Category: Political Analysis

A New Wave of Censorship and Repression

On By rebelbreezeIn Anti-Fascism, Capitalism, Civil Rights, Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Imperialism, Internationalist Solidarity, Irish Left, Israeli Zionism, Palestine, Political Analysis1 Comment

Gearóid Ó Loingsigh 18 April 2024

(Reading time: 6 mins.)

There is no doubt that the ghost of Joseph McCarthy wanders the earth through many a hallowed university hall, newspaper editorial room, police headquarters around the world and of course the cabinets of many western governments.

Censorship when it raises its ugly head, does so in a similar fashion to its past incarnations, though with new twists and turns that perhaps take us by surprise.

However, it should come as no surprise to see that voices on Palestine are being shut down, though the recent German police assault on an international conference in Berlin was a major escalation in government attempts to criminalise those critical of the genocidal regime that holds sway in Tel Aviv and the white supremacist philosophy that is Zionism.(1)

Various issues are thrown into the mix.

Palestine and Palestinian demands are presented as hate speech by governments and right-wing media, but so too is any defence of women’s spaces, though in this latter case the right-wing governments find some support from sectors of the Left.

These think that when they argue for censorship and the suppression of freedom of speech that somehow it will never be applied to them.

The German police stormed the three-day event as the first speaker was addressing it.

They claimed they did so to prevent antisemitic statements being made i.e. not only are we in McCarthyite land of criminalising certain ideas by labelling them as antisemitic but we are in the land of Minority Report(2) where thought crimes can be punished in advance, before they have been committed.

This is not that far removed at all from the Irish Hate Speech Bill that some on the Left have given support to, as the Police may inspect computers and phones and you may be charged with possession of material that may be used to commit hate speech.

It was laughable and ironic that one of the photos of the police intervention of the Berlin event was the arrest of a young Jewish man, wearing a kippa, who was there in solidarity with Palestinians. Following the event a number of Jews were charged with antisemitism.

Not only that but some of the speakers were banned from entering the country, amongst them Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah who was an eyewitness to what was happening in Gaza and is also the Rector of the University of Glasgow.

The former Greek politician Yanis Varoufakis was also banned from entering Germany and both were warned that they could not participate even by Zoom from another jurisdiction, an unlawful extension of German jurisdiction and a suspension of the free movement of European citizens within the EU.

This is part of a wider criminalisation of protest and the criminalisation of thought.

Though some on the Left in Ireland such as People Before Profit T.Ds like Paul Murphy who support hate speech legislation believed in the benevolence of capitalist leaders when restricting commentary on women’s rights would never be extended to them, it has and for obvious reasons.

Most right-wing governments, particularly those that claim some liberal kudos on certain social issues have taken advantage of the defeat of workers, critical thinking and any opposition at all to capitalism to advance right-wing hate speech legislation and restrictions on academic freedom.

This includes the dismissal of staff, limitations on the right to voice opinions that go against government policy and in the process have garnered the support of many liberal currents and of course major NGOs who depend on government largesse to finance themselves.

The German event is not an isolated incident. Over the years various lecturers in the US have been suspended or not had their contracts renewed for speaking out about Palestine.

Zionists were the original cancel culture specialists who managed to turn spoilt students whining into action, getting staff sacked and silencing other students.

Recently, a professor of 30 years standing at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the US was suspended over a contribution made to a blog.

In their suspension of the employee the president stated that “I find her comments repugnant, condemn them unequivocally, and want to make clear that these are her personal views and not those of our institution.”(3)

It was liberals, the wokerati and even some Marxists who pushed for employers to take action against employees for their personal views and activities outside of the workplace and now it has come back to bite some of them, though not all, as many liberals and wokerati in the US are Zionists.

Some of those who had been targeted were vile racists who shouted “Jews will not replace us” as they marched with torches. But you fight Fascism, you don’t give employers control over employees’ lives, ever.

As Trotsky once quipped, if you can’t convince a Fascist, acquaint their head with the pavement. He didn’t say give your boss and the state more control over you and beseech them to act in your interests.

A few days prior to that, Columbia University had suspended six students for allegedly participating in a panel discussion on Palestine.(4)

And in a further sign that jackboots are once again goose-stepping through Germany, the University of Cologne rescinded a job offer to Nancy Fraser, a Jewish American professor of philosophy, over her condemnation of killings in Gaza.(5)

They will not stop at that and it is not limited to issues such as genocide, but even local domestic politics.

In April 2023, a French journalist Ernest Moret was arrested by British anti-terrorist police due to his involvement in protests in France against the Macron government’s pension proposals.

He refused to give the police access to pass codes for his electronic devices and was charged with obstruction.(6)

There are other precedents for this, one of them being the arrest of David Miranda, Glen Greenwald’s now deceased partner, in Britain when returning from a meeting with another journalist who had also worked on the files released by Edward Snowden.(7)

The courts later upheld his detention to be lawful. Police held him and demanded access to his electronic devices.

Then there is the jailing and punishing of Julian Assange. The charges against Assange were dressed up in various disguises.

The first of them was the now discredited rape charges in Sweden which were dropped and also espionage charges when the real reason for jailing Assange is that he, as a journalist, exposed US war crimes in Iraq.

The message is clear, censorship is the order of the day as is the hounding of journalists who hold unpopular views and expose the crimes of the state. Assange did not receive the support he should have, due to the trumped-up rape charges, with many on the Left, like cowards running for cover.

Even today, when the rape charges have been exposed for the lies they were and have been dropped there are those who refuse to speak out on his behalf for this very reason.

There is no world in which right wing governments suppress freedom of speech, academic freedom, freedom of assembly and criminalise broad opinions that they label as hate speech and don’t target the Left. It has never happened and never will.

When they stood aside on Assange, they prepared the way for the assault on the Berlin Conference. When they harassed and tried to silence women defending women’s spaces they prepared the ground for the assault.

When they advocated and supported right-wing governments’ attempts at introducing hate speech legislation they paved the way for the criminalisation of solidarity with Palestine.

When the Hate Speech Bill comes back before the Irish parliament, they should take note and do the correct thing and oppose it, unequivocally.

Leftists who advocated employers taking control of employees lives and opinions, those that demanded that JK Rowling and others like her be hounded from the public sphere and that what they termed hate speech, in reality thought crimes, should be punished in law have aided and abetted right-wing governments in getting us to where we are now, which is that it is now very easy to criminalise pro-Palestinian voices.

