Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1138
June 10, 2018
All Chilean Bishops Offer Their Resignation
Atheist Republic reports on the crisis ridden bishops of Chile
Photo Credits: Wikimedia
The Chilean Catholic church is facing a crisis after all Chilean bishops signed a letter of resignation. Thirty-one serving and three retired bishops made this drastic move after Pope Francis said the Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for mistakes in handling sexual abuse cases and the resulting loss of credibility suffered by the church.
“We have put our positions in the hands of the Holy Father and will leave it to him to decide freely for each of us,” they said, according to The Guardian. “We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the pope, to God’s people and to our country for the serious errors and omissions we have committed.” It is not yet clear whether Pope Francis will accept this "en masse" resignation.
The Holy Father accused the Chilean church of destroying evidence of sexual crimes, putting pressure on investigators and showing negligence in protecting children from pedophile priests. At first he defended one of Chilean bishops, Juan Barros, who had been accused of covering up alleged abuse by a Chilean priest in the 1980s and 1990s and who is one of 34 bishops who offered resignation. Juan Barros denied that he was aware of priest's wrongdoing, and Pope Francis strongly defended Barros during his visit to Chile, stating that there is no one piece of evidence against him. The Vatican later sent two experts on sexual crimes to investigate claims of abuse and cover-up in Chile and they provided a massive report which exposed the Chilean church's wrongdoings and the Vatican’s missteps in handling Barros.
After the report, Pope Francis was forced to admit that he had made errors in judgment in the case of Juan Barros, and he summoned the bishops to an emergency summit in Rome. A letter has been handed to bishops at the start of the summit, and Pope strongly criticized the church authorities. As The Guardian reports, Francis said that "no one can exempt himself and place the problem on the shoulders of the others." He also stated that the church authorities minimized the absolute gravity of the priests' criminal acts and that he was ashamed by the report's evidence that pressure was put on church officials tasked with investigating sexual crimes. “The problems inside the church community can’t be solved just by dealing with individual cases and reducing them to the removal of people, though this — and I say so clearly — has to be done," said Francis. “But it’s not enough, we have to go beyond that. It would be irresponsible on our part to not look deeply into the roots and the structures that allowed these concrete events to occur and perpetuate.”
All of this triggered the unprecedented resignation of all Chilean bishops, and this is the first time all of the most senior clerics of a country have volunteered to stand down over sex abuse cases.
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Photo Credits: WikimediaThe Chilean Catholic church is facing a crisis after all Chilean bishops signed a letter of resignation. Thirty-one serving and three retired bishops made this drastic move after Pope Francis said the Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for mistakes in handling sexual abuse cases and the resulting loss of credibility suffered by the church.
“We have put our positions in the hands of the Holy Father and will leave it to him to decide freely for each of us,” they said, according to The Guardian. “We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the pope, to God’s people and to our country for the serious errors and omissions we have committed.” It is not yet clear whether Pope Francis will accept this "en masse" resignation.
The Holy Father accused the Chilean church of destroying evidence of sexual crimes, putting pressure on investigators and showing negligence in protecting children from pedophile priests. At first he defended one of Chilean bishops, Juan Barros, who had been accused of covering up alleged abuse by a Chilean priest in the 1980s and 1990s and who is one of 34 bishops who offered resignation. Juan Barros denied that he was aware of priest's wrongdoing, and Pope Francis strongly defended Barros during his visit to Chile, stating that there is no one piece of evidence against him. The Vatican later sent two experts on sexual crimes to investigate claims of abuse and cover-up in Chile and they provided a massive report which exposed the Chilean church's wrongdoings and the Vatican’s missteps in handling Barros.
After the report, Pope Francis was forced to admit that he had made errors in judgment in the case of Juan Barros, and he summoned the bishops to an emergency summit in Rome. A letter has been handed to bishops at the start of the summit, and Pope strongly criticized the church authorities. As The Guardian reports, Francis said that "no one can exempt himself and place the problem on the shoulders of the others." He also stated that the church authorities minimized the absolute gravity of the priests' criminal acts and that he was ashamed by the report's evidence that pressure was put on church officials tasked with investigating sexual crimes. “The problems inside the church community can’t be solved just by dealing with individual cases and reducing them to the removal of people, though this — and I say so clearly — has to be done," said Francis. “But it’s not enough, we have to go beyond that. It would be irresponsible on our part to not look deeply into the roots and the structures that allowed these concrete events to occur and perpetuate.”
All of this triggered the unprecedented resignation of all Chilean bishops, and this is the first time all of the most senior clerics of a country have volunteered to stand down over sex abuse cases.
About Atheist RepublicFollow Atheist Republic on Twitter @AtheistRepublic
June 9, 2018
The Transcripts’ Compendium On The Life & Legacy Of Martin McGuinness
From The Transcripts’ a collection of interviews concerning the death of Martin McGuinness are gathered here.
Source: The Guardian
Mickey Donnelly RFÉ 7 January 2017
Mickey accurately predicts the gloomy future of the Stormont Assembly, the death of Martin McGuinness and the selection of Michelle O’Neill as McGuinness’ replacement.
Kathryn Johnston RFÉ 14 January 2017
Upon the news of Martin McGuinness’ resignation as Deputy First Minister due to ill health the co-author of his biography discusses McGuinness’ life in the IRA, his transition to electoral politics and questions whether he will record a truthful memoir that would benefit IRA victims and their families as well as history itself.
Anthony McIntyre BBC World Update 21 March 2017
The historian, author, political commentator and former IRA Volunteer offers commentary upon the announcement of Martin McGuinness’ death.
Kathleen Gillespie BBC Good Morning Ulster 22 March 2017
The widow of Patsy Gillespie, the father of three who was used by the IRA as a human proxy bomb, discusses her feelings upon hearing the news of Martin McGuinness’ death.
Anthony McIntyre The Michael Reade Show 23 March 2017
Former IRA Volunteer now historian, author and political commentator discusses the life and times of Martin McGuinness.
RFÉ Discusses: Martin McGuinness 25 March 2017
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin discuss Martin McGuinness.
Kathryn Johnston RFÉ 25 March 2017
The co-author of the biography of Martin McGuinness comments on Martin McGuinness’ role in the IRA’s cessation of violence that ended The Troubles.
Anthony McIntyre RFÉ 25 March 2017
The historian, author, commentator and former IRA Volunteer on Martin McGuinness’ legacy.
Ed Moloney RFÉ 25 March 2017
The award-winning journalist, author and historian discusses Martin McGuinness’ career and the immediate future of Sinn Féin.
The Transcripts, Of Interest to the Irish Republican Community.You can follow The Transcripts on Twitter @RFETranscripts
Source: The Guardian
Mickey Donnelly RFÉ 7 January 2017
Mickey accurately predicts the gloomy future of the Stormont Assembly, the death of Martin McGuinness and the selection of Michelle O’Neill as McGuinness’ replacement.
Kathryn Johnston RFÉ 14 January 2017
Upon the news of Martin McGuinness’ resignation as Deputy First Minister due to ill health the co-author of his biography discusses McGuinness’ life in the IRA, his transition to electoral politics and questions whether he will record a truthful memoir that would benefit IRA victims and their families as well as history itself.
