Partitionism Rules. | International support grows for Palestinian Struggle | OFF LINE.

 

Partitionism Rules. 

Simon Harris has said that Irish unity is not a priority forhim.  That is self-evident. But for him to say so is at odds with thestated position of most senior Irish politicians including An Taoiseach MicheálMartin. Their position is one of verbalised adherence to the constitutionalobjective of unity. In other words, they are verbalised republicans. RhetoricalUnited Irelanders. Mr Harris doesn't even pay lip service to this. Some maythink this clarity from him is good for the unity debate. And they have apoint.

Simon Harris words reflect the reality of the positionof successive governments. Thus far no Irish government has a strategy or aplan for unity. So unity is not only not a priority for Simon Harris. It isclearly not a government priority either.  

 

The truth is he reflects a deep-rooted view within thesouthern establishment which sees partition as acceptable. For 100 years FiannaFáil and Fine Gael have run the southern state – in their own interests. Oneled the government. The other led the opposition. And every so often they wouldwalk across the floor of Leinster House, play musical chairs and change places.Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Now they are Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dum. 

 

But their position on unity remained unchanged. They knew itwas popular with the electorate. Consequently, sometimes it was important toplay along with the public mood. So Yes, to the rhetoric. No to doing anythingabout it. But as the debate about unity continues and unity becomes a doableproject these positions are coming into sharp relief. 

To this end Harris and Martin will continue to distort thepolitical reality as its suits their aims. On the same day that Harrisdismissed unity, “That’s not where my priority is today” he waffledon how about what he described as the core fundamentals of the Good FridayAgreement. 

For his information the first part of the Agreement, afterthe Declaration of Support, is Constitutional Issues. It’s aboutconstitutional change – and creating the means by which voters here,  asequals can determine the future of this island democratically and freely.

So constitutional arrangements are a core part of theGood Friday Agreement which Mr Harris praises and which The Irish Government isa co-guarantor of. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of TheGood Friday Agreement acknowledges this in its recent report and calls on theIrish government to plan for Irish unity.

For Simon Harris and Micheál Martin to turn their backs onthis and on the fundamental issue of constitutional change and of the needto plan for it is partitionist short termism. 

 

Harris and Martin should be leading on constitutionalchange. They are obliged to do so in accordance with their respective partypolicies and objectives, as well as the Irish Constitution. Do I expect theywill? Only if public opinion North and South makes the political price too highfor them to ignore. 

So, United Irelanders, whoever you are, from whatever partyor none, Mr Harris has pointed the way forward. Let’s make unity a priority.That means you need to plan and organise to get the Irish government to planfor unity. Only in that way can we consolidate the substantial momentum thathas already developed in recent years and build the new, united Ireland that isso desperately needed for the future. 

International support grows for Palestinian Struggle

As the Israeli state’s brutal assault on the rights of thePalestinian people continues in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank ninecountries came together last Friday at The Hague, in the Netherlands, toinaugurate a new international alliance in support of Palestinians.

‘The Hague Group’ supports South Africa’s genocide caseagainst the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice, and also seeksto maximise international diplomatic and legal action in support of Palestiniannational and human rights. 

The establishment of The Hague Group came one year to theday last year when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisionalmeasures deeming a “plausible case of genocide” by Israel inGaza, following South Africa’s legal action under the GenocideConvention. 

Declan Kearney MLA, Sinn Féin’s National Party Chairperson,who is playing a leadership role in supporting the Palestinian cause, wasinvited to attend and address the event. The nine states making up thisnew international alliance includes South Africa, Malaysia, Namibia, Colombia,Chile, Honduras, Bolivia, Senegal and Belizes. 

 

Declan told me on Monday that Cuba has now joined theGroup. Critically he said; “I think one of the most important aspectsof this initiative is that for the first time an international alliance ofstates from the global south is telling states in the global north that theirposition on Palestine is not good enough.”

 

Declan described the establishment of The Hague Groupas “a pivotal moment for the Palestinian struggle for justice.” Hewas especially grateful for the role played by the Republic of South Africa.The ending of apartheid in South Africa and the creation of a new democraticSouth Africa owed much to the solidarity of the international community. So toowith our own peace process. The international community, governments andindividuals played an important part in achieving the Good Friday Agreement andsustaining the peace. International initiatives and solidarity with the peopleof Palestine are vital to their winning their freedom and independence.

A joint statement by the group declared thatthey  were; “Determined to uphold our obligations to end theIsraeli occupation of the State of Palestine and support the realization of theinalienable right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, includingthe right to their independent State of Palestine.”

Yvonne Dausab, Namibia’s Minister of Justice urged othergovernments to follow the lead of The Hague Group. She said: “Whenfuture generations inquire our contribution to Palestine’s right toself-determination, our response must be that we took concrete measures, or wewill be remembered as leaders who watched and did nothing.”

This is especially pertinent for the Irish government whichrecently adopted the pro-Israeli definition of Anti-Semitism and whose negativeapproach to the Occupied Territories Bill is causing grave disquiet.

 

 

OFF LINE.

I ordered a pair of jeans on line recently. Why, by the way,do we say a pair of jeans? It’s the same with trousers. A pair of trousers iswhat we say. That means literally two trousers. Or does it?  Maybe it’s agenerational thing. Do younger people just say jeans? Or trousers? And why isit plural? Maybe because most jeans and trousers have two legs? A pair of them.So maybe that’s the answer to my question.

Anyway however you describe it or them I recently orderedjeans on line. Waist 36 and leg 32. It all seemed very simple and straightforward. However, when the aforementioned jeans arrived one leg was 38 incheslong. The other one was 34 inches.  Maybe the vendor sent me someoneelse’s jeans. Maybe some person with a 38 inch leg and a 34 inch leg is waitingfor their purchase. Incidentally the 38 inch one is for the right leg. Theother one is for the left leg.

Now I know I can just send them back though that may be toocomplicated a process for me at this stage of my online apprenticeship. Itcertainly makes the process more convoluted and less simple orstraightforward. Hence the reason for this mention in my column.

If you ordered jeans with a 38 inch right leg and a 34 inchleft leg I have them. If you have the ones I ordered we could do a swap. Or forthe right price you can have yours. Otherwise next week sometime I’m gettingout my needle and thread. That’s one of the benefits of being a formerprisoner. I am very handy at sewing. Sewing is much easier than themachinations of on line purchasing. So there you have it. No more online jeansfor me.