All you have to say is “Hate Speech!” Meanwhile Rushi Sunak in Britain is pushing ahead with a very broad and loose definition of extremism which will see almost everyone who does not support Sunak or Starmer in the dock.

Notes

(1)  See interview with Yanis Varoufakis  https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/16/germany_palestine

(2)  Minority Report is a Tom Cruise film in which three mutants can see the future and predict who will commit crimes and they are arrested, charged and sentenced in advance before the crime is committed.  In the film the system unravels.

(3)  WXXI News (16/04/2024) Hobart and William Smith Colleges professor suspended for comments on Israel-Hamas war. Noelle E.C. Evans.  https://www.wrvo.org/2024-04-16/hobart-and-william-smith-colleges-professor-suspended-for-comments-on-israel-hamas-war

(4)  WSWS (09/04/2024) Columbia University suspends and evicts pro-Palestinian students.  Tim Avery. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/09/yimz-a09.html

(5)  The Guardian (10/04/2024) German university rescinds Jewish American’s job offer over pro-Palestinian letter.  Kate Connolly. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/10/nancy-fraser-cologne-university-germany-job-offer-palestine

(6)  The Guardian (18/04/2023) French publisher arrested in London on terrorism charge.  Matthew Weaver.  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/18/french-publisher-arrested-london-counter-terrorism-police-ernest-moret

(7)  The Guardian (19/08/2013) Glenn Greenwald’s partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald-guardian-partner-detained-heathrow

AMAZING NEW PRINCIPLES DISCOVERED BY LIBERALS!

On By rebelbreezeIn Cultural Comment, Political Analysis, SatireLeave a comment

Liberals claim to have discovered amazing new principles of political change. Chief among these is that socialism and national liberation can – and usually will – come about without any violence in the struggle.

It is true that the liberals are currently having difficulties identifying any historical examples to validate their radical new theory but in a brilliant departure from traditional ways of thinking they say they don’t have to rely on history at all.

“Besides,” as Bel Eaver said in a discussion held to announce the new theoretical framework, “just because it didn’t happen before doesn’t mean it can’t ever.”

This is of course theoretically true and difficult to counter. One who attempted to do so during the discussion stated that just because no-one had (so far as is known) survived a direct hit by a high explosive tank shell, didn’t mean no-one ever would. He was clearly being sarcastic.

Bel Eaver didn’t deign to rise to the bait, just calling him a “hidebound doctrinaire” and walking away from the provocative individual.

“It’s so liberating not to have to read boring old history,” said Ivan Luzion. “This way is so much simpler. We simply desire what we want to be true about politics and economics and then assert it.”

“So, for example, we want change to be possible peacefully, so we insist that it is. Naturally, having asserted it, we won’t be using violence to achieve change.”

But what happens if violence is used against you when you’re advocating change? “Using violence in response just breeds more violence,” says Rosie Vue, “And it gives the authorities the excuse to use violence in return.”

“But have there not been many incidents of those in power using violence against peaceful protest?” asked another doubter. “Where did the violence being used against peaceful advocates of change come from in the first place?”

“And did the violence used against the Nazis breed more violence – or actually end it?” Asked another, adding: “If we don’t respond to violence and they kill our best activists and put the rest in jail – what then?”

Ivan Luzion maintains that these “what-ifs” are merely objections thrown in by people who oppose the newly-discovered principles and don’t want to give them a chance. “But neither they nor their pedantic historians will prevent us spreading these principles,” said Bel Eaver.

End.

MONSTER DUBLIN MARCH IN PALESTINE SOLIDARITY

On By rebelbreezeIn Censorship & Witch-hunting, Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Imperialism, Indigenous or Original People, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, Irish Diaspora, Israeli Zionism, National Liberation, Palestine, Political Analysis, ZionismLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 6 mins.)

A huge Palestine solidarity march proceeded from the north Dublin city centre on Saturday 20th, passing down O’Connell Street, over the Bridge, around by Trinity College and on towards Leinster House, the parliament of the Irish State.

Detained by an earlier activity I hurried to join it, catching up with it near the Larkin Monument. From there I could see sections of the march across the river and another section wending around Trinity College in the distance, its leaders out of sight.

(Photo: D.Breatnach)

“Over a thousand”, reported our “newspaper of record”, the Irish Times. In other words, less than 2,000. Really?!

The march was organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity organisation, the main Irish nationwide Palestine solidarity organisation, sponsored by a multitude of organisations and was supported in marching by many organisations and individuals, the latter being the capacity or most participants.

The usual slogans could be heard as I hurried past marchers, such as “Free, Free – Palestine” and including the one that Suella Braverman tried to ban when she was a Minister in the UK Government: “From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free!”

I paused by the Thomas Moore monument waiting to meet up with friends in order to march with them. One group passed calling out that what is occurring in Palestine is “Not a conflict, not a war”. I understand them to mean it is genocide instead but I can’t agree with them.

It IS a conflict, the old one of the European colonial settler against the indigenous people, fought for centuries on all the continents of the world except in Antartica. And the zionist State IS waging a war, a genocidal war against the Palestinian people.

(Photo: D.Breatnach)

Another group went by with a chant leader calling out a list of categories of victims of the zionist genocide such as medical workers, journalists, ambulance crews, refugees etc, to which the group replied “Not a target”. Perhaps they meant “not a legitimate target” but targets they certainly are.

I was flying the Palestinian flag but also the Starry Plough, flag of the risen Irish working class in 1913 and 1916, the only one I saw on the march and which was how my friends found me. A woman I mistook for a visitor asked to take my photo, to which I agreed.

Near the rear of the march one could hear the usual call-and-response slogans drifting back towards us but people in our section marched silently or chatted with one another. Then a voice called out: “From the river to the sea!” and the reply was instantaneous: “PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!”

Chanting takes energy but also seems to supply it and from then our section joined in with gusto: “In our thousands, in our millions – We are all Palestinians!” “In our millions and our billions – We are all Palestinians!” “In our TRILLIONS and our billions – We are all Palestinians!”

“Netanyahu, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?” “Joe Biden, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?” “EU, you can’t hide – You’re supporting genocide!” “Irish Government, you can’t hide – You’re supporting genocide!”

“Saoirse – Don Phalaistín!” was the only slogan1 in Irish. There was no doubt about what people wanted for the Israeli Ambassador or the zionist Embassy, which was “Out, out, out!”