Anthony McIntyre BBC World Update 21 March 2017
The historian, author, political commentator and former IRA Volunteer offers commentary upon the announcement of Martin McGuinness’ death.
Kathleen Gillespie BBC Good Morning Ulster 22 March 2017
The widow of Patsy Gillespie, the father of three who was used by the IRA as a human proxy bomb, discusses her feelings upon hearing the news of Martin McGuinness’ death.
Anthony McIntyre The Michael Reade Show 23 March 2017
Former IRA Volunteer now historian, author and political commentator discusses the life and times of Martin McGuinness.
RFÉ Discusses: Martin McGuinness 25 March 2017
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin discuss Martin McGuinness.
Kathryn Johnston RFÉ 25 March 2017
The co-author of the biography of Martin McGuinness comments on Martin McGuinness’ role in the IRA’s cessation of violence that ended The Troubles.
Anthony McIntyre RFÉ 25 March 2017
The historian, author, commentator and former IRA Volunteer on Martin McGuinness’ legacy.
Ed Moloney RFÉ 25 March 2017
The award-winning journalist, author and historian discusses Martin McGuinness’ career and the immediate future of Sinn Féin.
The Transcripts, Of Interest to the Irish Republican Community.You can follow The Transcripts on Twitter @RFETranscripts
Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting 9 June 2018
Martin Galvin
with details of this weekend's broadcast from
Radio Free Eireann.
Author, political commentator and Republican ex-prisoner Anthony McIntyre will update us on the latest political developments, including the Irish government head's controversial visit to the six counties, charges Theresa May misled Westminster as a new legacy consultation document was issued and apparent signs that Sinn Fein would partner with Fine Gael in a coalition government.
WBAI Radio hosts Malachy McCourt and Janet Coleman will discuss station plans to mark Bloomsday, with noted celebrities reading from the works of Irish writer James Joyce, and a special WBAI event starring RFE's own John McDonagh.
Nassau County Legislator and AOH officer Dennis Dunne will discuss the upcoming commemoration of Commodore George Coleman Dekay, who in during Ireland's Great Hunger, brought huge amounts of food to County Cork.
Our hosts will also discuss Martin Galvin's recent trip to Ireland.
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.
Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.
It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.
Author, political commentator and Republican ex-prisoner Anthony McIntyre will update us on the latest political developments, including the Irish government head's controversial visit to the six counties, charges Theresa May misled Westminster as a new legacy consultation document was issued and apparent signs that Sinn Fein would partner with Fine Gael in a coalition government.
WBAI Radio hosts Malachy McCourt and Janet Coleman will discuss station plans to mark Bloomsday, with noted celebrities reading from the works of Irish writer James Joyce, and a special WBAI event starring RFE's own John McDonagh.
Nassau County Legislator and AOH officer Dennis Dunne will discuss the upcoming commemoration of Commodore George Coleman Dekay, who in during Ireland's Great Hunger, brought huge amounts of food to County Cork.
Our hosts will also discuss Martin Galvin's recent trip to Ireland.
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.
Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.
It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.
June 8, 2018
Last Exit To Brooklyn
Christopher Owens reviews a "masterpiece."
Add caption
No doubt about it, Last Exit to Brooklyn is a masterpiece. There are very few books that I can honestly describe in such a manner ( Resurrection Man , American Psycho , The Butcher Boy , Crash, Post Office , Junky , among others) but I am utterly confident in placing Last Exit ... into this category.
While all the books listed above may seem disparate to the untrained eye, there are themes that run through all of them: the location as character, how the individual is driven to extreme acts because of their surroundings, how fact and fiction can intertwine and how language plays a role in every day life.
***
Hospitalised and bed ridden for many years due to various lung ailments, Selby Jr famously said:
This sense of desperation and catharsis runs through Last Exit to Brooklyn . Like Anthony Burgess with A Clockwork Orange , Selby Jr took a pen and nailed his demons to the page. And we are much richer for this act of expression. With no formal training, and no pre-conceived concept of what made "good" or "bad" writing, Selby Jr was a revolutionary in American fiction. Although markedly different from the Beats (who had given us William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac) and the gonzo journalism of (the highly overrated) Hunter S. Thompson, he was more in line with Charles Bukowski: someone who lived the low life and could wax lyrical on the lifestyle.
***
More a collection of short stories set in the same neighbourhood than a traditional novel (a trait borrowed by Irvine Welsh for Trainspotting ), Selby Jr takes the reader through Sunset Park, Brooklyn and shows us the people who live there and what struggles they have to endure.
From teenage drag queen Georgette's abusive relationship with and unrequited love for greaser Vinnie (who can't stay out of trouble with the law), through to Tralala whose life consists of propositioning soldiers and sailors for money and (notoriously) Harry, the deeply closeted corrupt union rep. This book pulls the rock up from the ground and lets the reader explore unknown territories.
With Brooklyn linking each tale, the area becomes a character in itself. It's a homely, but run down area with crowded living arrangements hosting a number of races and ethnicities. Their ancestors came to America in search of a better life, but the descendants know nothing other than grinding poverty, crime and an area that is as much a prison as it is home.
Selby Jr sums it up perfectly with this passage:
Dialogue wise, it's unique because of the non use of quotation marks, which allows the dialogue to run together with the descriptions. And with the descriptions being as incredibly vivid as the above quotation, the harshness of the dialogue, as well as the use of slang and conjunctions, drags the reader further and further into the neighbourhood where the bins haven't been emptied for weeks and where gangs of greasers attack people cavorting with conspiring girls:
A Christian (each story begins with a Bible quotation), Selby Jr manages to portray these characters as souls trapped in a pre-determined destiny. Even though they may be, superficially, seemingly hard to sympathise with, there are elements of humanity that shine throughout their actions.
To take two examples, Tralala is a hardened veteran of Brooklyn's streets, battling with the greasers her own age as much as the soldiers who view her as a way to shoot their load for the evening. When she comes across a soldier who wants to spend time with her, we see a chink in her defences.
Another example is Harry. Any time I read this book, I cannot help but find myself thinking that he is utterly worthless and without any redeeming features. Yet, Selby Jr, through little touches, depicts him as a man out of time and one who has been lied to his whole life, leading to him adopting the persona that we see throughout his segment.
The fact that the book can openly pursue such a characterisation, while still allowing room for me to think of Harry as a waste of flesh and organs, is a testament to the writing of Selby Jr.
Notably, both chapters involving Tralala and Harry have notorious and deeply disturbing endings. Although Selby Jr may have been a Christian, he also knew the power of the streets. These characters discover new elements about themselves, but it does them no good. Sunset Park has a hold on these characters that will drag them back once street justice is administered.
The most noted chapter, 'The Queen is Dead' (later used by The Smiths as a title for their most acclaimed album), deals with Georgette and her day to day life as a drag queen (the terminology used in the book, as today she'd be considered transgender). Although she initially comes across as an annoying, spoilt brat, the reader's sympathy is turned whenever her brother screams abuse at her and her sympathetic mother. Insecure masculinity has never been so enraging. The descent into drug addled oblivion with her status chasing, money grabbing drag queen friends is unsurprising, but still resoundingly tragic. It's depicted as a necessity as opposed to an attempt to "turn on, tune in and drop out" (to quote Timothy Leary), and this furthers Georgette's deluded mindset.
