Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1176
November 13, 2017
Separation Is Beautiful
The Uri Avnery Column discusses the concept of Separation
It declares that all the existing organizations of Mizrahim (Oriental Jews) are phony. That they are all instruments of the Ashkenazi (European Jewish) elite to keep the Mizrahim in subjugation. That the Oriental Shas party is a joke, especially since the death of Rabbi Ovadia Josef, who was an authentic Mizrahi leader.
It says the Likud is the most cunning instrument for keeping the Mizrahim down. That the endless rule of Binyamin Netanyahu, the very personification of the Ashkenazi elite, symbolizes the powerlessness of the ignorant Mizrahi masses, who keep him and his entire Ashkenazi gang in power.
So a new Mizrahi party is set up, led by energetic young people who put forward a shocking revolutionary idea: separation.
Their plan is to partition the State of Israel along the Jaffa – Jerusalem road, dividing the country into two halves. Everything north of the dividing line will remain the property of the Ashkenazis, everything south of it will become the new sovereign Mizrahi state, to be called Medinat Mizrah.
From there, your imagination can lead you anywhere you want.
Where Would I stand in such a situation? Asking myself seriously, I find myself in a very ambiguous situation.
I am an Ashkenazi. As Ashkenazi as you get. I was born in Germany. My family had been there for ages. But I never defined myself as such. The very idea of being "Ashkenazi" is completely alien to me.
More so, I have a very deep attachment to the Mizrahi society. I had it even before four young recruits from Morocco risked their young lives to save my life in the 1948 war. I was attached to Oriental culture from early childhood.
So, confronted with a vigorous Oriental separation movement, where would I stand? Frankly, I do not know. I certainly would not send the Israeli army and police to put it down. That would be impossible anyhow, considering that most soldiers and police are themselves Mizrahim.
Fortunately, the whole idea is preposterous. Can't happen. Even less than Kurdish or Catalonian separation.
Curiously enough, the Kurds and the Catalans are two peoples I have always liked.
I don't know when I started to like the Kurds or why. In my youth, Kurds were considered nice but primitive. The saying "Ana Kurdi" (Arabic for "I am a Kurd") meant that I am a simple person who fulfills his task without asking questions.
Jewish immigrants from Iraqi Kurdistan spoke of their former hosts with affection – unlike most Jewish immigrants from other countries.
In the 1950s I came to know a semi-clandestine cell of Egyptian Jewish émigrés in Paris. They assisted the Algerian struggle for independence – a cause which I fervently supported myself. Its leader was Henri Curiel, and one of its members was a young Egyptian Jewish woman, Joyce Blau, who was also an ardent supporter of the Kurdish cause. This was also the field of her academic studies.
Through her, I learned more about the Kurdish story, or tragedy. Though Kurdistan is a compact territory, it is divided into pieces that belong to different states – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, with more communities dispersed in other countries.
At the end of World War I, there was an effort to set up a Kurdish state, but the rapaciousness of the victors and the re-emergence of a strong Turkey made this impossible. The Kurds themselves were not completely blameless: they were and are consistently unable to unite. Their leading families act against each other.
After having set up the "Israeli Council for Algerian Independence", I found an Israeli group of immigrants from Iraqi Kurdistan and together we founded the "Israeli Council for an Independent Kurdistan".
As a member, I had some unforgettable experiences. Twice I was invited to address mass meetings of Kurds in Germany. Mass meetings in the literal sense: huge numbers of Kurds from all over Europe cheered my speech, quite a boost for my ego.
My efforts petered out when I discovered that high-level Israeli army officers were already in Iraqi Kurdistan, helping to train the Peshmerga ("Before Death") guerrillas. The motive of the Israeli government in sending them there was quite cynical: to undermine the Iraqi state, according to the eternal Roman maxim "Divide et Impera", divide and rule.
How did they get there? Easy, they were under the benevolent protection of the Shah of Iran. But one day the Shah made peace with Saddam Hussein, and that was the end of this particular Israeli project. When the Shah was toppled and Iran became Israel's deadly enemy, Israeli military intervention in Kurdistan became impossible.
But the sentiment remains. I believe that the Kurds deserve independence, especially if they are able to unite. Since they are blessed – or cursed – with oil riches, foreign interests are deeply involved.
There Is no similarity whatsoever between the Kurds and the Catalans, except that I like them both.
Catalonia is a highly developed country, and during my several short visits there I felt quite at home. Like all tourists, I strolled in the Rambla of Barcelona – both Hebrew names, so it seems. They are remnants from the times when Spain was a colony of Carthago, a city founded by Semitic people from Phoenicia, who spoke a kind of Hebrew. Barcelona is probably derived from Barak (lightning in Hebrew), and Rambla from the Arabic Ramle (sandy.)
Trouble is, I also love other parts of Spain, especially places like Cordoba and Sevilla. Would be a pity to break it up. On the other hand, one cannot really prevent a people from achieving its independence, if it wants to.
Fortunately, nobody asks me.
The Larger question is why smaller and smaller peoples want independence, when the world is creating larger and larger political units?
It looks like a paradox, but really isn't.
We in this generation are witnessing the end of the nation state, which has dominated world history for the last few hundred years. It was born out of necessity. Small countries were unable to build modern mass industries which depended on a large domestic market. They could not defend themselves, when modern armies required more and more sophisticated weapons. Even cultural development depended on larger language-areas.
So Wales and Scotland joined England, Savoy and Sicily created Italy, Corsica and the Provence joined France. Small nationalities joined larger ones. It was necessary for survival.
History is moving on, and now even the nation-State is not large enough to compete. States unite in ever-larger units, such as the European Union. I have no doubt that by the end of this century, there will be in place an effective world government, turning the entire world effectively into one state. (If some extra-terrestrials threaten this world, it will help.)
So how does the separation into smaller and smaller states fit this trend? Simply, if the state of Spain is not necessary anymore for economic and military purposes and its central functions are moving from Madrid to Brussels, why shouldn't the Catalans and the Basques secede and join the Union under their own flags? Look at Yugoslavia, look even at the Soviet Union. Germany is the great exception but it is quite large by itself.
The two processes are not contradictory, they complement each other.
The idiotic Brexit is ahistorical. But if the Scots and the Welsh want to separate from England, they will succeed.
I have great respect for the power of nationalism. In our era, it has prove, to be stronger than religion, communism or any other creed. It is strongest when it combines with religion, as in the Arab world. So the nationalism of small peoples will gain satisfaction in football games, while the real business will be conducted elsewhere.
At This very moment, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, is busy with enacting a new law, called the Nation Law, which is intended to make clear that the Jewishness of the Jewish State takes precedence over democracy and human rights.
Israel has no constitution, but until now it was assumed that Israel was equally "Jewish" and "democratic". The new law is about to abolish that notion.
As usual, we are one or two centuries behind world history.
Uri Avnery is a veteran Israeli peace activist. He writes @ Gush Shalom
It declares that all the existing organizations of Mizrahim (Oriental Jews) are phony. That they are all instruments of the Ashkenazi (European Jewish) elite to keep the Mizrahim in subjugation. That the Oriental Shas party is a joke, especially since the death of Rabbi Ovadia Josef, who was an authentic Mizrahi leader.
It says the Likud is the most cunning instrument for keeping the Mizrahim down. That the endless rule of Binyamin Netanyahu, the very personification of the Ashkenazi elite, symbolizes the powerlessness of the ignorant Mizrahi masses, who keep him and his entire Ashkenazi gang in power.
So a new Mizrahi party is set up, led by energetic young people who put forward a shocking revolutionary idea: separation.
Their plan is to partition the State of Israel along the Jaffa – Jerusalem road, dividing the country into two halves. Everything north of the dividing line will remain the property of the Ashkenazis, everything south of it will become the new sovereign Mizrahi state, to be called Medinat Mizrah.
From there, your imagination can lead you anywhere you want.
Where Would I stand in such a situation? Asking myself seriously, I find myself in a very ambiguous situation.
I am an Ashkenazi. As Ashkenazi as you get. I was born in Germany. My family had been there for ages. But I never defined myself as such. The very idea of being "Ashkenazi" is completely alien to me.
More so, I have a very deep attachment to the Mizrahi society. I had it even before four young recruits from Morocco risked their young lives to save my life in the 1948 war. I was attached to Oriental culture from early childhood.
So, confronted with a vigorous Oriental separation movement, where would I stand? Frankly, I do not know. I certainly would not send the Israeli army and police to put it down. That would be impossible anyhow, considering that most soldiers and police are themselves Mizrahim.
Fortunately, the whole idea is preposterous. Can't happen. Even less than Kurdish or Catalonian separation.
Curiously enough, the Kurds and the Catalans are two peoples I have always liked.
I don't know when I started to like the Kurds or why. In my youth, Kurds were considered nice but primitive. The saying "Ana Kurdi" (Arabic for "I am a Kurd") meant that I am a simple person who fulfills his task without asking questions.
Jewish immigrants from Iraqi Kurdistan spoke of their former hosts with affection – unlike most Jewish immigrants from other countries.
