Martin Mc Guinness. A Reflection. | A Courageous Advocate for Palestinian | The only answer is Unity

 

Martin Mc Guinness. A Reflection.

Friday the 21 March was the eighth anniversary of the deathof our friend and leader Martin McGuinness. Like many others, I am sure, I wasperplexed as it dawned on me that eight years had passed since we lost him. Inmy head I thought it was five or six years ago. But as we people of acertain age should now know time waits for no one. I remember as if it wasyesterday dashing to the hospital. Even though we were anticipating his deaththere was nonetheless a numbness, a shock to be told that Martin was gone.

Of course the love of his life Bernie, and their childrenand grandchildren and his siblings were the ones most effected but yet in theirgrief they knew that Martin mattered to a lot of people, particularly from hisother family. His republican family. And they let us grieve with them. Grief isthe price we pay for love. There are layers of feelings, unpredictable andunique to each of us personally as we adjust to the absence of a loved one. Andit can affect each of us differently.

I miss Martin to this day. He and I had so many adventurestogether, funny episodes, fraught and turbulent and dangerous experiences. Itis still difficult to accept that all that is gone. But accept it I do. Infact, I am philosophical about death. I remember Martin remarking one day thathe didn’t expect to live beyond his mid-twenties

’Jeepers’ I exclaimed. ‘I was exactly like that too.’

So to have such an active and much longer life is ablessing. For me it is also a matter of wonderment. We have lost so manyfriends particularly during the conflict. Many never survived beyond theirmid-twenties. Some were even younger. They died suddenly, violently. That’s theway it was. And our enemies died the same way. So did many uninvolved people.Victims of all the combatant forces, including the IRA. I regret that verymuch. So did Martin.

Some like the H Block hunger strikers died in a publiccontest of will with a cruel establishment much more powerful than prisonerswith nothing in their arsenal but an unbreakable integrity . And yet theprisoners defeated that establishment by giving up their lives. They didn’twant to die but that was the risk they took. So they went bravely before us.They taught us how to die.

Those of us, like Martin or myself, who were privileged tohave such comrades and friends could only marvel at their bravery. We livedwith death for decades. And against all the odds we survived the conflict. Wehelped bring it to an end. For that we are thankful to and for MartinMcGuinness. We were lucky to have him. I have been blessed with my friendships,including some who have died recently. Colette’s two sisters Anne and Mena andsister-in-law Belle gone in the last few months. And Ted. And Bik.  

Life is like a lottery. Few of us can determine how it willend for us. Martin died bravely. He battled against his illness stubbornly andresolutely. His concern was for Bernie and the weans. The ancient Irishbelieved that the spirits of the dead live on in places which they loved. Inrocks. Trees. Rivers. I believe that friendship is one of the mostimportant gifts any of us can have. If a friend goes off to live inAustralia they don’t cease to be our friend. So too with our friends who die.They are still our friends. They are still part of our lives. That’s how it iswith Martin McGuinness and me. I remember him with great fondness and pride. Heis still my friend. So is Ted. And Bik. And many others who gifted me withtheir friendship. Including the ones who are still alive. Martin valued theirfriendship also. 

 

A Courageous Advocate for Palestinian

Ms. Francesca Albanese is the Special Rapporteur for theUnited Nations in the Palestinian territories. She is a remarkable champion forhuman rights and international law whose moral integrity and deep rootedhumanity are an inspiration. Her leadership on Palestinian rights, herunremitting and courageous criticism of Israel’s decades long illegaloccupation of the Palestinian territories, is an example for all of us who seeka just peace between the peoples of Palestine and of Israel.

Last week Ms. Albanese was in the South of Irelandaddressing Universities, giving interviews, attending the massivepro-Palestinian march in Dublin on Saturday and meeting a wide range ofindividuals and groups.

Do you know who refused to meet her? The Irish Government.Apparently all of its 15 Ministers and 23 Ministers of State were too busy.Shameful.

This is the same government that is stalling on the OccupiedTerritories Bill or on introducing decisive economic andpolitical sanctions against a rogue state engaged in genocide. Inaddition, if Micheál Martin has his way the Irish government intends acceptingthe International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition ofantisemitism. This conflates Judaism with Zionism. A criticism, anycriticism of the state of Israel will be defined as anti-semitic. This meansthat Ms. Albanese’s reports on Israel’s war crimes or this article or themarches in solidarity with the Palestinians, can all be defined asanti-Semitic.

Is our outrage at the bombing of hospitals and the killingof babies to be dismissed as anti-semitic?

The total now killed in Gaza is over 50,000. 18,000 arechildren. Netanyahu’s claim that his war is about defeating Hamas orsecuring the release of Israeli’s held by Hamas, is a lie. Hamas is strongernow than before. Israel’s murder campaign and demolition of Gaza hasradicalised a new generation of Hamas fighters. Moreover, Israeli hostages aremore likely to be killed by Israeli actions than by their captors.  

So, this is not about defeating Hamas. This is aboutNetanyahu’s determination to hold on to power. He does so with the support of aright wing Zionist cabal that intends forcing the Palestinian people out oftheir homes in Gaza, the west Bank and East Jerusalem. But he also does thiswith the active endorsement and through the provision of weapons and fundingfrom the United States, the British government and other western allies ofIsrael. President Biden boasted of being a Zionist while Trump describes himselfas Israel’s protector. The genocide in Gaza is as much the responsibility ofAmerica, of Britain, and the EU as it is Netanyahu’s.

Where are the voices of condemnation from these governmentsto Israel’s extermination strategy toward Palestinians. They are silent.

The Irish government must take a stand against the genocide.Francesca Albanese reminded it last week that international law, irrespectiveof the Occupied Territories Bill, requires the Irish government to ban goodsand services from illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Thisresponsibility derives from the finding by the International Court of Justicethat the occupation of Palestinian land is unlawful and trade should notcontinue. Is this the real reason why none of the 38 government Ministers inDublin could find the time to meet Ms Albanese? It wanted to avoid being toldface to face that it is failing in its human rights duty; that it is notfulfilling its moral and legal responsibilities under international law.

Francesca Albanese is an inspiration. I applaud her courageand her stand in defence of the human rights of the Palestinian people and ofinternational law.

 

The only answer is Unity

There are at least 50,000 people in Belfast reliant on PIP(Personal Independence Payment). Given that levels of disadvantage and poorhealth indicators are higher in west Belfast it is safe to assume that manythousands of families in that part of the city are especially vulnerable toBritish government cuts to the PIP system.

Over the years Labour governments have shown scant regardfor their socialist roots. Often they are just a pale imitation of the Torieswho care even less. They especially show no empathy when it comes to the North.Year after year the British block grant fails to meet our basic public servicerequirements whether in the provision of health, education, housing,agriculture or the environment. The Executive scrambles to stretch a finitebudget.

Five billion is to be cut from PIP. Billions will now bespent on armaments as Europe engages with Russia in a new arms race.

The reality is that English interests are not our interests.No London government gives a damn about the people of the North. Or any part ofIreland. There is only one long term solution – a new shared Ireland in whichwe have control over our own affairs and can manage our taxation and publicservice expenditure in our interests and not those of England. Free from Londonrule.