***
The tale of Last Exit. .. being put on trial for obscenity is important when discussing freedom of speech. MP Charles Taylor called for a prosecution in 1966, but it did not pick up momentum until MP Cyril Black brought a private prosecution (one of the witnesses for the prosecution was noted scumbag, the late and not at all lamented Robert Maxwell). The jury, not properly instructed on how to balance "merit" with "obscenity", and possibly influenced by reports of the Moors Murderers compulsively reading de Sade and Nazi literature, found the book guilty.
Author and barrister John Mortimer spoke at the appeal:
Unsurprisingly, the verdict was overturned, setting a precedent for any attempts to prosecute texts as "obscene" in UK law.
***
In light of this, it's not surprising that the novel was considered unfilmable for many years. However, 1989 saw an adaptation to the cinema starring Jennifer Jason Leigh (the tagline being "The novel that shocked the world is now a movie.")
Although some of the more nasty elements have been toned down (Stephen Lang's Harry for example) and some of the casting doesn't quite work (Lang, again, is too smooth looking to play a character once earmarked for Robert De Niro, who would have been perfect), it's an admirable attempt and one certainly worth watching. Viewers unaware of the novel have been reported being shocked at how downbeat the film is. It's just as well they never read the book...
***
In a contemporary review, Allan Ginsberg proclaimed that Last Exit to Brooklyn will "explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years." And he was bang on the money. This novel will take you through every possible emotion and leave you drained. You will read about people long considered the scum of society. You may be sympathetic, you may be horrified. But you'll be left with their tales in your thoughts. People like this need someone like Selby Jr to tell their tales, to allow then a chance to rise above their surroundings before being pulled back to their destiny by the power of the streets.
Hubert Selby Jr, 1964, Last Exit to Brooklyn , Penguin Classics, ISBN-13: 978-0141195650
➽ Christopher Owens reviews for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.
Follow Christopher Owens on Twitter @MrOwens212
Add captionNo doubt about it, Last Exit to Brooklyn is a masterpiece. There are very few books that I can honestly describe in such a manner ( Resurrection Man , American Psycho , The Butcher Boy , Crash, Post Office , Junky , among others) but I am utterly confident in placing Last Exit ... into this category.
While all the books listed above may seem disparate to the untrained eye, there are themes that run through all of them: the location as character, how the individual is driven to extreme acts because of their surroundings, how fact and fiction can intertwine and how language plays a role in every day life.
***
Hospitalised and bed ridden for many years due to various lung ailments, Selby Jr famously said:
I knew that, someday, I was gonna die. And, I knew before I died, two things would happen to me. That, number one, I would regret my entire life. And, number two, I would want to live my life over again.
This sense of desperation and catharsis runs through Last Exit to Brooklyn . Like Anthony Burgess with A Clockwork Orange , Selby Jr took a pen and nailed his demons to the page. And we are much richer for this act of expression. With no formal training, and no pre-conceived concept of what made "good" or "bad" writing, Selby Jr was a revolutionary in American fiction. Although markedly different from the Beats (who had given us William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac) and the gonzo journalism of (the highly overrated) Hunter S. Thompson, he was more in line with Charles Bukowski: someone who lived the low life and could wax lyrical on the lifestyle.
***
More a collection of short stories set in the same neighbourhood than a traditional novel (a trait borrowed by Irvine Welsh for Trainspotting ), Selby Jr takes the reader through Sunset Park, Brooklyn and shows us the people who live there and what struggles they have to endure.
From teenage drag queen Georgette's abusive relationship with and unrequited love for greaser Vinnie (who can't stay out of trouble with the law), through to Tralala whose life consists of propositioning soldiers and sailors for money and (notoriously) Harry, the deeply closeted corrupt union rep. This book pulls the rock up from the ground and lets the reader explore unknown territories.
With Brooklyn linking each tale, the area becomes a character in itself. It's a homely, but run down area with crowded living arrangements hosting a number of races and ethnicities. Their ancestors came to America in search of a better life, but the descendants know nothing other than grinding poverty, crime and an area that is as much a prison as it is home.
Selby Jr sums it up perfectly with this passage:
In the winter everyones (sic) hate was bare if you looked. She saw hate in the icicles that hung from her window; she saw it in the dirty slush on the streets; she heard it in the hail that scratched her window and bit her face; she could see it in the lowered heads hurrying to warm homes …
Dialogue wise, it's unique because of the non use of quotation marks, which allows the dialogue to run together with the descriptions. And with the descriptions being as incredibly vivid as the above quotation, the harshness of the dialogue, as well as the use of slang and conjunctions, drags the reader further and further into the neighbourhood where the bins haven't been emptied for weeks and where gangs of greasers attack people cavorting with conspiring girls:
Three drunken rebel soldiers were going back to the Base after buying drinks for a couple of whores in a neighbourhood bar and were thrown out when they started a fight after the whores left them...They stopped when they heard Rosie shout and watched as she staggered back from the slap, Freddy grabbing her by the neck. Go giter little boy. Hey, dont chuall know youre not to fuck girls on the street.… They laughed and yelled and Freddy let go of Rosie and turned and looked at them for a second then yelled at them to go fuck their mothers, ya cottonpickin bastards. I hear shes good hump (sic).
A Christian (each story begins with a Bible quotation), Selby Jr manages to portray these characters as souls trapped in a pre-determined destiny. Even though they may be, superficially, seemingly hard to sympathise with, there are elements of humanity that shine throughout their actions.
To take two examples, Tralala is a hardened veteran of Brooklyn's streets, battling with the greasers her own age as much as the soldiers who view her as a way to shoot their load for the evening. When she comes across a soldier who wants to spend time with her, we see a chink in her defences.
Another example is Harry. Any time I read this book, I cannot help but find myself thinking that he is utterly worthless and without any redeeming features. Yet, Selby Jr, through little touches, depicts him as a man out of time and one who has been lied to his whole life, leading to him adopting the persona that we see throughout his segment.
The fact that the book can openly pursue such a characterisation, while still allowing room for me to think of Harry as a waste of flesh and organs, is a testament to the writing of Selby Jr.
Notably, both chapters involving Tralala and Harry have notorious and deeply disturbing endings. Although Selby Jr may have been a Christian, he also knew the power of the streets. These characters discover new elements about themselves, but it does them no good. Sunset Park has a hold on these characters that will drag them back once street justice is administered.
The most noted chapter, 'The Queen is Dead' (later used by The Smiths as a title for their most acclaimed album), deals with Georgette and her day to day life as a drag queen (the terminology used in the book, as today she'd be considered transgender). Although she initially comes across as an annoying, spoilt brat, the reader's sympathy is turned whenever her brother screams abuse at her and her sympathetic mother. Insecure masculinity has never been so enraging. The descent into drug addled oblivion with her status chasing, money grabbing drag queen friends is unsurprising, but still resoundingly tragic. It's depicted as a necessity as opposed to an attempt to "turn on, tune in and drop out" (to quote Timothy Leary), and this furthers Georgette's deluded mindset.