In the 1950s I came to know a semi-clandestine cell of Egyptian Jewish émigrés in Paris. They assisted the Algerian struggle for independence – a cause which I fervently supported myself. Its leader was Henri Curiel, and one of its members was a young Egyptian Jewish woman, Joyce Blau, who was also an ardent supporter of the Kurdish cause. This was also the field of her academic studies.
Through her, I learned more about the Kurdish story, or tragedy. Though Kurdistan is a compact territory, it is divided into pieces that belong to different states – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, with more communities dispersed in other countries.
At the end of World War I, there was an effort to set up a Kurdish state, but the rapaciousness of the victors and the re-emergence of a strong Turkey made this impossible. The Kurds themselves were not completely blameless: they were and are consistently unable to unite. Their leading families act against each other.
After having set up the "Israeli Council for Algerian Independence", I found an Israeli group of immigrants from Iraqi Kurdistan and together we founded the "Israeli Council for an Independent Kurdistan".
As a member, I had some unforgettable experiences. Twice I was invited to address mass meetings of Kurds in Germany. Mass meetings in the literal sense: huge numbers of Kurds from all over Europe cheered my speech, quite a boost for my ego.
My efforts petered out when I discovered that high-level Israeli army officers were already in Iraqi Kurdistan, helping to train the Peshmerga ("Before Death") guerrillas. The motive of the Israeli government in sending them there was quite cynical: to undermine the Iraqi state, according to the eternal Roman maxim "Divide et Impera", divide and rule.
How did they get there? Easy, they were under the benevolent protection of the Shah of Iran. But one day the Shah made peace with Saddam Hussein, and that was the end of this particular Israeli project. When the Shah was toppled and Iran became Israel's deadly enemy, Israeli military intervention in Kurdistan became impossible.
But the sentiment remains. I believe that the Kurds deserve independence, especially if they are able to unite. Since they are blessed – or cursed – with oil riches, foreign interests are deeply involved.
There Is no similarity whatsoever between the Kurds and the Catalans, except that I like them both.
Catalonia is a highly developed country, and during my several short visits there I felt quite at home. Like all tourists, I strolled in the Rambla of Barcelona – both Hebrew names, so it seems. They are remnants from the times when Spain was a colony of Carthago, a city founded by Semitic people from Phoenicia, who spoke a kind of Hebrew. Barcelona is probably derived from Barak (lightning in Hebrew), and Rambla from the Arabic Ramle (sandy.)
Trouble is, I also love other parts of Spain, especially places like Cordoba and Sevilla. Would be a pity to break it up. On the other hand, one cannot really prevent a people from achieving its independence, if it wants to.
Fortunately, nobody asks me.
The Larger question is why smaller and smaller peoples want independence, when the world is creating larger and larger political units?
It looks like a paradox, but really isn't.
We in this generation are witnessing the end of the nation state, which has dominated world history for the last few hundred years. It was born out of necessity. Small countries were unable to build modern mass industries which depended on a large domestic market. They could not defend themselves, when modern armies required more and more sophisticated weapons. Even cultural development depended on larger language-areas.
So Wales and Scotland joined England, Savoy and Sicily created Italy, Corsica and the Provence joined France. Small nationalities joined larger ones. It was necessary for survival.
History is moving on, and now even the nation-State is not large enough to compete. States unite in ever-larger units, such as the European Union. I have no doubt that by the end of this century, there will be in place an effective world government, turning the entire world effectively into one state. (If some extra-terrestrials threaten this world, it will help.)
So how does the separation into smaller and smaller states fit this trend? Simply, if the state of Spain is not necessary anymore for economic and military purposes and its central functions are moving from Madrid to Brussels, why shouldn't the Catalans and the Basques secede and join the Union under their own flags? Look at Yugoslavia, look even at the Soviet Union. Germany is the great exception but it is quite large by itself.
The two processes are not contradictory, they complement each other.
The idiotic Brexit is ahistorical. But if the Scots and the Welsh want to separate from England, they will succeed.
I have great respect for the power of nationalism. In our era, it has prove, to be stronger than religion, communism or any other creed. It is strongest when it combines with religion, as in the Arab world. So the nationalism of small peoples will gain satisfaction in football games, while the real business will be conducted elsewhere.
At This very moment, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, is busy with enacting a new law, called the Nation Law, which is intended to make clear that the Jewishness of the Jewish State takes precedence over democracy and human rights.
Israel has no constitution, but until now it was assumed that Israel was equally "Jewish" and "democratic". The new law is about to abolish that notion.
As usual, we are one or two centuries behind world history.
Uri Avnery is a veteran Israeli peace activist. He writes @ Gush Shalom
The Egyptian Connection
Catch the caravan to Cairo! That’s the economic message which controversial commentator, Dr John Coulter, outlines in his Fearless Flying Column today. He maintains that a Cairo Celtic Alliance is one of the platforms needed to combat the Brexit ‘blues’.
In spite of being a staunch Euro skeptic throughout all my journalistic career, us Brexiteers need to deliver the goods once the United Kingdom quits the European Union in 2019, and one method is to establish a Cairo Celtic Alliance (CCA) with Egypt.
Already, the renowned Egyptian Society of Northern Ireland has been making impressive strides to foster links between the North and Egypt and such a CCA would be a tremendous building block to secure the Northern Ireland economy post Brexit – and lay a firm foundation for the next campaign to persuade the Republic to follow the UK out of the EU.
The list of those from the Egyptian business community who have recently visited the North clearly emphasises how economically lucrative the island is becoming to the Egyptian market.
According to the Egyptian Society of Northern Ireland, the visitors have included Mr Osama Toema, the senior advisor to Minister Sahar Nasr, the Minister of Investment and International Co-operation and the head of promotion at GAFI. This is a success story which it would like to implement in Northern Ireland.
GAFI Egypt is looking to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Irish investment authority. Also visiting was Mr Ali El Halabi, the Managing Director of Cairo Airport Travel. He is looking to meet with companies for joint ventures, agencies and technology transfer.
Could this be the perfect platform for Northern Ireland firms to provide services for Egyptian airports? Are there companies in the North who deal with GPS or speed limit control, provide services to airports, or managing airport parking who could benefit from a joint venture with Egypt?
Then there’s Mr Farag Abaza, the Chairman of African Trade, which is one of the leading trading companies in Egypt and the Middle East which focuses on the needs of COMESA (Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa) countries.
Before the EU became an administrative and political nightmare, the former European Economic Community (EEC) was a perfect model for inter-state European co-operation. COMESA in collaboration with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association could form a strong platform in easing fears about the UK and Ireland post Brexit, and would lay the ideal foundation for Irexit by 2020.
Another important businessman in the delegation was Mr Mohamed Zakaria Mohyedin, the managing director of National Co. for Chemical Industries. He is seeking to meet with companies which specialise in manufacturing adhesives for industrial markets, so could Brexit witness a growth in adhesives manufacturing in Northern Ireland?
Part of the delegation also included Mr Alfred Assil, who is CEO of Mena Rail, which works in transport and logistics. He is seeking to conduct joint ventures with engineering companies, project management and operators.
The key point is that the Northern Ireland economy should be moving towards a situation where the EU needs us more than we need the EU. To achieve this post Brexit economic paradise, Northern Ireland needs to think well outside the box beyond traditional partners, such as the United States and the wider North American market. It would appear there are rich pickings for the Northern Ireland economy in Egypt and the wider Middle Eastern economy.
Ireland was always seen as being an integral part of the British Empire and to many Irish folk, ‘imperialism’ was a dirty word. But especially in Africa, there has been an unofficial Irish Empire established. This is not just a reference to the many people of Irish ancestry who have emigrated to numerous parts of the globe. The role of the so-called Irish Diaspora can never be understated, we should never forget the thousands of Christian missionaries which Ireland has sent across the world over the centuries. This is a mini empire in itself.
Even if we take Africa as a current benchmark, look at the thousands who are dying of thirst, malnutrition, and other conditions if only the former imperial nations would step back into the continent and run things again.
In this respect, I’m calling for the establishment of an Irish Empire in Africa. Yes, the CCA will work as an effective partnership in modern nations, such as Egypt.
But there are countless examples in the wider African continent where traditional tribalism post independence has got vastly out of control and corruption by tribal governments has seen thousands die in poverty and civil war.
Using the groundwork laid by Ireland’s vast former legions of Christian missionaries, the Emerald Isle could coin another phrase to be added to the modern political vocabulary – New Imperialism.
Look at the number of African states where Irish Christian missionaries have and currently work. If Ireland can send it legions of missionaries to help Africa, it can send experts in democratic politics, infrastructure, economic growth and education to rebuild and reshape those African nations ravaged by poverty and strife.
Some prophets of doom are predicting economic chaos for Ireland, north and south, once Brexit becomes a financial reality in 2019. So let’s be positive – long live Ireland’s New Imperialism and its first building block is the CCA.
John Coulter is a unionist political commentator and former Blanket columnist. Follow John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter
In spite of being a staunch Euro skeptic throughout all my journalistic career, us Brexiteers need to deliver the goods once the United Kingdom quits the European Union in 2019, and one method is to establish a Cairo Celtic Alliance (CCA) with Egypt.
