Berlin 1:1
Again, I'm on the plane back from Berlin to Israel. The flow of insights and thoughts is stopped for a moment by a smiling stewardess. I think about my good friend and his family who I visited in the German city. I heard there about the crisis that led to leave Israel - a mix between economic difficulties, corrupt politicians and the death of values.
I heard about the desire to protect Israel, although all, in German salon talks and about the astonishment of the older generations in Israel who does not understand why young Jews choose to return to the "crime scene". The same place where their grandparents had fled to survive during the Holocaust. Some, In Israel, even call them traitors.
And finally I heard about the bubbling anti-Semitism that lying under the german surface, well hidden under a civilized and restrained veil.
I find my suitcase on the long conveyor belt, get into the car and turn on the radio. Berlin does not let me go, even in Israel, because suddenly I hear for the first time the excellent song – "Berlin" of the band – ""Gan Hapaamon" (The Bell Garden) that got into my stomach like a fist, and did not let me breathe.
I present the lyrics of the song here for the first time along with some of my photographs from the series "Berlin 1:1" of this complex city - Berlin:
What have you given me in this world
A circle with no values to run inside
Earth with no sky
Land with no purpose
A story without a hero -
full of twists
Thanks for nothing
that you've given me with love
Don’t be surprised we returned to Berlin
after seventy years
only seventy years
What have you given me in this life
A very narrow bridge to walk through
A piece of stale bread
A hookah with no coals
And most importantly - no fear at all
Thanks for nothing
that you've given me with love
Don’t be surprised we returned to Berlin
after seventy years
only seventy years
Gan Hapaamon
Gil Shapira- vocals and guitar
Eli Levi- vocals and keyboard
Barak Ben Hamo- guitar
Tzachi iluz- bass
Itay Ela- drums