***
The tale of Last Exit. .. being put on trial for obscenity is important when discussing freedom of speech. MP Charles Taylor called for a prosecution in 1966, but it did not pick up momentum until MP Cyril Black brought a private prosecution (one of the witnesses for the prosecution was noted scumbag, the late and not at all lamented Robert Maxwell). The jury, not properly instructed on how to balance "merit" with "obscenity", and possibly influenced by reports of the Moors Murderers compulsively reading de Sade and Nazi literature, found the book guilty.
Author and barrister John Mortimer spoke at the appeal:
Judge Rogers had said in the original trial that Last Exit... was a shocking, disgusting book...I said that was irrelevant. I invented an argument... the 'aversive' defence: that the words were so awful they would have the opposite effect...Selby's graphic description of the degradation of Brooklyn life was both 'compassionate and condemnatory'. The only effect that it would produce in any but a minute lunatic fringe of readers would be horror, revulsion and pity...
Unsurprisingly, the verdict was overturned, setting a precedent for any attempts to prosecute texts as "obscene" in UK law.
***
In light of this, it's not surprising that the novel was considered unfilmable for many years. However, 1989 saw an adaptation to the cinema starring Jennifer Jason Leigh (the tagline being "The novel that shocked the world is now a movie.")
Although some of the more nasty elements have been toned down (Stephen Lang's Harry for example) and some of the casting doesn't quite work (Lang, again, is too smooth looking to play a character once earmarked for Robert De Niro, who would have been perfect), it's an admirable attempt and one certainly worth watching. Viewers unaware of the novel have been reported being shocked at how downbeat the film is. It's just as well they never read the book...
***
In a contemporary review, Allan Ginsberg proclaimed that Last Exit to Brooklyn will "explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years." And he was bang on the money. This novel will take you through every possible emotion and leave you drained. You will read about people long considered the scum of society. You may be sympathetic, you may be horrified. But you'll be left with their tales in your thoughts. People like this need someone like Selby Jr to tell their tales, to allow then a chance to rise above their surroundings before being pulled back to their destiny by the power of the streets.
Hubert Selby Jr, 1964, Last Exit to Brooklyn , Penguin Classics, ISBN-13: 978-0141195650
➽ Christopher Owens reviews for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.
Follow Christopher Owens on Twitter @MrOwens212
June 7, 2018
Two Finals
Sean Mallory recounts his first trip to Windsor Park. It does not leave him with pleasant memories.
I am at times an enthusiastic and quite a passionate follower of soccer and especially the greatest sporting even in the world – the World Cup - but not ardent enough to follow local live ‘ground-ball’ to the extent where I would willingly part with my hard earned shillings or take time out from the comfort of the goggle box and physically travel to a game. Those occasions where I am parted from my shillings are mostly solely reserved for GAA matches which I find much more exciting and exhilarating to watch....that's the Fenian in me!
Although I have travelled to soccer matches in the past and travelled far afield too, those past occasions are very rare indeed. I’m more of your armchair follower of soccer, your ‘Blue Ribbon’ day supporter and occasionally when ‘She who must be obeyed’ permits, I am to be found on the high stool engaged in frivolous football banter, especially when imbued with copious amounts of liquor.
On this occasion, a relative of mine and a true soccer fan and fervent follower of all things Cliftonville - the Mighty Reds - invited me along to the final as he had a spare ticket I could avail off if I wished. The term ‘spare ticket’ sounding absurd when used in conjunction with an IFA sponsored match never mind a cup final. A term more congruous with GAA matches, especially finals.
Anyway I agreed and arrangements were made and off we set.
On the morning of the match we met at my local, and to comply with licensing laws I shall state for the record that we were not served before 11:30a.m., and had two pints each before setting off on Shank's mare down the road to where a pre-arranged coach would take us to Windsor Park.
Of course, all things as they are, we arrived slightly early for the coach and so determined that we had enough time for another few swift ones and so made a quick b-line to a local hole in the wall. On our second pint in this finest of well-known drinks emporiums our imbuing was excitedly interrupted by the organiser of the coach that they were leaving in 5 minutes and for us to throw it into us. Two plastic glasses were procured from a kindly barmaid and a quick change of receptacle and we were on the coach and supping our way over to Windsor. A journey that took far longer than was initially anticipated due to a world fair type thing and other events all being staged at various locations along Boucher Road on the same day. But eventually we arrived and dismounted the coach with specific instructions to be back here after the match as this is where the coach will be waiting ... totally reliable information!
On stepping on to the avenue leading up to that well known Unionist Ulster Protestant bastion, Windsor Park, an atmosphere attaining to that of a ‘cold house’ descended upon our shoulders.
We were not welcome and that was made very clear the closer we got.
We were first met and solicited by a line of Protestant God's disciples handing out religious flyers warning us that the end is nigh and to repent.
For a few like ourselves, ever so slightly inebriated and looking forward to another few inside, this hindrance in our path lead to some rather uncouth retorts. Which I have to say the disciples were oblivious too ... no doubt well trained to deal with heathens such as ourselves!
The next obstacle was a line of police and stewards who were checking we had tickets in order to proceed any further. Rounding a temporary path, as external work to Windsor is not complete, we were met by another line checking tickets and confiscating Irish Tricolours as they were not allowed. When questioned why, the stewards responded with the well known Nuremburg syndrome that was first witnessed at the post-war Nazi trials ... only following orders!
*****A policy that wasn’t reciprocated across the pitch where the Coleraine supporters and their Union Jack and Unionist 6 county flags were in clear view. And a policy that lead to one of those in our group remark that at least unlike the RUC, the PSNI were no longer beating the backs of the legs of you with their batons and telling you to move along as you walked to the various soccer grounds around the North....times had changed indeed!
Entering Windsor, is like entering any other sporting ground, you are immediately hit with the dull and lifeless grey concrete stanchions of the stand. Standing underneath and a quick look around and we spotted an outlet that was selling beer.
A quick dash up to the queue and before a minute had passed and we hadn’t budged the retail unit staff announced that there was no more beer, only soft drinks!
Much cursing and muttering followed only to be interrupted by one fan shouting that there is beer available on up the stand in another retail unit....we didn’t budge as all those in front of us made the dash and there was no way there was going to beer for everyone by the time we would have been served.
We stood around for a few minutes wondering what to do and contemplating the prospects of a sober afternoon when a member of staff came towards us with what only can be described as a bread tray loaded with plastic bottles of Budwiser beer. I made a quick dash to the counter and was in contention to be served.
The fan beside me ordered 6 bottles of beer and two bottles of water. The young staff member serving pulled the plastic bottles of Bud and poured them in to plastic glasses before handing them over....one at a time....by this time the retail unit was swamped with fans looking for a beer and the crush was starting to be felt by those of us at the front and the security stewards realising what was happening began to implement some form of crowd control.
Meanwhile the 6 bottles were poured and the young staff member being directed for two bottles of water also turned and walked away over to the fridge. While he was over there the 6 bottles disappeared back in to the dense crowd. He turned around and not seeing his customer and amid all the din shouted out who ordered the two bottles of water? I helped him out by informing him it was the same guy who ordered the 6 bottles of beer and who had now disappeared in to the crowd....he looked forlorn but then served me all the while keeping a very beady eye on me even though I told him I wouldn’t be doing the same thing...once bitten twice shy I suppose!