Already, the renowned Egyptian Society of Northern Ireland has been making impressive strides to foster links between the North and Egypt and such a CCA would be a tremendous building block to secure the Northern Ireland economy post Brexit – and lay a firm foundation for the next campaign to persuade the Republic to follow the UK out of the EU.
The list of those from the Egyptian business community who have recently visited the North clearly emphasises how economically lucrative the island is becoming to the Egyptian market.
According to the Egyptian Society of Northern Ireland, the visitors have included Mr Osama Toema, the senior advisor to Minister Sahar Nasr, the Minister of Investment and International Co-operation and the head of promotion at GAFI. This is a success story which it would like to implement in Northern Ireland.
GAFI Egypt is looking to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Irish investment authority. Also visiting was Mr Ali El Halabi, the Managing Director of Cairo Airport Travel. He is looking to meet with companies for joint ventures, agencies and technology transfer.
Could this be the perfect platform for Northern Ireland firms to provide services for Egyptian airports? Are there companies in the North who deal with GPS or speed limit control, provide services to airports, or managing airport parking who could benefit from a joint venture with Egypt?
Then there’s Mr Farag Abaza, the Chairman of African Trade, which is one of the leading trading companies in Egypt and the Middle East which focuses on the needs of COMESA (Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa) countries.
Before the EU became an administrative and political nightmare, the former European Economic Community (EEC) was a perfect model for inter-state European co-operation. COMESA in collaboration with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association could form a strong platform in easing fears about the UK and Ireland post Brexit, and would lay the ideal foundation for Irexit by 2020.
Another important businessman in the delegation was Mr Mohamed Zakaria Mohyedin, the managing director of National Co. for Chemical Industries. He is seeking to meet with companies which specialise in manufacturing adhesives for industrial markets, so could Brexit witness a growth in adhesives manufacturing in Northern Ireland?
Part of the delegation also included Mr Alfred Assil, who is CEO of Mena Rail, which works in transport and logistics. He is seeking to conduct joint ventures with engineering companies, project management and operators.
The key point is that the Northern Ireland economy should be moving towards a situation where the EU needs us more than we need the EU. To achieve this post Brexit economic paradise, Northern Ireland needs to think well outside the box beyond traditional partners, such as the United States and the wider North American market. It would appear there are rich pickings for the Northern Ireland economy in Egypt and the wider Middle Eastern economy.
Ireland was always seen as being an integral part of the British Empire and to many Irish folk, ‘imperialism’ was a dirty word. But especially in Africa, there has been an unofficial Irish Empire established. This is not just a reference to the many people of Irish ancestry who have emigrated to numerous parts of the globe. The role of the so-called Irish Diaspora can never be understated, we should never forget the thousands of Christian missionaries which Ireland has sent across the world over the centuries. This is a mini empire in itself.
Even if we take Africa as a current benchmark, look at the thousands who are dying of thirst, malnutrition, and other conditions if only the former imperial nations would step back into the continent and run things again.
In this respect, I’m calling for the establishment of an Irish Empire in Africa. Yes, the CCA will work as an effective partnership in modern nations, such as Egypt.
But there are countless examples in the wider African continent where traditional tribalism post independence has got vastly out of control and corruption by tribal governments has seen thousands die in poverty and civil war.
Using the groundwork laid by Ireland’s vast former legions of Christian missionaries, the Emerald Isle could coin another phrase to be added to the modern political vocabulary – New Imperialism.
Look at the number of African states where Irish Christian missionaries have and currently work. If Ireland can send it legions of missionaries to help Africa, it can send experts in democratic politics, infrastructure, economic growth and education to rebuild and reshape those African nations ravaged by poverty and strife.
Some prophets of doom are predicting economic chaos for Ireland, north and south, once Brexit becomes a financial reality in 2019. So let’s be positive – long live Ireland’s New Imperialism and its first building block is the CCA.
John Coulter is a unionist political commentator and former Blanket columnist. Follow John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter
November 12, 2017
Dark Dawn
Anthony McIntyre reviews a crime novel set in Belfast in 2005.
This one, I read around the time I was tackling the disappointing The Twelve by Stuart Neville. Matt McGuire has penned a much better book, and for anyone who has had the misfortune of reading The Twelve, McGuire’s debut novel, Dark Dawn will speed up the recovery process. I confess to being somewhat baffled as to why some readers tend to feel McGuire and Neville as novelists have a lot in common.
Dark Dawn is very police centred but despite the crossover in time it avoids becoming thematically weighed down by the RUC, despite the PSNI facelift being a recent phenomenon. The past echoes for sure but the modernity of Belfast is captured in the existence of East European gangs. The city is grimy and grubby but never without its characters or humour. Focusing on Marty and Petsey, two local hoods, and allowing them considerably more than a cameo role, helped bathe in light the darkness at dawn.
And if the inclusion of a former republican prisoner with issues is obligatory, it is much better employed in Dark Dawn by McGuire than it was by Neville.
The main character is a PSNI detective, John O’Neill. A “peeler” with six years’ experience, having joined the RUC shortly after the Good Friday Agreement. He is tasked with a murder investigation once the body of a teenager is found on a building site close to the Markets area of Belfast. The past or the present is a question that invites consideration when the autopsy shows that the victim had been kneecapped prior to death. Belfast 2005, the line between now and then was even more blurred than it is today. And that is hardly a matter of clarity.
The reader gets a better feel for the time if they think back to the killing in Belfast in the very same month, January, of Robert McCartney, beaten and knifed to death by a gang enmeshed in the structures and history of the Provisional IRA in the city. That vile attack occurred within close proximity to the murder victim in Dark Dawn.
Based in the peace process the narrative draws a picture of nettles rather than roses. The aura exuded by Belfast is audibly prickly. It is drab place immersed in the problems that many other cities experience, but with years of violence under their belt there is no supply of old hands willing to carry on using force for ends not remotely regarded as political.
One element of RUC culture remains as strong as ever: a general indifference to the victim which complicates the investigation even further. The general interest simply lacks the push to throw up leads. Yet if he fails to deliver O’Neill knows people more senior people will have it in for him.
The perennial authority figure and bane to O'Neill is to be found in Chief Inspector Wilson who doesn’t take to O’Neill acting up as sergeant. Despite the difficulties in the investigation, O’Neill has the protection and confidence of Detective Inspector Ward. But a review board sits in a matter of days and his tenure as sergeant is by no means secure.
Many fictional police characters are plagued by a combination marriage break up and drink problems, and in respect of the first O’Neill is not an exception. Still he is no Harry Hole and it is unlikely that his character could ever have taken off and reach the heights that the Norwegian detective phenomenon did.
A satisfying read, it at times allows the PSNI to come over as an almost normal police force, not endlessly consumed with covering up for the killers and torturers who once poisoned the well the PSNI continues to drink from.
Matt Maguire, 2013, Dark Dawn . Publisher C & R Crime. ISBN-13: 978-1780338705.
Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.
Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre
This one, I read around the time I was tackling the disappointing The Twelve by Stuart Neville. Matt McGuire has penned a much better book, and for anyone who has had the misfortune of reading The Twelve, McGuire’s debut novel, Dark Dawn will speed up the recovery process. I confess to being somewhat baffled as to why some readers tend to feel McGuire and Neville as novelists have a lot in common.
Dark Dawn is very police centred but despite the crossover in time it avoids becoming thematically weighed down by the RUC, despite the PSNI facelift being a recent phenomenon. The past echoes for sure but the modernity of Belfast is captured in the existence of East European gangs. The city is grimy and grubby but never without its characters or humour. Focusing on Marty and Petsey, two local hoods, and allowing them considerably more than a cameo role, helped bathe in light the darkness at dawn.
And if the inclusion of a former republican prisoner with issues is obligatory, it is much better employed in Dark Dawn by McGuire than it was by Neville.
The main character is a PSNI detective, John O’Neill. A “peeler” with six years’ experience, having joined the RUC shortly after the Good Friday Agreement. He is tasked with a murder investigation once the body of a teenager is found on a building site close to the Markets area of Belfast. The past or the present is a question that invites consideration when the autopsy shows that the victim had been kneecapped prior to death. Belfast 2005, the line between now and then was even more blurred than it is today. And that is hardly a matter of clarity.
The reader gets a better feel for the time if they think back to the killing in Belfast in the very same month, January, of Robert McCartney, beaten and knifed to death by a gang enmeshed in the structures and history of the Provisional IRA in the city. That vile attack occurred within close proximity to the murder victim in Dark Dawn.
Based in the peace process the narrative draws a picture of nettles rather than roses. The aura exuded by Belfast is audibly prickly. It is drab place immersed in the problems that many other cities experience, but with years of violence under their belt there is no supply of old hands willing to carry on using force for ends not remotely regarded as political.
One element of RUC culture remains as strong as ever: a general indifference to the victim which complicates the investigation even further. The general interest simply lacks the push to throw up leads. Yet if he fails to deliver O’Neill knows people more senior people will have it in for him.
