My father, Reg Baker, was a dispatch rider for the British Army’s Royal Army Ordinance Corps, in Palestine, between 1946 and 1948.

This was a period of growing violence between elements from within the local Jewish community and British soldiers. These events were part of 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine which evolved into the into the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Read more »

Every year, my friend Simon Peace throws a min-festival of love, hope and peace in his back garden in Hertfordshire. It’s called PeaceFest.

At Peacefest, the festivalgoers are strongly encouraged to get on stage and contribute performance art.

Last year (PeaceFest 2012) we decided we needed some theatre, so I scanned the internet for a free 10-minute play to stage. I was unable to find anything appropriate, so I wrote one Read more »

This post is off-topic from this blog’s normal subject matter, for reasons explained below.

Background

My father was a dispatch rider for the Royal Army Ordinance Corps, in Palestine, between 1946 and 1948. During that time a terrorist organisation called Irgun planted a bomb at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which was then the headquarters of the British Army and the Palestine government. It killed 91 people. Read more »

There follows an election statement from the Jolly Pilgrim.

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