(Photo: D.Breatnach)

As we turned from Dawson into Molesworth Street, the rest of the march was packed ahead of us all the way up to the presumed police barriers at Kildare Street, across from the main gate of Leinster House. Here the IPSC stewards were urging us to move in still closer ahead.

What was the reason? Apparently the Gardaí wanted us past the intersections with South Frederick Street and with Molesworth Place. But for what purpose? Those were southward traffic only streets which should have been blocked anyway and Dawson Street was open in both directions.

(Photo: D.Breatnach)
Molesworth Street from the Junction with Molesworth Place, already packed and with more arriving, yet we were expected to pack in closer and have barriers moved up against us! (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Then a private company began to erect barriers across the north-eastern section of Molesworth street which looked to me like kettling, a view which seemed born out as the barriers were moved once more further eastward with instructions to keep moving – with which I declined to cooperate.

This whole exercise seemed to me of dubious traffic easement validity and more about getting people used to obeying order and to being kettled by police if required by them. In the Irish state we do not have to gain police permission for a march or approval for its route.

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the IPSC leaders informing the police of their march routes for traffic easement. But our rights have to be protected and not easily surrendered, much less for no visible valid reason. It is not good for stewards to automatically comply with police wishes.

I have seen (and resisted) Garda attempts to push demonstrators from the front of the GPO into the pedestrian reservation in the middle of O’Connell Street, while they told people that “It’s what your organisers (IPSC) want.”

Declining to be kettled.

The police of a state are not neutral forces for the public good and have drawn and used their batons through the decades against people protesting partition of their nation, imperialist war, water privatisation, growth of fascist and racist attacks, against imperialism and colonialism …

Not to mention torturing and framing people to have them jailed.

CHRISTY MOORE AND REPRESSION

In the distance, we could hear that Ireland’s chief living balladeer, Christy Moore, had got on stage and was speaking, then singing, though I could make out only snatches of the lyrics. Moore gained fame both as a member of Moving Hearts band and Planxty but also as a solo performer.

Moore had been litigated against for his song about the young 48 Stardust Fire victims but was vindicated during the week by a long-delayed second inquest into the deaths.2 On the other hand he’s received no apology for the police raid on his H-Block album launch back in 1972.3

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are facing repression throughout the western world, in some places much worse than others. The German State is behaving like Nazis in banning demonstrations and raiding a conference, apparently in twisted expiation of its sins under the Adolf Hitler regime.

This impacted also on an Irish language group in Berlin during the week while they attempted to have a small gathering speaking and singing in Irish in a park in front of the German Parliament. The police told them that only German and English languages were permitted in that area.4

The Irish Tricolour has been seen on many London demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians, on its own or flying below the Palestinian flag inscribed with “Saoirse don Phalaistín”. The Tricolour turned up too as university students and staff faced down the New York Police.

Columbia University, New York, Monday.
St. Patrick’s Day, New York, March 2024.
London, November 2023.
London, clearly.

In Palestine itself new horrors are being revealed with the recovery of bodies in mass graves in the areas of destroyed Gaza hospitals recently occupied by the Israeli military. Their remains testify to their being patients and medical staff in addition to refugees.5

A totally new horror are the Israeli killer drones emitting the wailing of a baby or a woman’s cry for help, waiting to gun down would-be rescuers. Palestinians in Gaza have been accustomed to responding to those cries in reality for months and often enough shot or bombed as they did so.6

This however is a new depth for the zionist military.

Under danger of Israeli bombardment, digging bodies out of a mass grave at the destroyed Nasser Hospital site April 2024. (Photo cred: Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

During the week also the independent investigation commissioned by the UN has found no basis to the Israeli claim that many staff of its aid agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, were members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, much less involved in the October 7th Palestinian resistance operation.7

That investigation result has UNRWA vindicated of the false Israeli claims but also commended on its procedures to comply with the impartiality requirements of the UN and of its funders, many of which however now stand condemned for withdrawal of their funding from starving people.

But UNRWA chiefs should share the condemnation for appearing to give the accusations credibility in firing some of their Palestinian staff, not to mention sacking appallingly and reducing to poverty a number without hearing or appeal, on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations.

And from a source known for lying for decades and long hostile to the UNWRA organisation. True to type, the Israeli government has rejected the findings, despite having provided no verification of its accusations to date.

Few official actors of states or of the UN come out well in evaluation over the last six months of this daily broadcast genocide.

End.

FOOTNOTES

1Interestingly the word “slogan” is itself from the Irish language, or at least Scottish Gaedhlig, meaning a “call to/from the multitude/ troop”.

2https://dublinpeople.com/news/northsideeast/articles/2016/02/02/the-story-of-christy-moore-and-the-stardust-song/

3In the Brazen Head pub, Dublin, June 1972.

4https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/berlin-police-ban-irish-protesters-from-speaking-or-singing-in-irish-at-pro-palestine-ciorcal-comhra-near-reichstag/a234500393.html

5https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/23/as-more-bodies-found-un-human-rights-chief-horrified-by-gaza-mass-graves

6https://www.thenational.scot/news/24261522.israeli-drones-playing-sounds-babies-crying-opening-fire/

7https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24157684.owen-jones-scotlands-stance-unrwa-vindicated/

SOURCES

The story of Christy Moore and the Stardust song

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/berlin-police-ban-irish-protesters-from-speaking-or-singing-in-irish-at-pro-palestine-ciorcal-comhra-near-reichstag/a234500393.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/23/as-more-bodies-found-un-human-rights-chief-horrified-by-gaza-mass-graves

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24261522.israeli-drones-playing-sounds-babies-crying-opening-fire

https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24157684.owen-jones-scotlands-stance-unrwa-vindicated

IRANIAN STRIKE-BACK AT ISRAEL – MISTAKE OR SUCCESS?

On By rebelbreezeIn Anti-War, Current Affairs Comment, Imperialism, Israeli Zionism, Middle East, Political Analysis, US ImperialismLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 5 mins.)

On 13th April Iran struck back at Israel with a massive drone attack leading two missile attacks following behind. The targets were three Israeli military bases which some of the Iranian missiles hit.

The Iranian attack was in reprisal for an Israeli strike on Iran’s Embassy in Syria on 1st April killing 16 people, including a senior Iranian military officer, Hamas military and at least six civilians.1 Under the Vienna Convention,2 the embassy of a state is considered its sovereign territory.