The perennial authority figure and bane to O'Neill is to be found in Chief Inspector Wilson who doesn’t take to O’Neill acting up as sergeant. Despite the difficulties in the investigation, O’Neill has the protection and confidence of Detective Inspector Ward. But a review board sits in a matter of days and his tenure as sergeant is by no means secure.
Many fictional police characters are plagued by a combination marriage break up and drink problems, and in respect of the first O’Neill is not an exception. Still he is no Harry Hole and it is unlikely that his character could ever have taken off and reach the heights that the Norwegian detective phenomenon did.
A satisfying read, it at times allows the PSNI to come over as an almost normal police force, not endlessly consumed with covering up for the killers and torturers who once poisoned the well the PSNI continues to drink from.
Matt Maguire, 2013, Dark Dawn . Publisher C & R Crime. ISBN-13: 978-1780338705.
Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre
Your Belief, Not Mine
From Atheist Republic a piece by Lizmari M. Collazo addressing religious nonsense.
I was a believer for 30 some years of my life. I've been catholic, presbyterian, fundamentalist non-denominational creationist... I've been a lot of things. I am now an atheist.
It's been a long journey of self awareness and introspection. And I am at peace where I am, and with what I understand about life and living. I've lost loved ones both as a believer, and as a non-believer.
But I've come to a point where I find it challenging relating to many believers because they speak to us atheists as if we had never heard of their god or ever read their bible, or ever studied the proper apologetical arguments for their faith, or the problem of evil, or that we never realized we could be comforted by their beliefs, or the words of Jesus, or the Psalms, or that we're somehow angry at their god, or that we have poor character because we gave up and didn't try hard enough, or that we were never true believers to begin with, or anything else. (Otherwise, you know, we'd convert right away!)
As if we had made a sloppy, poorly thought choice -- when if I have ever scrutinized anything deeply... it was leaving my beliefs. And it was painful -- not because I was "hurt" by a god, but because I didn't want to leave faith, and it was Not easy. It was a security blanket from which I did not wish to part, and it took a Lot of scrutinizing and study.
But all of this is kind of like someone demanding you not just like and love their favorite flavor of ice cream, but declare it's the only flavor, and the best flavor, ever... If only you'd try it (but those other 3000 times you tried it do not count.)
Imagine if someone accused a Christian and said the only reason they don't believe in Mohammed, or Vishnu, or Wotan, or Thor, is because they are angry at them, or once got hurt by them, or are rebellious, etc? Yeah. It's exactly like that. Like accusing someone of being angry at Santa because he didn't bring them presents, and then you proceeded to comfort them with "He had a reason, and he works in mysterious ways... and you'll get a much better present next year..." It's only a serious and sacred belief to you, and not to me. But I guess that makes people feel like they need to shine a personal light on why They believe, or if they are strong enough believers or not, and so they begin nagging the rest of us. Some will claim that they simply care, and need to save us desperately... but they conveniently forget they don't wield the same amount of disrespect for people who are already a part of a different religion. Just to us atheists, who I guess they might think are a blank slate for their carving.
Even as I say these words, already someone out there is thinking I'm angry, and bitter... and wishing and hoping one day I'll find the 'true peace of Jesus' or Really know or understand, one day.
No -- let me decipher that for you: What you are Really thinking to yourself is "What do They know that I don't know, that made them leave their faith? I had better strengthen My faith, and put Their experience down, because it can't possibly have any validity to reality... Their decision hurts the strength of my own choice, so I had better downplay their choice, and just claim they're doing it wrong. They just don't know what they're doing -- that's it."
There, I fixed it for you. And yes, belief is a frail thing. That's why the Bible spends So Much language attacking reason, attacking doubt, attacking relying on your own mind. It makes you doubt your own self and your own senses... 'If you don't believe, you're a bad person... or you're foolish...' or even more conveniently, 'God has confused man's wisdom, so he thinks crazy things are wisdom.'
The big problem is, of course, that this makes faith unfalsifiable. "Believe, because you can't tell it's not real anyway, because I've confounded your reason, anyway." Of course, why give anyone the ability to reason and doubt and discern, when supposedly all that is foolish anyway, right? Oh no, it's a test... it's 'mysterious ways' -- except, all of this is not exclusive proof for your religion, but proof of Every unfalsifiable belief, and every religion, so it makes all of it irredeemable.
Follow Atheist Republic on Twitter @AtheistRepublic
I was a believer for 30 some years of my life. I've been catholic, presbyterian, fundamentalist non-denominational creationist... I've been a lot of things. I am now an atheist.
It's been a long journey of self awareness and introspection. And I am at peace where I am, and with what I understand about life and living. I've lost loved ones both as a believer, and as a non-believer.
But I've come to a point where I find it challenging relating to many believers because they speak to us atheists as if we had never heard of their god or ever read their bible, or ever studied the proper apologetical arguments for their faith, or the problem of evil, or that we never realized we could be comforted by their beliefs, or the words of Jesus, or the Psalms, or that we're somehow angry at their god, or that we have poor character because we gave up and didn't try hard enough, or that we were never true believers to begin with, or anything else. (Otherwise, you know, we'd convert right away!)
As if we had made a sloppy, poorly thought choice -- when if I have ever scrutinized anything deeply... it was leaving my beliefs. And it was painful -- not because I was "hurt" by a god, but because I didn't want to leave faith, and it was Not easy. It was a security blanket from which I did not wish to part, and it took a Lot of scrutinizing and study.
But all of this is kind of like someone demanding you not just like and love their favorite flavor of ice cream, but declare it's the only flavor, and the best flavor, ever... If only you'd try it (but those other 3000 times you tried it do not count.)
Imagine if someone accused a Christian and said the only reason they don't believe in Mohammed, or Vishnu, or Wotan, or Thor, is because they are angry at them, or once got hurt by them, or are rebellious, etc? Yeah. It's exactly like that. Like accusing someone of being angry at Santa because he didn't bring them presents, and then you proceeded to comfort them with "He had a reason, and he works in mysterious ways... and you'll get a much better present next year..." It's only a serious and sacred belief to you, and not to me. But I guess that makes people feel like they need to shine a personal light on why They believe, or if they are strong enough believers or not, and so they begin nagging the rest of us. Some will claim that they simply care, and need to save us desperately... but they conveniently forget they don't wield the same amount of disrespect for people who are already a part of a different religion. Just to us atheists, who I guess they might think are a blank slate for their carving.
Even as I say these words, already someone out there is thinking I'm angry, and bitter... and wishing and hoping one day I'll find the 'true peace of Jesus' or Really know or understand, one day.
No -- let me decipher that for you: What you are Really thinking to yourself is "What do They know that I don't know, that made them leave their faith? I had better strengthen My faith, and put Their experience down, because it can't possibly have any validity to reality... Their decision hurts the strength of my own choice, so I had better downplay their choice, and just claim they're doing it wrong. They just don't know what they're doing -- that's it."
There, I fixed it for you. And yes, belief is a frail thing. That's why the Bible spends So Much language attacking reason, attacking doubt, attacking relying on your own mind. It makes you doubt your own self and your own senses... 'If you don't believe, you're a bad person... or you're foolish...' or even more conveniently, 'God has confused man's wisdom, so he thinks crazy things are wisdom.'
The big problem is, of course, that this makes faith unfalsifiable. "Believe, because you can't tell it's not real anyway, because I've confounded your reason, anyway." Of course, why give anyone the ability to reason and doubt and discern, when supposedly all that is foolish anyway, right? Oh no, it's a test... it's 'mysterious ways' -- except, all of this is not exclusive proof for your religion, but proof of Every unfalsifiable belief, and every religion, so it makes all of it irredeemable.
Follow Atheist Republic on Twitter @AtheistRepublic
November 11, 2017
Lost Souls, Lost Causes & Los Insurgentes
Sean Mallory casts his sceptical eye over events at home and in foreign countries such as England, the US and Spain.
In response to two DUP politicians forced to flee a meeting in Derry concerning £12.5m worth of cuts to health services in the North West, Arlene Foster hit out at the angry crowd's behaviour as
“fascist society rather than a democratic society”....which when we look back at how the democratic and anti-fascist DUP dealt with David Trimble, Giant's Causeway, fracking, Red Sky, NAMA, funding for the Brexit referendum, RHI and the Tory bung, to name but a paltry few, we can wholly appreciate what she means!
Reporting on America's worst mass murder, the Las Vegas shooting, the Belfast Telegraph, never short of quality journalism, managed to unearth two citizens from Norn Iron, from under a restaurant table, who willingly shared their experience of the shooting or as it turned out, lack off.
Oddly, a British state whose citizens uncannily seem to turn up in most natural and unnatural global catastrophes these days.
They related how they escaped unharmed but not unscathed, and described how lucky they were even though they weren’t at the Country and Western festival at all but in a restaurant much further down the Strip during the attack...phew...a story akin to the passenger who could have frozen to death or drowned when they missed the Titanic sailing and therefore wasn’t on the ship when it went down – but just like the couple in Vegas they thought that they would never see their kids again.....until they went home that is!
