David Rovics' Song for the Mavi Marmara Tribute Video

(SALEM, Ore.) - David Rovics is an incredibly talented songwriter/musician who knows how to tell a story. A self-proclaimed "rabble-rouser", he has traveled the world living the life his songs are made of. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to produce a video based on his tribute song to the Mavi Marmara.

"Song for Mavi Marmara" was inspired by the Freedom Flotilla en route to Gaza, which was overtaken by the Israeli Navy in International waters on May 31, 2010. Nine humanitarians aboard were killed, and scores wounded.

All cameras and computers were taken. Everyone was arrested. Many were beaten and otherwise abused. After an unreasonable amount of difficulty, they were released to their respective countries.

All the goods aboard the ships were absconded by Israel, and a limited amount of the aid was allowed in to Gaza via truck at a later date.

David Rovics' new album entitled "Big Red Sessions" is an experience in itself, reflecting today's critical situations and social disturbances and delivered in David's unique, understandable style which seems to reach people like little else.

David's attention to atrocities is not new. He tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies.

Saturday night in Corvallis, Oregon is one such event, organized by Paul Hochfeld and others from the wonderful Mad as Hell Doctors group (doctors for universal healthcare), it will be a night to remember.

Get ready to get be enlightened. David sings about things you just may never have heard approached quite this way, quite this...smart.

Saturday, June 18th, 7 pm at the Yoga Center of Corvallis, 111 NW Second St., Corvallis, OR

David has shared the stage with a veritable of who's who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and now Salem-News.com.

He is one of the unique musicians that makes his songs (over 200) available for free online, and with over a million downloads to his credit, he surely knows how to get heard.

Watch "Song for Mavi Marmara" below, and then check out David's new album at www.davidrovics.com while you're making plans to see him LIVE in Corvallis this weekend.

"He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible."

Song for the Mavi Marmara

In 1948 they were driven out at the point of a machine gun
Families fled in fear to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon
They fled around the globe, firmly held in terror's grip
And about a million refugees ended up in the tiny Gaza Strip

In 1967 the IDF moved in
And the refugees in Gaza became refugees again
Settlers took their farmland, soldiers took the ports
And the people were surrounded by military forts

In 2007 they cut it off completely
No access to the borders, no access to the sea
The world began to see this unavoidable stamp
The most crowded place on Earth was now a concentration camp
Israeli jet fighters bombed Gaza from the air
And they kept out the supplies needed to rebuild and repair
They kept out the convoys of humanitarian aid
Anemic children going hungry, crushed and burned in bombing raids

From around the world good people tried
To get across the border to the other side
Almost all of them were turned away
Deported back to Turkey, Jordan, France, the USA
They were barred from ever coming back
Adam and Huwaida decided on a different tack
They loaded up a boat and managed to get through
That's when activists in Istanbul decided what they had to do

Armed with food and wheelchairs
And prosthetic limbs for victims of the bombing raids to wear
They packed cement by the ton
They had a few kitchen knives but not a single gun
They were determined to reach the bay
To break the siege of Gaza and not be turned away
As they left Turkish waters everybody wished them well
As for what would happen, only the Apartheid state could tell

All aboard the Mavi Marmara
Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone
Tell the children of Jerusalem you are not alone

Seven hundred people on board this Turkish ferry
They were sixty miles from the shore out in the open sea
In international waters with no plans for turning back
That's when Netanyahu told his soldiers to attack
They came down from helicopters, fired guns from Zodiacs
They shot some people in their heads and shot others in their backs
The captain raised a white flag high into the air
The soldiers kept on shooting beneath the floodlight's glare

The soldiers kept on shooting, it was a free fire zone
So many dead and wounded, just how many isn't known
So many dead and wounded, blood flowing on the floor
The soldiers kept on shooting sixty miles from the shore
Medics tried to treat the wounded, all they could do was watch them bleed
The soldiers wouldn't let them get the urgent help they need
Masked troopers held their hostages, the Navy towed the ship
Just for trying to sail to the Gaza Strip

They took every laptop, every camera and cell phone
This is what Goliath does to those who dare to throw a stone
The ghost of the Exodus is shouting at the sky
But Netanyahu isn't listening, he's just watching people die
For days nobody knew just what happened on that boat
Because everyone was held in jail and dead men do not float
All the world will remember what happened on that night
And to end the siege of Gaza more will go and join the fight

All aboard the Rachel Corrie
Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone
To tell the children of Jerusalem you are not alone
All aboard the Mavi Marmara
Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone
To tell the children of Jerusalem you are not alone.

Publisher Bonnie King has been with Salem-News.com since August '04. Bonnie has a wide ranging media background and in her career she has served in a number of positions in the broadcast industry; TV Production Manager at KVWB (Las Vegas WB) and Producer/Director for the TV series "Hot Wheels in Las Vegas", TV Promotion Director for KYMA (NBC), and KFBT (Ind.), Asst. Marketing Director (SUPERSHOPPER MAGAZINE), Director/Co-Host (Coast Entertainment Show), Radio Promotion Director (KBCH/KCRF), and NIE/Circulation Sales Manager (STATESMAN JOURNAL NEWSPAPER). Bonnie has a depth of understanding that reaches further than just behind the scenes, and that thoroughness is demonstrated in the perseverance to correctly present each story with the wit and wisdom necessary to compel and captivate viewers.

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Colli June 17, 2011 7:35 pm (Pacific time)

Wow! To say that David Rovics can tell a story well is an understatement. Great information - history in a song. Thanks Bonnie.

gp June 17, 2011 2:54 pm (Pacific time)

Right Ralph, the UN vote has em worried, the pressure to stop the Mavi Marmara has been amping up for a couple of months now, they are scared. Israel just doesn't know that it is the end of an era, the end of the aparthide state, the end of hatred is in sight.

Ralph E. Stone June 17, 2011 7:17 am (Pacific time)

Depending on Israel's reaction, the sailing of the Mavi Marmara on the eve of an expected September vote in the UN on Palestinian statehood with the 1967 borders may influence the voting in the UN.

AGRON BELICA June 17, 2011 6:23 am (Pacific time)

Awesome!

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