Beers drunk and match time approaching up we went to our unallocated seats and we ended up right bang in the middle of the stand...a perfect view.
Being a GAA fan and having visited many a provincial ground throughout Ireland and not unlike our visit to Barcelona's Nou Camp two years ago, the first thing that struck me was just how small the ground was and how compact the pitch and stadium are. But then again, GAA has 30 players on a pitch at any one time. How thousands of people were going to fit in here was anyone's guess but they did although the combination of all fans never came close to the limited capacity of Windsor.
As it was much publicised in the media, the IFA stripped of its political cosmetics, dutifully played England's God Save the Queen and the Cliftonville fans dutifully chanted and drowned out that awful and repulsive anthem. Cliftonville football club players protested with their arms linked and heads held down.
Unlike ex- Derry GAA player Paddy Bradley who stood tall with his Coleraine teammates as it was played....lacking in integrity can do that to you. A trait that Cathair O’Kane a columnist in the Irish news, 08/05/2018, also shares when he called for the removal of the tricolour and the singing of Amhrán na bhFiann at GAA matches to make Unionists more welcome....a call that would appear to have some logic if it wasn’t for the fact that Unionism despises all aspects of Irish culture and by its nature views GAA as a threat to its existence.
Anthem finished and the game began. Up went the ball and down, up went the ball and down and so it continued for quite sometime. In between this see-saw football Coleraine fans attempted to sing the English anthem but again were drowned out by cliftonville chanting. Some of the crowd behind us, more inebrited than ourselves began their own particular chants and one in particular stood out for our group and did warrant a curious glance round at the vocalists: “You Reds, You Reds, You reds, Arlene Foster takes up the bum, You Reds, You Reds, You Reds.......”
The connection was lost on me also!
This continued until Coleraine scored, then Cliftonville equalised and then Coleraine put two past the Reds and killed the game...plus won the game of course, last goal being scored by Mr Bradley himself and in celebration of his goal he ran towards the stand containg the true blue supporters ... those with union jacks and who attempted to celebrate their victory with a rendition of England’s anthem...which was once agin drowned out. Dead silence soon enveloped the Reds fans who’s hearts sank to the very pit of their stomachs...it wasn’t to be this year. Maybe on the 40th anniversary of when they last won it would be their year, which is next year.
Outside and back on the bus which was no where near where the driver said it would be the sombre mood switched away from the result and towards casual banter and ribbing.
How would I sum up the day?
The Occasion:
Firstly the occassion of meeting friends and having a pint was priceless. The occassion being loaned more excitment than usual to it by the cup final.
The game:
Very poor quality football and I fully understand why crowd attendance at IFA games are so low even though the cup final contradicted the stats with the largest crowd in attendance in years.
Windsor Park:
Cold house for Catholics and Irish people. More warmth felt from a fridge.
IFA:
Prior to this game, the Belfast Telegraph carried numerous stories based on Catholics from nationalist backgrounds stating as to why they chose to play for norn iron and how so many things have changed to make them feel more welcome....what these things were was never fully explained.
After all their years of spreading their false narrative that they are not sectarian or anti-Irish the IFA decision to play England’s anthem undid their hard worked fraudulent public relations and backed by their previous decison earleir in the season not to play Amhrán na bhFiann in case it upset the locals at an international under 20’s match in Lurgan between the South and norn iron only cemented it.
Why anyone from a Nationalist background would even consider to play for these sectarian racists is beyond me...perhaps money talks after all.
Conclusion
Best summed up by Gerard Lawlor, Chairman of Cliftonville Football club when he described the clubs treatment as shambolic:
Not another shilliing will the IFA get from this punter.
Sean Mallory is a Tyrone republican and TPQ columnist
I am at times an enthusiastic and quite a passionate follower of soccer and especially the greatest sporting even in the world – the World Cup - but not ardent enough to follow local live ‘ground-ball’ to the extent where I would willingly part with my hard earned shillings or take time out from the comfort of the goggle box and physically travel to a game. Those occasions where I am parted from my shillings are mostly solely reserved for GAA matches which I find much more exciting and exhilarating to watch....that's the Fenian in me!
Although I have travelled to soccer matches in the past and travelled far afield too, those past occasions are very rare indeed. I’m more of your armchair follower of soccer, your ‘Blue Ribbon’ day supporter and occasionally when ‘She who must be obeyed’ permits, I am to be found on the high stool engaged in frivolous football banter, especially when imbued with copious amounts of liquor.
On this occasion, a relative of mine and a true soccer fan and fervent follower of all things Cliftonville - the Mighty Reds - invited me along to the final as he had a spare ticket I could avail off if I wished. The term ‘spare ticket’ sounding absurd when used in conjunction with an IFA sponsored match never mind a cup final. A term more congruous with GAA matches, especially finals.
Anyway I agreed and arrangements were made and off we set.
On the morning of the match we met at my local, and to comply with licensing laws I shall state for the record that we were not served before 11:30a.m., and had two pints each before setting off on Shank's mare down the road to where a pre-arranged coach would take us to Windsor Park.
Of course, all things as they are, we arrived slightly early for the coach and so determined that we had enough time for another few swift ones and so made a quick b-line to a local hole in the wall. On our second pint in this finest of well-known drinks emporiums our imbuing was excitedly interrupted by the organiser of the coach that they were leaving in 5 minutes and for us to throw it into us. Two plastic glasses were procured from a kindly barmaid and a quick change of receptacle and we were on the coach and supping our way over to Windsor. A journey that took far longer than was initially anticipated due to a world fair type thing and other events all being staged at various locations along Boucher Road on the same day. But eventually we arrived and dismounted the coach with specific instructions to be back here after the match as this is where the coach will be waiting ... totally reliable information!
On stepping on to the avenue leading up to that well known Unionist Ulster Protestant bastion, Windsor Park, an atmosphere attaining to that of a ‘cold house’ descended upon our shoulders.
We were not welcome and that was made very clear the closer we got.
We were first met and solicited by a line of Protestant God's disciples handing out religious flyers warning us that the end is nigh and to repent.
For a few like ourselves, ever so slightly inebriated and looking forward to another few inside, this hindrance in our path lead to some rather uncouth retorts. Which I have to say the disciples were oblivious too ... no doubt well trained to deal with heathens such as ourselves!
The next obstacle was a line of police and stewards who were checking we had tickets in order to proceed any further. Rounding a temporary path, as external work to Windsor is not complete, we were met by another line checking tickets and confiscating Irish Tricolours as they were not allowed. When questioned why, the stewards responded with the well known Nuremburg syndrome that was first witnessed at the post-war Nazi trials ... only following orders!
*****A policy that wasn’t reciprocated across the pitch where the Coleraine supporters and their Union Jack and Unionist 6 county flags were in clear view. And a policy that lead to one of those in our group remark that at least unlike the RUC, the PSNI were no longer beating the backs of the legs of you with their batons and telling you to move along as you walked to the various soccer grounds around the North....times had changed indeed!
Entering Windsor, is like entering any other sporting ground, you are immediately hit with the dull and lifeless grey concrete stanchions of the stand. Standing underneath and a quick look around and we spotted an outlet that was selling beer.