Gary Middleton, DUP MLA for Foyle and a very vocal supporter of Foster, made a slam dunk of a lie when he claimed that 25% of his clients calling in to his office were Nationalists from the Bogside and the Creggan. A person's religious background has no bearing on Gary's perception of them. Which kind of explains his membership of the DUP and not a party like the Greens.
Beating him to the gong for the biggest lie 2017, an unnamed Linfield fan who apparently criticising the singing of sectarian and racist songs by the Rangers fans in amongst them at the Challenge Cup in Scotland, finished off his criticism with these words about his fellow Linfield supporters, “Many of them wouldn’t even know the words of the songs......”
Songs such as those mocking Bobby Sands, Rule Britannia and I was born under a Union Jack and of course The Billy Boys....
Robin Newton, speaker of the empty Stormont Assembly, and a role that exemplified his non-partisanship when he refused to allow questions on the DUP's role and allocation of funding for UDA controlled community projects, was revealed as an advisor on one of these UDA run committees. Newton, still receiving his salary amounting to £87,000 + per annum, circumvented the concern in age old DUP tradition by simply denying any disreputable and unethical behaviour or wrong doing. Especially when he abused his position as Speaker to deny questions being raised in the Assembly on the matter as it directly involved himself in the murky affair. Arlene's hubris display for Robin maintaining the party line of ‘no surrender’, was a joy to behold.
James Brokenshire, the hapless Secretary of State for Norn Iron and DUP lackey, and never one to backtrack, continued to draw lines in the sand on the parties involved in the Stormont talks, even after the talks had finished.
Brokenshire, something of an expert in deadlines, spoke of his conviction (nothing criminal mind you, just a profound belief like a child's belief in Santa Claus) that a deal could be reached by the end of the month but warned the parties involved that if not, then he would be compelled by his ministerial position to draw another line in the sand and he wasn’t having any of it. Shortly after, the security guard told him they had all gone home and could he leave as he wanted to lock up .... the match was on.
Elsewhere
Theresa May, back from her calamitous Tory conference, and her band of Brexiteers continue to turn on each other with contradicting statements on the current state of Brexit negotiations. But generally all in all agree that it is going swimmingly irrespective of the whispers. Theresa, fighting for her political life since the disastrous general election, has quietly implored the EU negotiators lead by Barnier and Juncker to throw her a life line. It has been alleged that she was overheard saying: for fucks sake you froggie bastards better cut me some slack here or you’ll have that fuck’n rubber head Johnson to deal with.
Juncker’s response was to point out that he wasn’t French. Barnier enquired as to what ‘froggies’ were.
Bookies have since drastically cut her odds on being deposed as party leader.
President Trump continued to explain the world through the eyes of Stevie Wonder by denying his own words to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson killed in Niger. An attack that still remains unexplained as to what American soldiers were doing there.
President Trump, never one to allow reality to tint his vision, having reportedly expressed his condolences in a rather frank and candid manner, and flawed in compassion and sincerity, denied such but only to have his denial flung back in his face by White House staff who confirmed the reported conversation. In true Trump fashion he still denied it.
After weeks of speculation and much fascist antagonism, Carles ‘the heckle’ Puigdemont, once president of the Spanish province of Catalan and pro-independence agitator and his los insurgentes or Insurrectos, has become the most wanted man in Spanish history after declaring Catalan's independence from Spain and after a democratically run referendum too.
An announcement of independence like that of Masoud Barzani and the Kurdish declaration of independence, was unilaterally denounced worldwide by democratically elected States.
A declaration having initially been joyously and rapturously received in the provincial parliament, quickly turned to a satire as Madrid issued arrest warrants for rebellion against Carles and his amigos. Hastily packed Gucci luggage cases thrown in to the back of a Mark IV Cortina and a break for the geographical border saw Carlos and the lads flee the province to Brazil...eh,no......Porto Rico....no, not there....the Domimican Republic....no....but to the heart of the EU, Brussels. A city renowned for harbouring rebels and revolutionaries.
At a carefully convened press conference Carles has stated that he cannot return to Spain as he fears for his life especially since he faces 30 years behind bars. Although, he did state that he is willing to recognise Madrid's call for elections in December as long as they are fair....good luck with that one Carles!
Sean Mallory is a Tyrone republican and TPQ columnist
In response to two DUP politicians forced to flee a meeting in Derry concerning £12.5m worth of cuts to health services in the North West, Arlene Foster hit out at the angry crowd's behaviour as
“fascist society rather than a democratic society”....which when we look back at how the democratic and anti-fascist DUP dealt with David Trimble, Giant's Causeway, fracking, Red Sky, NAMA, funding for the Brexit referendum, RHI and the Tory bung, to name but a paltry few, we can wholly appreciate what she means!
Reporting on America's worst mass murder, the Las Vegas shooting, the Belfast Telegraph, never short of quality journalism, managed to unearth two citizens from Norn Iron, from under a restaurant table, who willingly shared their experience of the shooting or as it turned out, lack off.
Oddly, a British state whose citizens uncannily seem to turn up in most natural and unnatural global catastrophes these days.
They related how they escaped unharmed but not unscathed, and described how lucky they were even though they weren’t at the Country and Western festival at all but in a restaurant much further down the Strip during the attack...phew...a story akin to the passenger who could have frozen to death or drowned when they missed the Titanic sailing and therefore wasn’t on the ship when it went down – but just like the couple in Vegas they thought that they would never see their kids again.....until they went home that is!
Gary Middleton, DUP MLA for Foyle and a very vocal supporter of Foster, made a slam dunk of a lie when he claimed that 25% of his clients calling in to his office were Nationalists from the Bogside and the Creggan. A person's religious background has no bearing on Gary's perception of them. Which kind of explains his membership of the DUP and not a party like the Greens.
Beating him to the gong for the biggest lie 2017, an unnamed Linfield fan who apparently criticising the singing of sectarian and racist songs by the Rangers fans in amongst them at the Challenge Cup in Scotland, finished off his criticism with these words about his fellow Linfield supporters, “Many of them wouldn’t even know the words of the songs......”
Songs such as those mocking Bobby Sands, Rule Britannia and I was born under a Union Jack and of course The Billy Boys....
Robin Newton, speaker of the empty Stormont Assembly, and a role that exemplified his non-partisanship when he refused to allow questions on the DUP's role and allocation of funding for UDA controlled community projects, was revealed as an advisor on one of these UDA run committees. Newton, still receiving his salary amounting to £87,000 + per annum, circumvented the concern in age old DUP tradition by simply denying any disreputable and unethical behaviour or wrong doing. Especially when he abused his position as Speaker to deny questions being raised in the Assembly on the matter as it directly involved himself in the murky affair. Arlene's hubris display for Robin maintaining the party line of ‘no surrender’, was a joy to behold.
James Brokenshire, the hapless Secretary of State for Norn Iron and DUP lackey, and never one to backtrack, continued to draw lines in the sand on the parties involved in the Stormont talks, even after the talks had finished.
Brokenshire, something of an expert in deadlines, spoke of his conviction (nothing criminal mind you, just a profound belief like a child's belief in Santa Claus) that a deal could be reached by the end of the month but warned the parties involved that if not, then he would be compelled by his ministerial position to draw another line in the sand and he wasn’t having any of it. Shortly after, the security guard told him they had all gone home and could he leave as he wanted to lock up .... the match was on.
Elsewhere
Theresa May, back from her calamitous Tory conference, and her band of Brexiteers continue to turn on each other with contradicting statements on the current state of Brexit negotiations. But generally all in all agree that it is going swimmingly irrespective of the whispers. Theresa, fighting for her political life since the disastrous general election, has quietly implored the EU negotiators lead by Barnier and Juncker to throw her a life line. It has been alleged that she was overheard saying: for fucks sake you froggie bastards better cut me some slack here or you’ll have that fuck’n rubber head Johnson to deal with.
Juncker’s response was to point out that he wasn’t French. Barnier enquired as to what ‘froggies’ were.
Bookies have since drastically cut her odds on being deposed as party leader.
President Trump continued to explain the world through the eyes of Stevie Wonder by denying his own words to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson killed in Niger. An attack that still remains unexplained as to what American soldiers were doing there.
President Trump, never one to allow reality to tint his vision, having reportedly expressed his condolences in a rather frank and candid manner, and flawed in compassion and sincerity, denied such but only to have his denial flung back in his face by White House staff who confirmed the reported conversation. In true Trump fashion he still denied it.
After weeks of speculation and much fascist antagonism, Carles ‘the heckle’ Puigdemont, once president of the Spanish province of Catalan and pro-independence agitator and his los insurgentes or Insurrectos, has become the most wanted man in Spanish history after declaring Catalan's independence from Spain and after a democratically run referendum too.
An announcement of independence like that of Masoud Barzani and the Kurdish declaration of independence, was unilaterally denounced worldwide by democratically elected States.
A declaration having initially been joyously and rapturously received in the provincial parliament, quickly turned to a satire as Madrid issued arrest warrants for rebellion against Carles and his amigos. Hastily packed Gucci luggage cases thrown in to the back of a Mark IV Cortina and a break for the geographical border saw Carlos and the lads flee the province to Brazil...eh,no......Porto Rico....no, not there....the Domimican Republic....no....but to the heart of the EU, Brussels. A city renowned for harbouring rebels and revolutionaries.