This was not the first Israeli attack on Iran; for example on 27 November 2020, Israeli secret services assassinated a leading Iranian nuclear scientist, an action about which The Times of Israel boasted.3

Commentators have differed substantially in their evaluation of the Iranian reprisal. The USA and its imperialist allies have condemned the action and accused Iran of endangering the region with war, while not similarly condemning the attack on the Iranian Embassy.

Some commentators on the other hand have accused the Zionist state of trying to drag the USA on its side into a war with Iran.

A MISTAKE FOR IRAN?

Friends of the Western Powers have judged the Iranian strike to have been largely ineffectual, quoting Israeli military claims that 99% of the offensive munitions were shot down.4

Some also alleged the action to have damaged Palestinian interests by causing attention and concern to switch away from the Israeli state’s genocide in Palestine whilst also creating sympathy for the zionist state.

According to a number of sources the Iranian military’s attack on Israel included 185 Shahed drones which were extremely slow in terms of airborne attack, following these with the faster 36 cruise missiles and finally the much faster 110 ballistic (but not their supersonic5) missiles.

Although most of the projectiles were shot down at least five missiles did get through as the Israeli military conceded while claiming the damage was not substantial. Certainly according to recent photos of the damage released by Israeli military they at least hit an airbase runaway requiring repair.

Israeli airbase hit by Iranian ballistic missile (Photo source: photo released by Israeli military)

The salient fact here however is that Iranian missiles did hit the actual targets at which they were aimed, two Negev desert airbases and a signals spying base in the Golan heights, all significant and well-defended Israeli military bases (note, not civilian living structures or medical facilities).

This was despite prior warning, the US-Israeli “Iron Dome” air defence system and fighters mobilised by the Israelis, USA, UK, France and Jordan (or at least from a Jordanian base) and refuelling of jet fighters by Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, according to military munitions analysts, the drones were comparatively very cheap6 and even the cruise missiles were too, the total cost of the attack estimated at $80-100 million.

On the other hand, the Israeli and allies defence operation is believed to have cost in the area of a billion dollars7 which raises questions about how long such an operation or operations could be sustained.

Nor was the attack a surprise one but was announced hours in advance in statements and messages for example to the USA — and the drones and cruise missiles could be tracked from launch, taking hours to arrive8. Ballistic missiles on the other hand would arrive within minutes.9

A view of USA assets in the region though the diamond icon representing ships seems to be also used for US bases on land, contrary to the legend guide. (Source: Ian Ellis Jones on X)

What seems to be the case when all propaganda by either side is set aside is that Iran showed that it can put missiles wherever it wants to in the territory claimed by the Israeli State and that neither the latter’s military nor its allies can prevent at least a significant number of those impacts.

Furthermore, Iran followed this up with a warning that Israel’s heretofore impunity is at an end, at least in so far as attacks on Iran or Iranian personnel and property is concerned.

Beyond the Iran/ Israel hostile relationship, this has enormous psychological and political consequences in the region with the apparent invincibility of Israel severely punctured again after its military and intelligence agencies were caught napping on October 7th last year.

Israeli political leaders promised to respond against Iran at a time and in a way of their choosing and did so on 19th April with three drones attacking the airport at the Iranian city of Isfahan. However according to reports these were shot down without causing any damage.

It appears that Israel’s rulers felt something was needed to assuage injured pride but were also careful not to touch off another Iranian attack in response. But this also exposed divisions within the establishment with National Security Minister Ben Gvir tweeting “Feeble” on X in response.

Ben Gvir, Israeli Minister of “Defence”, promoting scheme to arm Zionist settlers (most already armed) on 10th October 2023. (Photo sourced: TRT from AP archive)

The Israeli state cannot afford to go to war with Iran without the western powers, particularly the USA, fighting on its side and behalf. Iran has a huge number of missiles which, according to analysts, are located within deep silos and are now receiving a Russian air-defence system.

The Israeli state under Netanyahu hoped to drag the USA into a war with Iran but seems to have miscalculated badly; the US leadership has made it publicly clear that they do not want their zionist client to strike back at Iran, the implication being that they won’t support it if it should do so.

This has been too the position of the western power allies of the zionist entity. The reason seems to be that they all fear the huge disruption to oil and gas supplies that would result from a war in the region (and perhaps too, revolution by the masses of the western client Arab states).

The only retribution which the western powers have spoken about are economic sanctions and they have imposed these on Iran for many years in the past. In such a situation Iran would be sure to receive assistance from China, with which they have developed friendly relations.

Also China is contending with the US on the big world power stage so it would be in its interests also to assist Iran.

Radar view April 14th of air traffic cleared from the airspace between Iran and Israel prior to Iran’s launch of drone and missile attack on the Israeli state. (Image sourced: Flightradar24)

If the analysis that Iran has taken a successful calculated step in retribution to Israeli attack – and that the western powers will not intervene militarily — is correct, the Israeli state has suffered a huge blow to its image of invincibility and impunity within the region.

Arab Western power client states such as those the USA gathered under the Abraham Accords10 will at the very least be cautious about aligning themselves too closely with the area bully who no longer seems invulnerable and whose bigger bully boss didn’t back it up on this occasion.

If the analysis that Iran played its cards well holds true then 1st April 2024 will be remembered in days to come as a significant date in world history and perhaps even as the beginning of the end of the zionist colonial state.

End.

FOOTNOTES

1https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/02/middleeast/iran-response-israel-damascus-consulate-attack-intl-hnk/index.html

2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations

3https://www.timesofisrael.com/mossad-killed-irans-top-nuke-scientist-with-remote-operated-machine-gun-nyt/

4https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/14/why-iran-attacked-israel/

5i.e faster than the speed at which sound travels.

6Traveling “at the speed of a car and about the cost of a car” according to analyst Jon Elmer on Electronic Intifada Updates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_zjqeTlsw&t=11s

7https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/any-air-war-israels-defences-would-trump-irans-high-cost-2024-04-18/

86-7 hours for the drones and 2-3 hours for the cruise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_zjqeTlsw&t=11s

9And according to reports last year these have glide capacity and manoeuvrability, so can respond to active defences and also change their apparent target. At the time the Israeli Minister for the armed forces, Yoav Gallant, claimed that Israel could counter any attack by such missiles and also strike back harder.