A quick dash up to the queue and before a minute had passed and we hadn’t budged the retail unit staff announced that there was no more beer, only soft drinks!
Much cursing and muttering followed only to be interrupted by one fan shouting that there is beer available on up the stand in another retail unit....we didn’t budge as all those in front of us made the dash and there was no way there was going to beer for everyone by the time we would have been served.
We stood around for a few minutes wondering what to do and contemplating the prospects of a sober afternoon when a member of staff came towards us with what only can be described as a bread tray loaded with plastic bottles of Budwiser beer. I made a quick dash to the counter and was in contention to be served.
The fan beside me ordered 6 bottles of beer and two bottles of water. The young staff member serving pulled the plastic bottles of Bud and poured them in to plastic glasses before handing them over....one at a time....by this time the retail unit was swamped with fans looking for a beer and the crush was starting to be felt by those of us at the front and the security stewards realising what was happening began to implement some form of crowd control.
Meanwhile the 6 bottles were poured and the young staff member being directed for two bottles of water also turned and walked away over to the fridge. While he was over there the 6 bottles disappeared back in to the dense crowd. He turned around and not seeing his customer and amid all the din shouted out who ordered the two bottles of water? I helped him out by informing him it was the same guy who ordered the 6 bottles of beer and who had now disappeared in to the crowd....he looked forlorn but then served me all the while keeping a very beady eye on me even though I told him I wouldn’t be doing the same thing...once bitten twice shy I suppose!
Beers drunk and match time approaching up we went to our unallocated seats and we ended up right bang in the middle of the stand...a perfect view.
Being a GAA fan and having visited many a provincial ground throughout Ireland and not unlike our visit to Barcelona's Nou Camp two years ago, the first thing that struck me was just how small the ground was and how compact the pitch and stadium are. But then again, GAA has 30 players on a pitch at any one time. How thousands of people were going to fit in here was anyone's guess but they did although the combination of all fans never came close to the limited capacity of Windsor.
As it was much publicised in the media, the IFA stripped of its political cosmetics, dutifully played England's God Save the Queen and the Cliftonville fans dutifully chanted and drowned out that awful and repulsive anthem. Cliftonville football club players protested with their arms linked and heads held down.
Unlike ex- Derry GAA player Paddy Bradley who stood tall with his Coleraine teammates as it was played....lacking in integrity can do that to you. A trait that Cathair O’Kane a columnist in the Irish news, 08/05/2018, also shares when he called for the removal of the tricolour and the singing of Amhrán na bhFiann at GAA matches to make Unionists more welcome....a call that would appear to have some logic if it wasn’t for the fact that Unionism despises all aspects of Irish culture and by its nature views GAA as a threat to its existence.
Anthem finished and the game began. Up went the ball and down, up went the ball and down and so it continued for quite sometime. In between this see-saw football Coleraine fans attempted to sing the English anthem but again were drowned out by cliftonville chanting. Some of the crowd behind us, more inebrited than ourselves began their own particular chants and one in particular stood out for our group and did warrant a curious glance round at the vocalists: “You Reds, You Reds, You reds, Arlene Foster takes up the bum, You Reds, You Reds, You Reds.......”
The connection was lost on me also!
This continued until Coleraine scored, then Cliftonville equalised and then Coleraine put two past the Reds and killed the game...plus won the game of course, last goal being scored by Mr Bradley himself and in celebration of his goal he ran towards the stand containg the true blue supporters ... those with union jacks and who attempted to celebrate their victory with a rendition of England’s anthem...which was once agin drowned out. Dead silence soon enveloped the Reds fans who’s hearts sank to the very pit of their stomachs...it wasn’t to be this year. Maybe on the 40th anniversary of when they last won it would be their year, which is next year.
Outside and back on the bus which was no where near where the driver said it would be the sombre mood switched away from the result and towards casual banter and ribbing.
How would I sum up the day?
The Occasion:
Firstly the occassion of meeting friends and having a pint was priceless. The occassion being loaned more excitment than usual to it by the cup final.
The game:
Very poor quality football and I fully understand why crowd attendance at IFA games are so low even though the cup final contradicted the stats with the largest crowd in attendance in years.
Windsor Park:
Cold house for Catholics and Irish people. More warmth felt from a fridge.
IFA:
Prior to this game, the Belfast Telegraph carried numerous stories based on Catholics from nationalist backgrounds stating as to why they chose to play for norn iron and how so many things have changed to make them feel more welcome....what these things were was never fully explained.
After all their years of spreading their false narrative that they are not sectarian or anti-Irish the IFA decision to play England’s anthem undid their hard worked fraudulent public relations and backed by their previous decison earleir in the season not to play Amhrán na bhFiann in case it upset the locals at an international under 20’s match in Lurgan between the South and norn iron only cemented it.
Why anyone from a Nationalist background would even consider to play for these sectarian racists is beyond me...perhaps money talks after all.
Conclusion
Best summed up by Gerard Lawlor, Chairman of Cliftonville Football club when he described the clubs treatment as shambolic:
I'll deal with that through the proper channels at the Irish FA. We aren't going to run but there are a lot people within the IFA, senior office bearers, who haven't been able to pick up the phone to me this week or look me in the eye because I would say they are quite embarrassed.
Not another shilliing will the IFA get from this punter.
Sean Mallory is a Tyrone republican and TPQ columnist
June 6, 2018
Strong As Death
The Uri Avnery Column discusses Gaza.
I loved Gaza. That is a play on words. The Biblical Song of Songs says that love is strong as death. Strong in Hebrew is Aza. Aza is also the Hebrew name of Gaza.
I have spent many happy hours in Gaza. I had many friends there. From the leftist Dr. Haidar Abd al-Shafi to the Islamist Mahmoud al-Zahar, who is now the foreign minister of Hamas.
I was there when Yasser Arafat, the son of a Gazan family, came home. They put me in the first row of the reception at the Rafah border, and that evening he received me at the hotel on the Gaza sea shore, seating me next to him on the stage during a press conference.
I met with a friendly attitude everywhere in the Gaza Strip, in the refugee camps and in the streets of Gaza City. Everywhere we talked about peace and about the place of Gaza in the future State of Palestine.
Good But, what about Hamas, the terrible arch-terrorist organization?
In the early 1990s, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin exiled 415 prominent Islamists from Gaza to Lebanon. The Lebanese did not let them in, so the exiles vegetated for a year in the open air on the border.
We protested against the expulsion and put up a tent camp opposite the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. We stayed there for 45 days and nights, including some days in snow. In the camp were Jews and Arabs, including Israeli Arab Islamists. We spent the long days and nights in political discussions. What about? About peace, of course.
The Islamists were nice people, and treated my wife, Rachel, with utmost civility.
When the exiles were finally allowed home, a reception was held for them in the largest hall in Gaza. I was invited, together with a group of companions. I was asked to speak (in Hebrew, of course) and after that I was invited to a banquet.
I am recounting all this in order to describe the atmosphere at that time. In everything I said, I stressed that I was an Israeli patriot. I advocated peace between two states. Before the first Intifada (which started on December 9, 1987) Gaza was not a place of dark hatred. Far from it.
Masses of laborers crossed the checkpoints every morning in order to work in Israel, and so did the merchants who sold their wares in Israel, or crossed Israel on the way to Jordan, or got their merchandise through Israeli harbors.