At a carefully convened press conference Carles has stated that he cannot return to Spain as he fears for his life especially since he faces 30 years behind bars. Although, he did state that he is willing to recognise Madrid's call for elections in December as long as they are fair....good luck with that one Carles!
Sean Mallory is a Tyrone republican and TPQ columnist
Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting 11 November 2017
Martin Galvin
with details of this weekend's broadcast from
Radio Free Eireann.
Radio Free Eireann will broadcast this Saturday November 11th on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.at 12 noon-1pm New York time or 5pm-6pm Irish time or anytime after the program on wbai.org/archives.
Author, political commentator and former Republican political prisoner Anthony McIntyre will cover the latest on the Stormont talks breakdown, prospects of direct British rule, possible Statute of Limitations on British Army murders, and Theresa May's sinking leadership.
Prominent Republican Dominic Og McGlinchey will discuss the Heffron controversy and why Catholics who join the constabulary are still regarded with hostility by the nationalist community.
John McDonagh Will Give Us The Latest On His One Man Show, Off The Meter: On The Record, now Extended At The Irish Repertory Theatre.
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.
Radio Free Eireann will broadcast this Saturday November 11th on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.at 12 noon-1pm New York time or 5pm-6pm Irish time or anytime after the program on wbai.org/archives.
Author, political commentator and former Republican political prisoner Anthony McIntyre will cover the latest on the Stormont talks breakdown, prospects of direct British rule, possible Statute of Limitations on British Army murders, and Theresa May's sinking leadership.
Prominent Republican Dominic Og McGlinchey will discuss the Heffron controversy and why Catholics who join the constabulary are still regarded with hostility by the nationalist community.
John McDonagh Will Give Us The Latest On His One Man Show, Off The Meter: On The Record, now Extended At The Irish Repertory Theatre.
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.
November 10, 2017
Gabriel Mackle Interned
Statement by Republican Sinn Féin on the arrest of Gabriel Mackle.
They were acting on an order from the British Secretary of State for the Six Counties revoking Gabriel’s licence.
This is effectively internment and is based solely on Gabriel Mackle’s political beliefs. He is at present being held in Banbridge RUC/PSNI barracks and will be brought to Maghaberry prison in the morning.
Gabriel Mackle is being interned for no other reason than his adherence to his Republican beliefs. The British Government are once more using internment to silence opposition to their continued occupation and partition of Ireland.
Republican Sinn Féin calls for the immediate release of political internee Gabriel Mackle.
Fitz In Fantasy Land
Thomas Fitzgerald’s review of Out of the Ashes by Robert W White appeared in the October issue of the Dublin Review of Books and is available here. Professor White’s response to that review appears below. Readers are invited to read both pieces to make up their minds on the issues involved.
Dear editors,
In his review of Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement (Social Movements versus Terrorism), Thomas Fitzgerald unfairly damages my reputation as a scholar and undermines the book’s message by suggesting that I consider the ongoing violence of anti-Good Friday Agreement Republicans to be “legitimate”.
He actually praises my argument that “through talking to ‘terrorists’ or non-state insurgents it is easier to understand or evaluate their point of view, rather than simply denouncing and demonising it” and then hypocritically condemns me for presenting the perspective of anti-GFA Republicans.
In reality, Out of the Ashes is unique and important because it presents oral histories from Provisional and anti-GFA Irish Republicans. Fitzgerald describes the end of my chapter on anti-GFA Republicans as “overtly emotional and inappropriate”. He complains that I describe “Wolfe Tone, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Patrick Pearse, and so on” as people who “cannot be co-opted” and then quote from Patrick Pearse’s famous statement, “Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.” Thus:
It is up to the reader to decide whether they consider this to be a socially responsible attitude for any historian/sociologist to take. Fitzgerald conveniently ignores the context of my presentation. The final paragraph of that chapter shows that some Irish Republicans are remarkably committed to their beliefs. I quote an oral history from John Hunt, who was born in 1920, interned by the de Valera government in 1940, and, at ninety-six years of age, spoke at a Republican Sinn Féin event associated with the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Hunt’s remarks outside of the GPO included a quotation from Pearse’s famous oration in 1915 over the grave of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, “the fools, the fools, the fools! — they have left us our Fenian dead.”
After quoting Hunt’s remarks, I wrote that Ireland is filled with people the authorities consider “dangerous” because of their unending commitment to physical force — “Wolfe Tone, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Patrick Pearse, Bobby Sands, Mairéad Farrell and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh” (emphasis added). After noting that the authorities can minimize but not eliminate the threat of violence, I completed the Pearse quotation — “while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”
By leaving out the references to Bobby Sands, Mairéad Farrell, and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Fitzgerald conveniently avoids the influence that Pearse and his ilk have on more contemporary activists. When Fitzgerald asks, “Is White suggesting that the only solution in Northern Ireland is a return to violence, or that violence is inevitable?”, he is either painfully naïve and clueless or simply finds it easy to sidestep inconvenient facts.
Table 5 of Out of the Ashes shows that violence never ended in Northern Ireland; hence, a chapter on anti-GFA Republicans. I don’t know if continued violence is inevitable. I do know that in the past few years Patrick Pearse’s famous oration has been quoted many times by many people. Fitzgerald cutely draws on the punk band Stiff Little Fingers to write that “Pearse’s words were from ‘another time, and another place’”. Can we just assume that everyone believes this, including all those anti-GFA Republicans who refuse to go away? No. If the many different people who have quoted Patrick Pearse these last few years did not explicitly state that his oration was from another time and place, were they socially irresponsible? Put another way: It’s not my fault that most of nationalist Ireland spent most of 2016 celebrating the lives and actions of Patrick Pearse and his comrades. Fitzgerald’s attack on my reputation contributes to an intellectual climate that complemented Section 31 censorship of the Provisionals. With some exceptions, Irish historians, political scientists, and sociologists left it to journalists to investigate a long-term, high-profile conflict in their own back yard. Why? Because they risked condemnation from people like Thomas Fitzgerald. This is not new. In this “Decade of Centenaries”, Irish scholars have published excellent work on the 1916-23 era. However, I wonder if there is so much room for research on that era because it was safer for scholars of that time and place to focus on the Fenians, the Land War, and so on. In 1976, J. Bowyer Bell wrote that when:
Scholars have every right to pursue an interest in events of one thousand years ago, one hundred years ago, or yesterday. At the same time, something is lost if we wait until all of the actors have died before we write about them. Many sociologists and political scientists study collective behavior and social movements. And there is a wellknown relationship between the state’s response to dissent and recruitment to protest —sometimes repression leads to more protest, sometimes it reduces protest. Something is bringing recruits to anti-GFA organizations. An Irish social scientist might use oral histories to investigate the influence that the Terrorism Act (2006) and the use of “internment by remand” to silence people like Martin Corey, Stephen Murney, and Tony Taylor have had on recruitment. That probably won’t happen. Why risk being labeled a fellow-traveler, an advocate of violence, or socially irresponsible? If the climate had been more open for Irish social scientists to fully engage with the conflict in Ireland between 1969 and 2005, then perhaps we would be that much closer to a just and lasting peace.
Out of the Ashes is not an apology for political violence, by anyone. The book, and my scholarship in general, is an attempt to help all of us better understand why people engage in small group political violence. That is socially responsible, as readers will see.
Sincerely,
Robert White
Dear editors,
In his review of Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement (Social Movements versus Terrorism), Thomas Fitzgerald unfairly damages my reputation as a scholar and undermines the book’s message by suggesting that I consider the ongoing violence of anti-Good Friday Agreement Republicans to be “legitimate”.
He actually praises my argument that “through talking to ‘terrorists’ or non-state insurgents it is easier to understand or evaluate their point of view, rather than simply denouncing and demonising it” and then hypocritically condemns me for presenting the perspective of anti-GFA Republicans.
In reality, Out of the Ashes is unique and important because it presents oral histories from Provisional and anti-GFA Irish Republicans. Fitzgerald describes the end of my chapter on anti-GFA Republicans as “overtly emotional and inappropriate”. He complains that I describe “Wolfe Tone, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Patrick Pearse, and so on” as people who “cannot be co-opted” and then quote from Patrick Pearse’s famous statement, “Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.” Thus:
Is White suggesting that the only solution in Northern Ireland is a return to violence, or that violence is inevitable? Certainly the sentiments he expressed could give succour to those who take this position.
It is up to the reader to decide whether they consider this to be a socially responsible attitude for any historian/sociologist to take. Fitzgerald conveniently ignores the context of my presentation. The final paragraph of that chapter shows that some Irish Republicans are remarkably committed to their beliefs. I quote an oral history from John Hunt, who was born in 1920, interned by the de Valera government in 1940, and, at ninety-six years of age, spoke at a Republican Sinn Féin event associated with the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Hunt’s remarks outside of the GPO included a quotation from Pearse’s famous oration in 1915 over the grave of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, “the fools, the fools, the fools! — they have left us our Fenian dead.”