10US-brokered agreements with Arab states to make the region safe for the zionist colonial state which have been severely damaged by the Israeli military attack on Gaza.

SOURCES

Electronic Intifada analysis of Iran’s operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_zjqeTlsw&t=11s

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/14/why-iran-attacked-israel

National status of a state’s embassy abroad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations

Previous attack by the Israeli State on Iran: https://www.timesofisrael.com/mossad-killed-irans-top-nuke-scientist-with-remote-operated-machine-gun-nyt/

LESSONS THE PALESTINIANS AND THE ISRAELI ZIONISTS HAVE TAUGHT US (Part 2)

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Genocide, History, Human Rights, Imperialism, Indigenous or Original People, Middle East, Palestine, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, US Imperialism, Zionism1 Comment

The past six months of an almost incredible level of Israeli genocide and Palestinian resistance have taught the world some valuable lessons but particularly perhaps those of us living among the Western powers.

PART TWO: LESSONS FROM THE ISRAELI ZIONISTS

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 5 mins.)

  • The Nature of Zionism

The Zionists have taught us the nature of Zionism as an ideology upholding a people allegedly chosen by religion to occupy a land and to repress or expel the indigenous occupants of that land.

  • Nature of settler states

As Zionism is a variant of occupier-settler ideology we have, by extension, learned to recognise the nature of all settler states. To be fair, the evidence of that nature was clearly before us but we had perhaps learned to push it to the backs of our minds.

The European settler states of USA and Canada practiced genocide against their native indigenous peoples, of which only discriminated fractions remain from “California” to “Newfoundland”, from Pacific to Atlantic coasts. Both those states have diligently supported the Zionist settler project.

Lithograph image of aftermath of the Wounded Knee massacre of Indigenous people, USA, 29 December 1890 (Image sourced: Internet)

Those Northern American territories were primarily English colonies1 as were Australia and New Zealand, both also practicing genocide and discrimination against their indigenous populations and both those states too have supported the Zionist settler project.

European coloniser collection of New Zealand Indigenous heads 1895 (Photo source: Khamen.ir)

Less unanimous have been the mainly Spanish and Portuguese settler colonies of what is now called “Latin America”, from Brazil to Argentina to Mexico. Their indigenous populations too were ethnically cleansed and subjected to genocide, although to varying degrees of intensity.2

The Caribbean islands have all been settler and imported slave colonies of the states of England, Spain and France3, all now having nominal independence but, with the exception of Cuba,4 remaining within the imperial ambit of the USA (mostly) and France and have responded accordingly.

  • Nature of the zionist state

The Zionist State has demonstrated to us the true outcome of the Israeli zionist ideology, expansionist and prepared to inflict any horror upon the indigenous people in order to achieve its aims, descending to depths of inhumanity unimaginable only if Nazism were forgotten history.

An early mass grave of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military in Gaza back in November 2023 as the cemeteries were already full (Photo cred: Mohammed Salem/ Reuters)

Currently the Israelis’ toll of Palestinians is at least 34,049 dead and 76,901 wounded, with an estimated further 8,000 under rubble in Gaza, nearly 2 million displaced (many several times), all medical, educational and social facilities and infrastructure degraded if not totally destroyed.5

And with at least 9,500 prisoners (i.e hostages) reportedly ill-treated, humiliated and even tortured, of which an Israeli-admitted 27 have died during these six months alone and 3,660 are held without trial or release date in “administrative detention”.6

  • Brazen Truth and Lies

We have also learned from the Zionist state its brazen genocidal intentions towards the Palestinians, expressed for internal Israeli consumption, alongside its outlandish lies for the international public about October 7th: beheaded babies, mass rapes, disfigurements, burning alive, etc.

All of those have been debunked and the recorded statistics alone (but also backed by evidence of other agencies) expose the lies that the Israeli army is attacking only7 the Palestinian resistance, that it is not applying collective punishment and using starvation as a weapon.

False Israeli Zionist propaganda about the Palestinian resistance “beheading babies” repeated by US President Joe Biden in press statement, claiming he had seen photos. His aides later ‘clarified’ that he was relying on reports from the Israeli state and had not seen actual photos. (Photo sourced: Internet)

Not bothering to give excuses for its demolition of universities and museums, schools and places of Muslim and Christian worship, ‘Israel’ has claimed the existence of tunnel entrances in them as excuses for the total elimination of Palestine’s main hospitals and degradation of all others.

It has done this despite its lack of evidence of such use of the hospitals, despite denials of hospital staff and organisations and without having to explain how such claims, even if they were true, could justify siege of hospitals, killing patients and staff and their destruction as functioning hospitals.

(Three before-and-after images of Israeli military destruction of Al Shifa Hospital, internally and externally)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5XQ2YQIQwP/
  • Impunity from world legal order

What Israel and the western imperialist states have shown us to date is that Israel has impunity to carry on its genocide. Not only will it not be boycotted, much less blockaded, not to even mention invaded, it will continue to be supplied with weapons, money and political support.

Even after the ICJ judgement in favour of S. Africa that Israel was “plausibly committing genocide” and restrictions imposed on Israel by the court, the genocide continued without pause and without any serious international repercussions by any western state.

Israel has given us a clear demonstration in practice of the hollowness of western institutional democracy and liberalism, not only in its continued support for the genocidal state but in the repression by western states of those who have supported the Palestinians in word or deed.

Demonstrations and pickets have been forbidden8, protesters threatened and arrested9, academics hounded and sacked,10 artists and public speakers cancelled, social media profiles hampered or blocked. In fact, all the kinds of undemocratic actions of which some other states are often accused.

  • Exposure of the world order of legal democratic institutions

The exposure of these institutions was almost complete. The United Nations of 193 states was shown powerless to act without the authorisation of the five Permanent Members11 of the Security Council — which itself was shown nullified by a veto of even one Member.12

United nations

United Nations building with approach flanked by national flags of member states(Photo sourced: Internet)

The International Court of Justice, a sub-institution of the UN itself, with a history of never even trying a western power, though judging Israel plausibly guilty of genocide,13 failed in its judgement on 26th January to order an immediate cease to the state’s attacks on the Gaza population.

The ICJ failed even to take action on Israel’s non-compliance with the interim measures it ordered, viz: “to take all measures to prevent any acts that could be considered genocidal according to the 1948 Genocide Convention”, other than to issue another non-complied order on 28th March.14

The United Nations failed to defend its own aid organisation for the relief of Palestinians (both in Palestine and as refugees in other parts) from unsupported Israeli allegations of the participation of 0.04% of its staff in the Palestinian resistance operation of October 7th 2023.

