(Video) Satire of "We are the children of winter 1973"

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
5 November 2011




Hats off to the Latma team.

Their satire of "We are the children of winter 1973" is their most powerful production ever.



To fully appreciate just how good this "Oslo Balad" is, you need to know the background of the song that it is a satire of: "We are the children of winter 1973"

Here are the words to the original song
[Words translated by Chana Shuvaly of Melbourne, Australia.
source:
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-choref73.htm ]

We are the children of winter 1973
You dreamt us first at dawn at the end of the battles
You were tired men that thanked their good luck
You were worried young women and you wanted so much to love
When you conceived us with love in winter 1973
You wanted to fill up with your bodies that what the war finished
And we were born the country was wounded and sad
You looked at us you hugged us you were trying to find comfort
When we were born the elders blessed with tears in their eyes
They said:" we wish those kids will not have to go to the army"
And your faces in the old picture prove
That you said it form the bottom of your hearts
When you promised to do every thing for us
To make an enemy into a loved one

You promised a dove,
an olive tree leaf,
you promised peace
You promised spring at home and blossoms
You promised to fulfill promises, you promised a dove

We are the children of winter 1973
We grew up and now in the army
with our weapon and helmet on our heads
We know how to make love to laugh and cry
We are men we are women
and we too dream about babies
This is why we will not pressure you we will demand of you
And we will not threaten you
When we were young you said promises need to be kept
We will give you strength if that is what you need
We will not hold back
We just wanted to whisper
We are the children of that winter in the year 1973

You promised a dove,
an olive tree leaf,
you promised peace
You promised spring at home and blossoms
You promised to fulfill promises,
you promised a dove

The above song was performed first in 1995 by an IDF group.

And it is a lie.

I am from the generation that experienced the nightmare of the Yom Kippur
War of 1973.

When our children were born I - as the rest of my generation - had every expectation that they would have to serve in the IDF when they grew up. And they did.

That the IDF played a role in the distribution of "We are the children of winter 1973" speaks volumes about the disturbing mentality that pervaded the upper ranks of the IDF.

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