A Poem That Remains Painfully Relevant

Notes Save the Children UK:

[The poem] “Don’t Mention the Children” was written in 2014 by the children’s author, poet and activist Michael Rosen following a Guardian report that the Israeli government had banned a radio advert naming children killed in Gaza.

Gaza is now the deadliest place in the world to be a child. Over 20,000 children have been killed by Israeli forces. The actual number is undoubtedly higher.

These children had names, and favourite subjects in school. They wanted to be teachers, doctors and astronauts when they grew up – the same as children in the UK and across the world.

They were, and still are, someone's everything: their entire universe.

We refuse to allow their suffering to become normalised. We must make their voices heard.

With Save the Children UK and Choose Love, we called on actors, presenters, activists and influencers to use their voices and platforms to ensure these children can never be erased.

The poem was written to expose the silencing of children’s suffering in the face of devastating violence. Since then, the situation for children has only grown worse. Its message remains painfully relevant today.

The great actress Vanessa Redgrave (pictured at right earlier this summer at a Gaza protest in the UK) begins and ends the following reading of “Don’t Mention the Children.”

As one YouTube commentator notes: “So happy to see Vanessa Redgrave finally vindicated for her stance decades ago. One speech in 1978 set back a promising career of a brilliant young actress. Now she is being respected and acknowledged by younger generations for her moral courage.”





Related Off-site Links:
Annie Lenox, Vanessa Redgrave, Guy Pierce Join Poetry Project Against Killing of Gaza Children – The Wire (September 16, 2025).
Guy Pearce and Annie Lennox Join Call to end “Normalised Horror” for Children in Gaza – Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares (Common Dreams, August 20, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “This Is a Genocidal Project”
• “A Year of War Against Children”
• Protesting Israel’s “Starvation Campaign” in Gaza
• Israel’s Actions in Gaza: “A Clear and Present Moral Collapse”
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza (2023)
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)

See also:
• Vanessa Redgrave: “Almost a Kind of Jungian Actress”
• Happy Birthday, Vanessa! (2017)
• Vanessa Redgrave: “Just Being Alive, Staying Human, I Think That’s Infinitely Precious”
• Celebrating Vanessa
• Vanessa Redgrave: “She Has Greatness”
• Vanessa Redgrave: Speaking Out