The UNWRA chiefs responded by failing to stand up to Israeli bullying and by sacking nine of their own workers without any evidence presented against them and without a right to a hearing or appeal. It also for a time failed to denounce Israel for reported torture of the agency’s employees.15

The UN failed to defend the staff of UNWRA from unproven allegations, unfair internal treatment and Israeli intimidation and murder or to maintain the essential funding of UNWRA essential for the Palestinians, or to insist on the regular and protected entry of aid trucks safe from Israeli attack.

The European Union refused to even call for a ceasefire; continued to act as Israel’s biggest export market; some of its members withdrew UNRWA funding and continued to supply the genocidal state with arms, while many states repressed their own citizens acting in solidarity with Palestine.

  • The need for revolutionary resistance

The Zionist state and its imperialist backers and, to be fair to it, our own Irish state too, have demonstrated to us the fragile and temporary nature of western liberalism and democracy on the one hand and the need, by implication, of revolutionary resistance and organisation on the other.

IN CONCLUSION

It remains to us to learn those hard-earned lessons, to internalise them and to apply them externally. We owe that to the Palestinians and to ourselves.

End.

Part of Gaza after Israeli bombardment back July 2014; now of course it is much, much worse. (Image sourced: Internet)

FOOTNOTES

SOURCES

https://www.voanews.com/a/7577969.html

https://www.addameer.org/statistics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)

https://www.unrwa.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_allegations_against_UNRWA

1The Dutch also colonised the north-east of what is now the USA and the French particularly Louisiana, in what is now the USA and Quebec in what is now Canada. What is now SW USA was part of the Spanish colonial empire, subsequently part of the Mexican Empire and gained by the USA in two wars with Mexico.

2The disparity in approach of these states is underlined by for example on the one hand El Salvador unreservedly supporting the zionist state and by Nicaragua on the other hand taking Germany to the International Court of Justice in accusation of being complicit in the Israeli genocide by supporting the state with weapons and finance.

3Without overlooking the fact that each of those states (England now as the United Kingdom) contains other dominated nations within it.

4During the existence of the USSR Cuba was often described as being under Soviet colonial influence but remains today the only truly independent (though part-occupied) state in the whole of the Caribbean.

5https://www.voanews.com/a/7577969.html, a pro-Israeli source.

6 At the time of writing Adameer, the Palestinian prisoner and human rights organisation reports 9,500 Palestinian prisoners of which 3,660 are “administrative detainees”, 200 children and 80 women. Seventeen of the prisoners are elected Legislative Council members (similar to MPs or TDs) https://www.addameer.org/statistics. These figures have changed regularly during the 6 months of zionist genocide and the trend is always upward except for a brief period during the truce and exchange of hostages.

7In fact, not even mainly.

8Particularly in Germany and France

9Particularly in Britain

10Particularly in the USA

11UK, France, USA, Russia, China

12Most often and recently in the case of Israel/ Palestine several time by the USA but at times also by the UK and France.

13In a case taken by South Africa lodged at the end of December 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)

14In response to application of South Africa again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)

15https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_allegations_against_UNRWA

IRELAND ANTI-INTERNMENT CAMPAIGN SUPPORTS PALESTINIAN PRISONERS’ DAY RALLY

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Indigenous or Original People, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, Israeli Zionism, Middle East, National Liberation, Palestine, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, Popular Resistance, ZionismLeave a comment

Clive Sulish

(Reading time: 7 mins.)

A solidarity rally in Dublin to mark 17th April Palestinian Prisoners’ Day was staged by the IPSC outside the iconic General Post Office building on Dublin’s main street and was supported by the Ireland Anti-Internment Campaign.

At a public meeting about Palestinian prisoners after the event Tala Nasir, a lawyer working with the prisoner support group Adameer, stated that there are 8,000 Palestinians currently held by the zionist state of which 275 are women and 500 are children.

Ms. Nasir was on a round-Ireland speaking tour organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the main Palestine solidarity organisation in Ireland but which has not been prominent in highlighting the situation of the Palestinian political prisoners.

On the other hand, at its street information pickets, although primarily working for Irish political prisoners, the Ireland Anti-Internment Campaign has regularly flown a Palestinian flag in support of political prisoners from that nation also.

An IAIC spokesperson recalled that at their traditional annual prisoner solidarity rally in December, their speaker stated: “Wherever there is oppression, there will be resistance; but also wherever there is resistance there will be political prisoners and in Ireland we have centuries of that experience.”

The organisation maintains that although large-scale official internment last used in the occupied Six Counties ended in 1795, it continues on a smaller scale under another name: “Remand in custody”, in which Republicans regularly wait two years before their case comes to court.

The decision to deny bail is taken by the special no-jury political courts: Diplock Court in the Six Counties and Special Criminal Courts within the Irish state, all of which have been condemned by civil liberties organisations in Ireland and abroad.

Israel also has a form of internment without trial which they call “administrative detention”, under which Palestinians can be detained for up to six months at a time as a preventive measure without any kind of trial or evidence shown against them.

PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS

Tala Nasir, a lawyer of the Adameer organisation was introduced by Gary Daly (of Lawyers for Palestine group) to the audience in the theatre of Pearse House, formerly the home of Patrick and Willie Pearse and sculpture business address of their English father (and of Willie).

Ms. Nasir informed the packed audience that Israel has declared her organisation of Palestinian prisoner support and advocacy to be a “terrorist” on “evidence” they declare “secret” but the absence of which results in no other state accepting that designation in the case of Adameer.

“Once you’re a prisoner you will always be a prisoner,” stated Ms. Nasir, illustrating that in raids the Israeli military frequently detain former prisoners, often repeatedly. “Crimes” can include a comment on social media, “Liking” or sharing a comment against Israel.

Even the posting of a “green heart” symbol may be interpreted as a sign of support for Hamas and may become the reason for a person’s arrest. Children are most often accused of throwing stones, statements written for them in Hebrew, told to sign them, sufficient “evidence” for jail.

Ms Nasir said that 80% of the prisoners are held under “Administrative Detention” without trial and no defence is possible since the “reason” for it is secret and neither the accused nor their lawyer may see the allegations. The six months detention is automatic and can renewed repeatedly.