So How did we succeed – we, the State of Israel – in turning Gaza into what it is today?
In the summer of 2005 the then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, decided to cut all ties with the Gaza Strip. "Arik", a soldier in his heart, decided that the costs of occupying the strip were higher than the benefits. He pulled the army and the settlers out and turned the strip over – to whom? To nobody.
Why to nobody? Why not to the PLO, which was already the recognized Palestinian authority? Why not within the framework of an agreement? Because Arik hated the Palestinians, the PLO and Arafat. He did not want to have anything to do with them. So he just left the strip.
But nature abhors a vacuum. A Palestinian authority came into being in Gaza. Democratic elections were held, and Hamas won in all of Palestine. Hamas is a religious-nationalist party which originally was furthered by the Israeli secret service (Shin Bet) in order to undermine the PLO. When the PLO did not accept the election results, Hamas in Gaza took power by force. Thus the present situation came into being.
During All this time we still had a positive option.
The Gaza Strip could have turned into a blooming island. Optimists spoke about a "Second Singapore". They spoke about a Gaza harbor, with due inspection of incoming goods either in Gaza or in a neutral port abroad. A Gaza airport, with appropriate security inspection, was built and used and then destroyed by Israel.
And what did the Israeli government do? The very opposite, of course.
The government subjected the Gaza Strip to a stringent blockade. All connections between the strip and the outside world were cut. Provisions could come only through Israel. Israel increased or decreased the import of essential necessities at its whim. The affair of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was bloodily stormed near the Gaza shore, emphasized the total isolation.
The Gaza population has now reached about two million. Most of them are refugees from Israel, who were driven out during the 1948 war. I cannot say that I am innocent – my army unit fought in the south of Palestine. I saw what was happening. I wrote about it.
The blockade created a vicious circle. Hamas and the smaller (and more extreme) organizations carried out acts of resistance (or "terror"). As a reaction, the Israeli government intensified the blockade. The Gazans answered with more violence. The blockade became worse. And so on, up to and including this week.
What about the southern border of the strip? Rather bizarrely, Egypt cooperates with the Israeli blockade. And not only because of the mutual sympathy between the Egyptian military dictator, Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi, and the Israeli rulers. There is also a political reason: The Sisi regime hates the Muslim Brothers, Its banned internal opposition, which is considered the parent organization of Hamas.
The PLO regime in the West Bank also cooperates with the Israeli blockade against Hamas, which is its main competitor within the Palestinian political framework.
Thus the Gaza Strip remains almost completely isolated, without friends. Except some idealists around the world, who are much too weak to make a difference. And, of course, Hezbollah and Iran.
Now There prevails a kind of balance. The Gazan organizations carry out violent acts, which do no real damage to the State of Israel. The Israeli army does not have the appetite to occupy the strip again. And then the Palestinians discovered a new weapon: non-violent resistance.
Many years ago an Arab-American activist, a pupil of Martin Luther King, came to Palestine to preach this method. He found no takers and returned to the US. Then, at the beginning of the second Intifada, the Palestinians tried this method. The Israeli army reacted with live fire. The world saw a picture of a little boy shot while in the arms of his father. The army denied responsibility, as it always does. Non-violent resistance died with the boy. The Intifada demanded many victims.
Truth is that the Israeli army has no answer to non-violent resistance. In such a campaign, all the cards are in the hands of the Palestinians. World public opinion condemns Israel and praises the Palestinians. Therefore, the army's reaction is to open fire, in order to induce the Palestinians to start violent actions. With these the army knows how to deal.
Non-violent resistance is a very difficult method. It demands enormous willpower, strict self-control and moral superiority. Such qualities are to be found in Indian culture, which gave birth to a Gandhi, and within the black American community of Martin Luther King. There is no such tradition in the Muslim world.
Therefore it is doubly astonishing that the demonstrators on the Gaza border are now finding this power in their hearts. The events of Black Monday, May 14, surprised the world. Masses of unarmed human beings, men, women and children, braved the Israeli sharpshooters. They did not draw weapons. They did not "storm the fence", a lie spread by the huge Israeli propaganda apparatus. They stood exposed to the sharpshooters and were killed.
The Israeli army is convinced that the inhabitants of Gaza will not stand the test, that they will return to useless violence. Last Tuesday it seemed as if this assessment was right. One of the Gaza organizations carried out a "revenge action", launching more then a hundred mortar shells into Israel without causing any real damage. That was a useless gesture. Violent action has no chance whatsoever to hurt Israel. It only supplies ammunition to Israeli propaganda.
When one thinks about non-violent struggle, one should remember Amritsar. That is the name of an Indian town where in April 1919 soldiers under British command opened murderous fire for 10 consecutive minutes on Indian non-violent protesters, killing at least 379 and wounding about 1200. The name of the commander, Colonel Reginald Dyer, entered history, for eternal shame. British public opinion was shocked. Many historians believe that this was the beginning of the end of British rule in India.
"Black Monday" on the Gaza border reminds one of this episode.
How Will this end?
Hamas has offered a Hudna for 40 years. A Hudna is a sacred armistice, which no Muslim is allowed to break.
I have already mentioned the Crusaders, who stayed in Palestine for almost 200 years (more then us, at this moment). They agreed to or entered into several Hudnas with the hostile Muslim states around them. The Arabs kept them strictly.
The question is: Is the Israeli government able to accept a Hudna? After inciting the masses of their followers and filling them with mortal hatred against the people of Gaza in general and Hamas in particular, would it dare to agree?
When the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are choked, lacking medicines, lacking enough food, lacking pure water, lacking electricity, will our government not fall into the trap of illusion and believe that now Hamas will collapse?
That will not happen, of course. As we sang in our youth: "No people withdraws from the trenches of their life!"
As the Jews themselves proved for centuries, there is no limit to what a people can endure when its very existence is at stake.
That's what history tells us.
My Heart is with the people of Gaza.
I desire to ask their forgiveness, in my name and in the name of Israel, my country.
I am longing for the day when everything will change, the day when a wiser government will agree to a Hudna, open the border and let the people of Gaza return to the world.
Now, too, I love Gaza, with the love that the Bible says is as strong as death.
Uri Avnery is a veteran Israeli peace activist.
He writes @ Gush Shalom
I loved Gaza. That is a play on words. The Biblical Song of Songs says that love is strong as death. Strong in Hebrew is Aza. Aza is also the Hebrew name of Gaza.
I have spent many happy hours in Gaza. I had many friends there. From the leftist Dr. Haidar Abd al-Shafi to the Islamist Mahmoud al-Zahar, who is now the foreign minister of Hamas.
I was there when Yasser Arafat, the son of a Gazan family, came home. They put me in the first row of the reception at the Rafah border, and that evening he received me at the hotel on the Gaza sea shore, seating me next to him on the stage during a press conference.
I met with a friendly attitude everywhere in the Gaza Strip, in the refugee camps and in the streets of Gaza City. Everywhere we talked about peace and about the place of Gaza in the future State of Palestine.
Good But, what about Hamas, the terrible arch-terrorist organization?
In the early 1990s, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin exiled 415 prominent Islamists from Gaza to Lebanon. The Lebanese did not let them in, so the exiles vegetated for a year in the open air on the border.