After quoting Hunt’s remarks, I wrote that Ireland is filled with people the authorities consider “dangerous” because of their unending commitment to physical force — “Wolfe Tone, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Patrick Pearse, Bobby Sands, Mairéad Farrell and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh” (emphasis added). After noting that the authorities can minimize but not eliminate the threat of violence, I completed the Pearse quotation — “while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”
By leaving out the references to Bobby Sands, Mairéad Farrell, and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Fitzgerald conveniently avoids the influence that Pearse and his ilk have on more contemporary activists. When Fitzgerald asks, “Is White suggesting that the only solution in Northern Ireland is a return to violence, or that violence is inevitable?”, he is either painfully naïve and clueless or simply finds it easy to sidestep inconvenient facts.
Table 5 of Out of the Ashes shows that violence never ended in Northern Ireland; hence, a chapter on anti-GFA Republicans. I don’t know if continued violence is inevitable. I do know that in the past few years Patrick Pearse’s famous oration has been quoted many times by many people. Fitzgerald cutely draws on the punk band Stiff Little Fingers to write that “Pearse’s words were from ‘another time, and another place’”. Can we just assume that everyone believes this, including all those anti-GFA Republicans who refuse to go away? No. If the many different people who have quoted Patrick Pearse these last few years did not explicitly state that his oration was from another time and place, were they socially irresponsible? Put another way: It’s not my fault that most of nationalist Ireland spent most of 2016 celebrating the lives and actions of Patrick Pearse and his comrades. Fitzgerald’s attack on my reputation contributes to an intellectual climate that complemented Section 31 censorship of the Provisionals. With some exceptions, Irish historians, political scientists, and sociologists left it to journalists to investigate a long-term, high-profile conflict in their own back yard. Why? Because they risked condemnation from people like Thomas Fitzgerald. This is not new. In this “Decade of Centenaries”, Irish scholars have published excellent work on the 1916-23 era. However, I wonder if there is so much room for research on that era because it was safer for scholars of that time and place to focus on the Fenians, the Land War, and so on. In 1976, J. Bowyer Bell wrote that when:
the present Troubles began, contemporary Ireland had been ignored by academics, especially Irish academics, except in matters of literature … for many felt that writing seriously about the Irish present only exacerbated old quarrels.
Scholars have every right to pursue an interest in events of one thousand years ago, one hundred years ago, or yesterday. At the same time, something is lost if we wait until all of the actors have died before we write about them. Many sociologists and political scientists study collective behavior and social movements. And there is a wellknown relationship between the state’s response to dissent and recruitment to protest —sometimes repression leads to more protest, sometimes it reduces protest. Something is bringing recruits to anti-GFA organizations. An Irish social scientist might use oral histories to investigate the influence that the Terrorism Act (2006) and the use of “internment by remand” to silence people like Martin Corey, Stephen Murney, and Tony Taylor have had on recruitment. That probably won’t happen. Why risk being labeled a fellow-traveler, an advocate of violence, or socially irresponsible? If the climate had been more open for Irish social scientists to fully engage with the conflict in Ireland between 1969 and 2005, then perhaps we would be that much closer to a just and lasting peace.
Out of the Ashes is not an apology for political violence, by anyone. The book, and my scholarship in general, is an attempt to help all of us better understand why people engage in small group political violence. That is socially responsible, as readers will see.
Sincerely,
Robert White
November 9, 2017
Questions To Be Answered
Daniel Bradley shares his thoughts on Bloody Sunday and the Ballymurphy massacre.
In 1969 nationalist men and women in the Bogside decided enough was enough and they marched for civil rights, they had enough of being treated as second class.
The battle of the Bogside lasted for three days and three nights and they were victorious. That victorious they were able to paint on the gable wall YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY.
At the time the Official IRA had checkpoints on the Lecky road and the RUC were not allowed into the Bog or Creggan. This situation became embarrassing for the British government all over the world.
The unionists were not happy, and they were knocking on the British government’s door 24/7 to change the situation.
The Provisional IRA did so in 1969 when it broke away from what became known as the Official IRA. There were ideological differences, but the main motivation was that the Provisionals felt that not enough had been done to protect Catholic communities in Northern Ireland.
Again, the British government was under pressure from the Unionists, so it had to act and act quickly which the they did and infiltrated the Provisional IRA and using top IRA officers by becoming informers. Using this intelligence they took a step ahead.
The Ballymurphy Massacre was a series of incidents involving the killing of eleven civilians by the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The killings happened between 9 and 11 August 1971, during Operation Demetrius. The shootings have also been called Belfast Bloody Sunday, a reference to another massacre of civilians by the same battalion a few months later.
As you can see they used trained killers who were taught daily shoot to kill guerrilla warfare, this was to stir up Belfast people to allow the Provisional IRA to get bigger, but they were to go another step.
Bloody Sunday (1972) - Wikipedia
Bloody Sunday – sometimes called the Bogside Massacre – was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, when British soldiers ...
After Bloody Sunday again people reacted well over 2000 people in Derry joined the Provisional IRA.
This regiment was sent in to kill innocent people to provoke the nationalist people and the republicans so that they would get up in arms and fight back. And by using the two top IRA informers Derry and Belfast gave the British government the ability to make their next move and that includes killing innocent people and unionists.
You would be aware of MI5 involvement in the Omagh bombing.
Let me take you back to Bloody Friday, the 21st July 1972, where a bomb blasted Belfast.
Maybe people should look up in google Folklore, Northern Ireland Contingency Planning, Operation Folklore. Which began on the 24th July 1972, 3 days after Bloody Friday, but yet I can take you back to the 10th July 1972 where Mr Whitelaw signed at a secret meeting a document which was relevant to Operation Motorman 31st July 1972, originally called Operation Carcan, which would have included Operation Folklore.
The 1st battalion of the parachute regiment as I shared trained daily.
But an ordinary soldier of the army would have been trained from 6 months to a year to go into a built up area like Northern Ireland. That was confirmed at the Manus Deery inquest, and being an ex. Irish army soldier myself I know that this training would have been essential for the ordinary soldier.
So after Bloody Sunday these soldiers were trained to attack Northern Ireland on the 31st July 1972, and for the 6 months the British army intelligence communicated with the British government and Mr Whitelaw signed everything off.
I can also confirm that documents that I have state that the British army were at war with the IRA and therefore I believe there are questions to be asked to both the Provisional IRA and the British government concerning Operation Folklore.
Also online the An Phoblacht tells the same story Brits proposed giving Army carte blanche- 1973 state papers :Operation Folklore, so why would they put 1973 when they knew it was the 24th July 1972. I believe both parties must answer to what I have shared.
Did The British Government Deliberately Cause The Deaths Of Ballymurphy And Bloody Sunday To Create Operation Motorman?
Daniel Bradley is a Derry justice campaigner.
In 1969 nationalist men and women in the Bogside decided enough was enough and they marched for civil rights, they had enough of being treated as second class.
The battle of the Bogside lasted for three days and three nights and they were victorious. That victorious they were able to paint on the gable wall YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY.
At the time the Official IRA had checkpoints on the Lecky road and the RUC were not allowed into the Bog or Creggan. This situation became embarrassing for the British government all over the world.
The unionists were not happy, and they were knocking on the British government’s door 24/7 to change the situation.
The Provisional IRA did so in 1969 when it broke away from what became known as the Official IRA. There were ideological differences, but the main motivation was that the Provisionals felt that not enough had been done to protect Catholic communities in Northern Ireland.
Again, the British government was under pressure from the Unionists, so it had to act and act quickly which the they did and infiltrated the Provisional IRA and using top IRA officers by becoming informers. Using this intelligence they took a step ahead.
The Ballymurphy Massacre was a series of incidents involving the killing of eleven civilians by the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The killings happened between 9 and 11 August 1971, during Operation Demetrius. The shootings have also been called Belfast Bloody Sunday, a reference to another massacre of civilians by the same battalion a few months later.
As you can see they used trained killers who were taught daily shoot to kill guerrilla warfare, this was to stir up Belfast people to allow the Provisional IRA to get bigger, but they were to go another step.
Bloody Sunday (1972) - Wikipedia
Bloody Sunday – sometimes called the Bogside Massacre – was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, when British soldiers ...
After Bloody Sunday again people reacted well over 2000 people in Derry joined the Provisional IRA.
This regiment was sent in to kill innocent people to provoke the nationalist people and the republicans so that they would get up in arms and fight back. And by using the two top IRA informers Derry and Belfast gave the British government the ability to make their next move and that includes killing innocent people and unionists.
You would be aware of MI5 involvement in the Omagh bombing.
Let me take you back to Bloody Friday, the 21st July 1972, where a bomb blasted Belfast.
Maybe people should look up in google Folklore, Northern Ireland Contingency Planning, Operation Folklore. Which began on the 24th July 1972, 3 days after Bloody Friday, but yet I can take you back to the 10th July 1972 where Mr Whitelaw signed at a secret meeting a document which was relevant to Operation Motorman 31st July 1972, originally called Operation Carcan, which would have included Operation Folklore.