Prisoners must buy their own food from the canteen but after October 7th it was closed for periods. Child prisoners told Adameer: “We wake up hungry and go to sleep hungry”. Typically adult prisoners have lost 15-20 kg from their previous weight when released.

The prisoners were prevented from going out of their cells which also meant they were unable to shower for many days and also had to wear the same clothes every day. They were also humiliated through being blindfolded and strip-searching, sometimes by male, sometimes female soldiers.

Beatings are common and prisoners have commented on their transport vehicles not only smelling awful but seeing the floor covered in blood. Sixteen prisoners have been killed in the last 6 months and though autopsies have recorded bruises and broken bones, Israeli investigations are closed.

All but one of the Israeli prisons are in the “Israel” area and the lawyer is not permitted to visit the prisoners there without special permission, which is why, she said, so many of the Palestinians are transferred to those prisons, which she maintains is a war crime.

Declaring her greater trust in and dependence on the solidarity of the people of the world, “in particular the global South” who have had similar experiences to those of the Palestinians, the Palestinian lawyer nevertheless said that she has to practice diplomacy at times.

Tala Nasir called for the widest possible support for Adameer’s Call For Action, which is the simple task of sending text supplied emails to two specified officials responsible for prisons and prisoners telling them they will be held answerable for war crimes.

(text and addresses here: https://www.addameer.org/news/5323)

IPSC AND IAIC ON DUBLIN STREETS AGAIN SOON

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign have a march booked in Dublin for this coming Saturday 23rd April, commencing at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm.

A spokesperson for IAIC stated they would be on the streets again in order to proclaim the continue existence of political prisoners in Ireland and that Republican activists are essentially being interned without trial from no-jury political courts to spend two years or more in jail awaiting trial.

“The IAIC is a democratic non-sectarian independent organisation,” the spokesperson said “and welcomes support from concerned democratic people and we’ll continue to fly the Palestinian flag. If people follow our page they should receive adequate advance notice in order to attend.”

end.

USEFUL LINKS AND FURTHER INFORMATION

Adameer: https://www.addameer.org/

Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign: https://www.facebook.com/groups/20826333992

Ireland Anti-Internment Committee: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063166633467

LESSONS THE PALESTINIANS AND THE ISRAELI ZIONISTS HAVE TAUGHT US

On By rebelbreezeIn Anti-War, Current Affairs Comment, Genocide, Imperialism, Internationalist Solidarity, Israeli Zionism, Mass Media Criticism, Massacres, National Liberation, Palestine, peace processes, Political Analysis, US Imperialism, Zionism2 Comments

Diarmuid Breatnach

The past six months of an almost incredible level of Israeli genocide and Palestinian resistance have taught the world some valuable lessons but particularly perhaps to those of us living among the Western powers.

PART ONE: LESSONS FROM THE PALESTINIANS

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 11 mins.)

  • Resistance – ongoing, preparation, striking, unity

The Palestinians have taught us the strength and value to an occupied and oppressed people of resistance, from generation to generation, maintaining and developing culture and nurturing historical memory while the occupier tried to erase it all and make the endeavour seem hopeless.

Palestinian woman in Gaza defiant, January 8, 2009 (Photo cred: Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Without a navy, air force, tanks, armoured vehicles or standard artillery (apart from home-made rockets and missiles), they faced what is often called the “strongest military power in the Middle east”. Despite periodic massacres they have regularly risen against the oppressor.

In truth, it was a lesson that at one time we hardly needed in Ireland, learned even earlier than the Palestinians. But we needed reminding of it.

It is also important for the morale and dignity of the resistance that it shows itself capable of striking at the enemy.

We’ve been reminded of the importance of long-term preparation. The Palestinian resistance built kilometres of tunnels underground in which they also set weapon production factories, developing their own weapons and repurposing existing weapons, including unexploded Israeli Army bombs.

In their Al Aqsa Flood attack on October 7th and fighting since, the Palestinians taught us the value of not only of daring and prior preparation but of coordination and unity, as a number of resistance organisations cooperated in struggle, some secular and some Islamic fundamentalist.1

Palestinian resistance fighters from different organisations displaying their unity in struggle in this photo (Photo sourced: Internet)

In meeting the subsequent genocidal rage of the occupier, the Palestinian resistance have taught us that all the technological might and expertise of the enemy was incapable of crushing a prepared, courageous, united and determined resistance.

The Israeli domination of the air from which it rained down genocidal bombing on civilians and civilian infrastructure, or targeted assassinations of the families of resistance fighters, was not sufficient to defend its ground troops from attack and is itself under attack from GTA missiles.2

The occupier was effective only in genocidal actions against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure for which it will forever be reviled in historical memory. It achieved neither of the objectives it declared as it unleashed its war against Gaza: the wiping out of the resistance and release of captives.

  • Imperialism

We been shown – if we were willing to see it – the unity of western imperialism in supporting the ‘right ‘of a European settler group to establish itself on the land of the indigenous, creating an ethnocentric and theocratic state founded with an act of ‘ethnic cleansing’.3

We have been taught the willingness of the western imperialist states to tolerate the proliferation of acts and policies which it claims go against its fundamental liberal values: oppression, apartheid, discrimination and repression, while lauding the ‘European liberal values’ of the occupier state.

  • Betrayal

Another lesson which we should have learned too within the necessity of unity in a broad front is that it needs to be on a principled basis and the dangers in unity without such safeguards, leading to treachery, betrayal and collusion with the occupier.

The secular left-wing Fatah4 organisation may have seemed at one time the ideal one to follow though some would have favoured the further-left People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine.5 But it was Fatah, as leading element in the PLO alliance, that signed up to the Oslo accords.6

In return for limited autonomy in a fraction of Palestinian land and without consideration of the right of return to the expelled Palestinians, the Fatah leadership with Yasser Arafat at its head agreed to this “peace process” while its officials scrambled for the gains of official corruption.

Hence the Palestinian Authority, corrupt, unrepresentative, undemocratic and repressive, working in collusion with the occupying authority. Again, our own history should have taught us that lesson but again, it is good to be reminded.

The Palestinians taught us how to deal with such a poisonous fungal growth with the Second Intifada and their last elections, those of 20067 and the carrying through of the electorate’s wishes in 2007, along with the ongoing resistance since.