We protested against the expulsion and put up a tent camp opposite the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. We stayed there for 45 days and nights, including some days in snow. In the camp were Jews and Arabs, including Israeli Arab Islamists. We spent the long days and nights in political discussions. What about? About peace, of course.
The Islamists were nice people, and treated my wife, Rachel, with utmost civility.
When the exiles were finally allowed home, a reception was held for them in the largest hall in Gaza. I was invited, together with a group of companions. I was asked to speak (in Hebrew, of course) and after that I was invited to a banquet.
I am recounting all this in order to describe the atmosphere at that time. In everything I said, I stressed that I was an Israeli patriot. I advocated peace between two states. Before the first Intifada (which started on December 9, 1987) Gaza was not a place of dark hatred. Far from it.
Masses of laborers crossed the checkpoints every morning in order to work in Israel, and so did the merchants who sold their wares in Israel, or crossed Israel on the way to Jordan, or got their merchandise through Israeli harbors.
So How did we succeed – we, the State of Israel – in turning Gaza into what it is today?
In the summer of 2005 the then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, decided to cut all ties with the Gaza Strip. "Arik", a soldier in his heart, decided that the costs of occupying the strip were higher than the benefits. He pulled the army and the settlers out and turned the strip over – to whom? To nobody.
Why to nobody? Why not to the PLO, which was already the recognized Palestinian authority? Why not within the framework of an agreement? Because Arik hated the Palestinians, the PLO and Arafat. He did not want to have anything to do with them. So he just left the strip.
But nature abhors a vacuum. A Palestinian authority came into being in Gaza. Democratic elections were held, and Hamas won in all of Palestine. Hamas is a religious-nationalist party which originally was furthered by the Israeli secret service (Shin Bet) in order to undermine the PLO. When the PLO did not accept the election results, Hamas in Gaza took power by force. Thus the present situation came into being.
During All this time we still had a positive option.
The Gaza Strip could have turned into a blooming island. Optimists spoke about a "Second Singapore". They spoke about a Gaza harbor, with due inspection of incoming goods either in Gaza or in a neutral port abroad. A Gaza airport, with appropriate security inspection, was built and used and then destroyed by Israel.
And what did the Israeli government do? The very opposite, of course.
The government subjected the Gaza Strip to a stringent blockade. All connections between the strip and the outside world were cut. Provisions could come only through Israel. Israel increased or decreased the import of essential necessities at its whim. The affair of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was bloodily stormed near the Gaza shore, emphasized the total isolation.
The Gaza population has now reached about two million. Most of them are refugees from Israel, who were driven out during the 1948 war. I cannot say that I am innocent – my army unit fought in the south of Palestine. I saw what was happening. I wrote about it.
The blockade created a vicious circle. Hamas and the smaller (and more extreme) organizations carried out acts of resistance (or "terror"). As a reaction, the Israeli government intensified the blockade. The Gazans answered with more violence. The blockade became worse. And so on, up to and including this week.
What about the southern border of the strip? Rather bizarrely, Egypt cooperates with the Israeli blockade. And not only because of the mutual sympathy between the Egyptian military dictator, Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi, and the Israeli rulers. There is also a political reason: The Sisi regime hates the Muslim Brothers, Its banned internal opposition, which is considered the parent organization of Hamas.
The PLO regime in the West Bank also cooperates with the Israeli blockade against Hamas, which is its main competitor within the Palestinian political framework.
Thus the Gaza Strip remains almost completely isolated, without friends. Except some idealists around the world, who are much too weak to make a difference. And, of course, Hezbollah and Iran.
Now There prevails a kind of balance. The Gazan organizations carry out violent acts, which do no real damage to the State of Israel. The Israeli army does not have the appetite to occupy the strip again. And then the Palestinians discovered a new weapon: non-violent resistance.
Many years ago an Arab-American activist, a pupil of Martin Luther King, came to Palestine to preach this method. He found no takers and returned to the US. Then, at the beginning of the second Intifada, the Palestinians tried this method. The Israeli army reacted with live fire. The world saw a picture of a little boy shot while in the arms of his father. The army denied responsibility, as it always does. Non-violent resistance died with the boy. The Intifada demanded many victims.
Truth is that the Israeli army has no answer to non-violent resistance. In such a campaign, all the cards are in the hands of the Palestinians. World public opinion condemns Israel and praises the Palestinians. Therefore, the army's reaction is to open fire, in order to induce the Palestinians to start violent actions. With these the army knows how to deal.
Non-violent resistance is a very difficult method. It demands enormous willpower, strict self-control and moral superiority. Such qualities are to be found in Indian culture, which gave birth to a Gandhi, and within the black American community of Martin Luther King. There is no such tradition in the Muslim world.
Therefore it is doubly astonishing that the demonstrators on the Gaza border are now finding this power in their hearts. The events of Black Monday, May 14, surprised the world. Masses of unarmed human beings, men, women and children, braved the Israeli sharpshooters. They did not draw weapons. They did not "storm the fence", a lie spread by the huge Israeli propaganda apparatus. They stood exposed to the sharpshooters and were killed.
The Israeli army is convinced that the inhabitants of Gaza will not stand the test, that they will return to useless violence. Last Tuesday it seemed as if this assessment was right. One of the Gaza organizations carried out a "revenge action", launching more then a hundred mortar shells into Israel without causing any real damage. That was a useless gesture. Violent action has no chance whatsoever to hurt Israel. It only supplies ammunition to Israeli propaganda.
When one thinks about non-violent struggle, one should remember Amritsar. That is the name of an Indian town where in April 1919 soldiers under British command opened murderous fire for 10 consecutive minutes on Indian non-violent protesters, killing at least 379 and wounding about 1200. The name of the commander, Colonel Reginald Dyer, entered history, for eternal shame. British public opinion was shocked. Many historians believe that this was the beginning of the end of British rule in India.
"Black Monday" on the Gaza border reminds one of this episode.
How Will this end?
Hamas has offered a Hudna for 40 years. A Hudna is a sacred armistice, which no Muslim is allowed to break.
I have already mentioned the Crusaders, who stayed in Palestine for almost 200 years (more then us, at this moment). They agreed to or entered into several Hudnas with the hostile Muslim states around them. The Arabs kept them strictly.
The question is: Is the Israeli government able to accept a Hudna? After inciting the masses of their followers and filling them with mortal hatred against the people of Gaza in general and Hamas in particular, would it dare to agree?
When the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are choked, lacking medicines, lacking enough food, lacking pure water, lacking electricity, will our government not fall into the trap of illusion and believe that now Hamas will collapse?
That will not happen, of course. As we sang in our youth: "No people withdraws from the trenches of their life!"
As the Jews themselves proved for centuries, there is no limit to what a people can endure when its very existence is at stake.
That's what history tells us.
My Heart is with the people of Gaza.
I desire to ask their forgiveness, in my name and in the name of Israel, my country.
I am longing for the day when everything will change, the day when a wiser government will agree to a Hudna, open the border and let the people of Gaza return to the world.
Now, too, I love Gaza, with the love that the Bible says is as strong as death.
Uri Avnery is a veteran Israeli peace activist.
He writes @ Gush Shalom
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