The 1st battalion of the parachute regiment as I shared trained daily.
But an ordinary soldier of the army would have been trained from 6 months to a year to go into a built up area like Northern Ireland. That was confirmed at the Manus Deery inquest, and being an ex. Irish army soldier myself I know that this training would have been essential for the ordinary soldier.
So after Bloody Sunday these soldiers were trained to attack Northern Ireland on the 31st July 1972, and for the 6 months the British army intelligence communicated with the British government and Mr Whitelaw signed everything off.
I can also confirm that documents that I have state that the British army were at war with the IRA and therefore I believe there are questions to be asked to both the Provisional IRA and the British government concerning Operation Folklore.
Also online the An Phoblacht tells the same story Brits proposed giving Army carte blanche- 1973 state papers :Operation Folklore, so why would they put 1973 when they knew it was the 24th July 1972. I believe both parties must answer to what I have shared.
Did The British Government Deliberately Cause The Deaths Of Ballymurphy And Bloody Sunday To Create Operation Motorman?
Daniel Bradley is a Derry justice campaigner.
Gerry Conlon's Unknown Truth
Martin Galvin reviews the latest book by Richard O'Rawe for the Irish Echo.
In Guildford there's four
That were picked up and tortured
And framed by the law
And the filth got promotion
But they're still doing time
For being Irish in the wrong place
And at the wrong time (Pogues - Streets of Sorrow)
Once we thought of Gerry Conlon, the 'Guildford Four' and the 'Birmingham Six', as Irish pawns imprisoned by merciless British officials, who knew they were innocent. Later we thought of Gerry Conlon as Daniel Day-Lewis, fist raised in triumph outside the Old Bailey, as portrayed In the Name of the Father.
Now Richard O'Rawe's book In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story reveals that the Belfast man fought a heretofore unknown battle. Walking free from a British prison did not free him from traumatic terrors and nightmares brought about by the terrible injustice he suffered. Money, celebrity and Hollywood fueled his demons. Eventually they drove him to depression, drugs and homelessness.
Gerry Conlon's battle and eventual triumph over these psychological wounds, seem as heroic and dramatic as his battle against imprisonment on a British frame-up. How he came to fight that battle, by fighting for others he identified as victims of injustice, is an uplifting tale of an indomitable Irish spirit.
Richard O'Rawe is uniquely positioned to tell this story. Growing up alongside Gerry Conlon in Belfast, the two were lifelong friends. He also knows British prison brutality firsthand, as a former H-Block Blanketman and important figure in the 1981 Hunger Strike.
His book begins with a foreword by actor Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Donnie Brasco et al.) Depp carries a wallet with the word 'Saoirse' gifted to him by Gerry Conlon, who he describes as "a man I would have taken a bullet for".
O'Rawe recounts how Gerry Conlon, a hippie who left Belfast to get away from the war that O'Rawe and others were fighting, became a symbol of the injustice Conlon thought he left behind.
In 1974, IRA Volunteers strike in Guildford and Woolwich. The British cannot find who did it. Conlon's friend Paul Hill, is picked up, beaten, and names his friends Gerry Conlon, Patrick Armstrong, Carol Richardson and Conlon's relations the Maguires. Conlon is picked up and tortured until he makes a false confession. The British arrest his aunt, uncle, young cousins and Conlon's father Giuseppe, who came to England to help his son. All get convicted and sentenced to the cheers of English tabloid headlines.
In December 1975 after more attacks, the IRA unit members are captured. They immediately proclaim the total innocence of the "Guilford Four" and "Maguire Seven". They use their own trial to demand release of those wrongly imprisoned. The British decide not to admit an embarrassing mistake. Conlon is not released until 1989. His father has died in prison. His aunt's family have served lengthy sentences.
These events are familiar to readers, although O'Rawe has uncovered shocking details about how the British doctored their own forensic expert reports to drop sections which conclusively proved the "Guildford Four" innocent.
However In the Name of the Son O'Rawe weaves together the story of Conlon's journey through Washington, Hollywood, fame and celebrities, then downwards into drugs and living rough on the street. It is the story of Conlon's eventual rise and triumph by fighting for other victims of injustice.
This book holds special interest for Irish activists, especially in America. One of the heroes of Conlon's story is the late Sandy Boyer, who along with John McDonagh hosted the weekly Radio Free Eireann program. Sandy's recurring role as a strategist, and adviser is deservedly heralded. Conlon recognized that American pressure was Britain's most vulnerable point, and came to America to fight for the "Birmingham Six" "Craigavon Two" and an array of others.
I happened to see Gerry Conlon in one of his many battles against injustice. During the Irish political deportee cases of the 1990s, Gerry Conlon came to New York as a witness for Gabriel Megahey. Testifying that constables wanted him to link Mr. Megahey to the charges, Conlon said "if I had even met Mr. Megahey, they would have made it the Guildford Five." While not included in the book, it was enough for me to recognize how truly Richard O'Rawe captured Gerry Conlon's ability to overcome what had been done to him by standing between others and the sort of injustice he suffered.
Martin Galvin is a US Attorney-At-Law.
In Guildford there's four
That were picked up and tortured
And framed by the law
And the filth got promotion
But they're still doing time
For being Irish in the wrong place
And at the wrong time (Pogues - Streets of Sorrow)
Once we thought of Gerry Conlon, the 'Guildford Four' and the 'Birmingham Six', as Irish pawns imprisoned by merciless British officials, who knew they were innocent. Later we thought of Gerry Conlon as Daniel Day-Lewis, fist raised in triumph outside the Old Bailey, as portrayed In the Name of the Father.
Now Richard O'Rawe's book In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story reveals that the Belfast man fought a heretofore unknown battle. Walking free from a British prison did not free him from traumatic terrors and nightmares brought about by the terrible injustice he suffered. Money, celebrity and Hollywood fueled his demons. Eventually they drove him to depression, drugs and homelessness.
Gerry Conlon's battle and eventual triumph over these psychological wounds, seem as heroic and dramatic as his battle against imprisonment on a British frame-up. How he came to fight that battle, by fighting for others he identified as victims of injustice, is an uplifting tale of an indomitable Irish spirit.
Richard O'Rawe is uniquely positioned to tell this story. Growing up alongside Gerry Conlon in Belfast, the two were lifelong friends. He also knows British prison brutality firsthand, as a former H-Block Blanketman and important figure in the 1981 Hunger Strike.
His book begins with a foreword by actor Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Donnie Brasco et al.) Depp carries a wallet with the word 'Saoirse' gifted to him by Gerry Conlon, who he describes as "a man I would have taken a bullet for".
O'Rawe recounts how Gerry Conlon, a hippie who left Belfast to get away from the war that O'Rawe and others were fighting, became a symbol of the injustice Conlon thought he left behind.
In 1974, IRA Volunteers strike in Guildford and Woolwich. The British cannot find who did it. Conlon's friend Paul Hill, is picked up, beaten, and names his friends Gerry Conlon, Patrick Armstrong, Carol Richardson and Conlon's relations the Maguires. Conlon is picked up and tortured until he makes a false confession. The British arrest his aunt, uncle, young cousins and Conlon's father Giuseppe, who came to England to help his son. All get convicted and sentenced to the cheers of English tabloid headlines.
In December 1975 after more attacks, the IRA unit members are captured. They immediately proclaim the total innocence of the "Guilford Four" and "Maguire Seven". They use their own trial to demand release of those wrongly imprisoned. The British decide not to admit an embarrassing mistake. Conlon is not released until 1989. His father has died in prison. His aunt's family have served lengthy sentences.
These events are familiar to readers, although O'Rawe has uncovered shocking details about how the British doctored their own forensic expert reports to drop sections which conclusively proved the "Guildford Four" innocent.
However In the Name of the Son O'Rawe weaves together the story of Conlon's journey through Washington, Hollywood, fame and celebrities, then downwards into drugs and living rough on the street. It is the story of Conlon's eventual rise and triumph by fighting for other victims of injustice.
This book holds special interest for Irish activists, especially in America. One of the heroes of Conlon's story is the late Sandy Boyer, who along with John McDonagh hosted the weekly Radio Free Eireann program. Sandy's recurring role as a strategist, and adviser is deservedly heralded. Conlon recognized that American pressure was Britain's most vulnerable point, and came to America to fight for the "Birmingham Six" "Craigavon Two" and an array of others.
I happened to see Gerry Conlon in one of his many battles against injustice. During the Irish political deportee cases of the 1990s, Gerry Conlon came to New York as a witness for Gabriel Megahey. Testifying that constables wanted him to link Mr. Megahey to the charges, Conlon said "if I had even met Mr. Megahey, they would have made it the Guildford Five." While not included in the book, it was enough for me to recognize how truly Richard O'Rawe captured Gerry Conlon's ability to overcome what had been done to him by standing between others and the sort of injustice he suffered.
Martin Galvin is a US Attorney-At-Law.
Anthony McIntyre's Blog
- Anthony McIntyre's profile
- 2 followers
Anthony McIntyre isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
