Under Sions kalla stjärna [English translation]

We were flying over Saloniki

when the clouds drew apart

and we saw the Aegean Sea

clearly and distinctly.

It was a beauty without equal,

almost like a fairyland,

when we flew over

the Northern Sporades.

We rounded Piraeus

and landed in Athens.

The city lay there, white

and attractive, in the sun.

But I stopped next to a TV screen

which was in the arrival hall.

I wanted to see the latest news

from Jerusalem.

And under Zions cold stars

I saw small girls who fell,

with blood roses on their blouses

where the bullets penetrated in.

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw the same clear terror

which I remember

from Warsaw and Berlin.

I wanted to sail over the ocean,

down to Haifa from Athens,

with several hundred

deported Palestinians.

But it was hard to find a ship

which was for sale for something like that

because of the pressure by

the Greek government.

But I tried to cultivate myself,

waiting for information,

so I drove around a bit

in the neighborhood around Omonia.

I saw Bousouki dance in Plaka

I saw the worn out Parthenon

And every evening I saw the news

from Jerusalem.

And under Zion's cold stars

I saw small girls who fell

with blood roses on their blouses

where the bullets penetrated in.

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw the same clear terror

which I remember

from Warsaw and Berlin.

So they found a ship

in Larnaca on Cypress

And we spoke about our trip

half the night.

And we laughed hysterically

when the Israeli minister

stood and exhalted us

to the murderers on TV.

But we didn't laugh any longer

when we saw in the morning paper

that those who chartered the boat

were murdered the same night.

They had blown them into atoms

next to a row of their cars

So now we sat in front of the news

from Jerusalem.

And under Zion's cold stars

I saw small girls who fell,

with blood roses on their blouses

where the bullets penetrated in.

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw the same clear terror

which I remember

from Warsaw and Berlin.

We drank ourselves drunk at the hotel

among the quiet Palestineans

and among agents from Mossad

who bought postcards.

But everyone wanted to travel

There was, after all, one boat

and no one had the strength to count

those who had fallen.

So in the dawn came the information

we all knew would come

that the ship had exploded

in Larnaca.

So I traveled from Athens

with the tiredness of death in my heart.

And in the evening I saw the news

from Jerusalem..

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw small girls who fell,

with blood roses on the blouses

where bullets penetrated in.

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw the same clear terror

which I remember

from Warsaw and Berlin.

And under Zion's cold stars

I saw small girls who fell,

with blood roses on their blouses

where the bullets penetrated in.

Under Zion's cold stars

I saw the same clear terror

which I remember

from Warsaw and Berlin.

• Artist:Björn Afzelius
• Album:Don Quixote (1988)