was written one year following the outbreak of Israel’s 1948 War of Liberation and commemorates the fallen soldiers. Gouri, who fought in the Palmach and wrote many of Israel’s beloved songs, mostly from a left-wing Zionist point of view, used stirring phrases, such as “Friendship sanctified with blood” to express his longing for the 6,000 Israelis who sacrificed their lives to create the Jewish State.
Already a year, and we almost didn’t notice / How the time has passed in our fields / Already a year, and few of us remain / So many are no longer among us.
But we’ll remember them all / with their handsome visage and forelocks / Because friendship such as this will never / Permit our hearts to forget / Love sanctified with blood / will once more bloom among us.
The Civil Front Movement which was created following the October 7 massacre, is dedicated to bringing back the nation’s faith in itself, and to make certain that the IDF and the State of Israel remain free to reach Israel’s national goals in the Gaza Strip.
They state: “The movement is apolitical, and behind it stands a group of Israelis that includes fighters, commanders, bereaved families, residents of the Gaza envelope, content creators, and cyber warriors, who are still pained by the terrible events and decided to join together and act to ensure the idea of Never Again.”
On Sunday, they posted an updated version of Gouri’s masterpiece, sung by children ages 6 to 12, all of whom have been evacuated from the Gaza envelope settlements. The new song was produced by the Rosenbaum Communications group, with new lyrics by Ofer Rosenbaum and Shulamit Stolero. The title was replaced by “We Are the Children of the Victory Generation.”
Kan 11, Israel’s state-owned free-to-air television channel, which is operated by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, posted the video below, but then someone at Kan 11 found the harsh sentiment pronounced by the six girls in the video unacceptable for viewing – by a nation which just watched more than a thousand of its people being raped, beaten, beheaded, and burned alive. So they took it down.
But the internet doesn’t forget, so, here’s the original post, now all gone:
Here’s the real thing, I tried my best to translate, and, remember, the effectiveness of the piece completely depends on the viewer’s familiarity with the original Haim Gouri song, but here it is:
On the Gaza beach the autumn night is descending.
Planes are bombing, ruin follows ruin.
See the IDF crossing the borderline
To annihilate the Swastika carriers.
In one more year
There won’t be anything left there,
And we’ll return safely to our home.
In one more year
We’ll eliminate them all and go back to plowing our fields.
And we’ll remember all of them
With their handsome visage and forelocks,
Because friendship such as this will never
Permit our hearts to forget.
Love sanctified with blood
will once more bloom among us.
Now there are no more words
And our soul continues to scream,
For our soul is not only yearning,
For our soul is also fighting today.
One nation,
The eternal nation will never end.
And we’ll keep guarding our home,
We won’t be quiet and we’ll show the world
How today we destroy our enemies.
And we’ll remember all of them
With their handsome visage and forelocks,
Because friendship such as this will never
Permit our hearts to forget.
Love sanctified with blood
will once more bloom among us.
