Peter Himmelman's 'Maximum Restraint' Mocks Israeli Critics

Peter Himmelman clearly isn’t listening to Roger Waters or the mainstream media, for that matter, when it comes to the current Israeli fight against Hamas.

The folk rocker’s new song, Maximum Restraint, mocks Israeli critics complaining that the country’s military is being too cruel to its enemies.

He told the Jewish Journal how the song came about and why he decided to tackle a tough subject that doesn’t mirror most of his songbook.

I’ve written…love songs…lustful songs, a bunch of really sad songs…songs of longing, songs of fear, a lot of hopeful songs, some funny ones, prayerful songs…[but] this is my first war song,” Himmelman, 54, wrote in response to a fan’s comment on his Facebook page. “Israel absolutely needs to use maximum restraint to avoid hurting civilians (something no country has been asked to do or bothers to do while under siege)…. But it also needs to defeat Hamas, to cripple, for however long, its ability to inflict more harm on the citizens of Israel.”

The chorus of “Maximum Restraint” condemns critics who have sharply decried Palestinian casualties in Gaza: “When someone comes to kill you/In the middle of the night/Don’t try to defend yourself/Don’t use an ounce of might/Just sit there quietly and try hard not to faint/As the world calls out for – maximum restraint.