  • Western Mass Media and alternatives

In reporting the events in Palestine over the decades but in particular over the last six months, we have learned the heavy anti-Palestinian and pro-Israeli bias of the WMM, that accepted without question the transparent lies of the Israeli regime and even questioned the massacre statistics.

Never once has the unjust claim of the occupiers to their stolen gains been questioned, never once the fundamentally just claim of the indigenous even mentioned. The Palestinian resistance has been reduced to one organisation in reporting, to be held up as a bogeyman monster.

(Image sourced: Internet)

If atrocities from across the Palestinian people were reported in the media, they were framed as of dubious provenance, while the most outlandish and illogical claims of the occupier were reported as reasonable fact.

We have, in fact, been taught not to trust the western mass media when reporting on international events and, by extension, not to trust it on domestic issues either. Conversely we have learned to rely more on alternative Internet media but also on the need to navigate those with some caution.

We have also learned that some of the most prominent alternative sources on the war between NATO/Ukraine and Russia, attacked by liberals and sections of the Left as “Russian-controlled” or “Putinistas” turned out to be the most reliable in reporting the realities of the Israeli genocide.

  • Internationalist solidarity

We have relearned the importance of international solidarity, both as we expressed it ourselves and saw its outpouring across the globe. We have been taught the existence of an alternative world of human solidarity in opposition to one based on expropriation, exploitation and competition.

We saw Hizbolah in Jordan and Syria come to the assistance of the Palestinians and pay the price for doing so, as did Ansar Allah (“Houthis”) in Yemen and as has also Iran — what the Electronic Intifada has called “the Axis of Resistance”.

Chilean football team players May 2021 (Photo sourced: Internet)
London, January 2024 (Photo cred: PA)

And we have learned to use internationalism as a measuring stick also in evaluating institutions, political parties and politicians in our own countries. We have seen the meaning of anti-semitism twisted and employed in repression with a stifling censorship across public life – academic, political and social.

Downing Street (containing home of the UK Prime Minister) 29 December 2023 (Photo sourced: Internet)

Political parties and politicians have revealed either their complicity in and collusion with the criminal Israeli genocide or alternatively their inability to resist and effectively oppose it. That has exposed their lack of fitness to lead us in our domestic struggles too.

Teachers and others in Palestine solidarity demonstration in Dublin, March 2024 symbolically carrying infant school chairs in protest against the Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli armed forces. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

IN CONCLUSION

  • The need for revolutionary resistance

The Palestinian resistance has taught us important lessons, including the need of revolutionary resistance in addition to revolutionary organisation and preparation.

It remains to us to learn those hard-earned lessons, to internalise them and to apply them externally. We owe that to the Palestinians and to ourselves.

End.
(Read also Part B – What the Israeli Zionists have taught us follows.)

FOOTNOTES

1Hamas – Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades; Palestinian Islamic Jihad – Al-Quds Brigades; Popular Resistance Committees Al-Nasser Salah ad-Din Brigades; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command Jihad Jibril Brigades; Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) – National Resistance Brigades, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades; Palestinian Mujahideen Movement and its Mujahideen Brigades.

https://www.newsweek.com/not-only-hamas-eight-factions-war-israel-gaza-1841292

2Ground To Air missiles.

3The expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians and massacres such as the one in the village of Dir Yassin.

4Fatah wasfounded in 1957 and was the majority party in the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

5The PLO was founded in 1964 and the PFLP in 1967, next in size of organisation in the PLO to Fatah (Islamic organisations were excluded from the PLO; Hamas recently proposed the reconstruction of the PLO open to all resistance organisations).

6The Oslo Accords were the result of a number of conferences, overseen by the USA and was part of the second of the current“peace processes” which include Ireland, the Basque Country and Colombia.

7Hamas won the elections throughout the accepted Palestinian territories but Fatah tried to continue to keep control, being dislodged from Gaza in 2007 by Hamas, which held back from doing the same thing in the West Bank which has remained under the undemocratic, repressive and colluder control of the Palestine Authority.

SOURCES

https://www.addameer.org/statistics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_v._Israel_(Genocide_Convention)

https://www.unrwa.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_allegations_against_UNRWA

SPIES AND INFORMERS REVELATIONS DON’T REVEAL THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Guerrilla Action, Imperialism, irish history, Irish Republicanism, National Liberation, Political AnalysisLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 6 mins.)

Recent revelations about British intelligence services being in possession of film evidence of Martin McGuinness being a leading member of the IRA but choosing not to prosecute adds to many suspicious incidents over the years regarding this man.

Indeed this is but one additional item to add to many things that have raised suspicions over the years. He had been arrested in the Irish State in 1972 but his sentence from the Special Criminal Court was only six months; however in 1974 he received the more usual 12 months’ jail.

However, over the years in the Six Counties he received a string of convictions for assault on police and for obstruction, for which fines were his only punishment, despite the State being aware of his position within Derry’s Provisional IRA, failing even to convict him of membership in 1976.

McGuinness leaving Belfast Court 1976 after charges of IRA membership dismissed (Photo cred: Paul Lewis)

Nor was there ever an attempt on his life though he moved around openly in Derry; how he was awarded £2,000 damages for an incident with British soldiers at a checkpoint – a practically daily occurrence for nationalists in the Six Counties – and that he had made the claim!

Most damning of all was the very low level of armed resistance actions in the area over which he was commander of the Provisional IRA.

McGuinness went from crude militaristic outlook to belief in electoral politics and the pacification process without a clear track of his progress (unlike that of Adams). No evidence of gradual change or of Road to Damascus conversion though he was reported favourable to a truce in 1972.

McGuinness (furthest right) in the clip of The Secret Army (1972) filmed beside a car being loaded with a bomb which is later filmed destroying a building and killing people. MI5 had access to the film.

The suspicions about McGuinness can be added to the known cases of agents and informers in top levels of the military and political leadership of the Provisionals: Freddie Scappaticci, Denis Donaldson, Martin Gartland. Derry in particular had Raymond Gilmour and Frank Hegarty.

“Spies and informers” have been quoted by many over the years as the reason for failure thus far to achieve Irish independence; indeed these complaints go back at least as far as the United Irishmen and as recently as July 2020, Denis McFadden bugged meetings of the New IRA for his handlers.

McGuinness announcing his replacement by Michelle O’Neill as SF leader in the British colony in 2017.

THE REALLY FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS

The fundamental problems in the Republican movement go far beyond the serious enough ones of faulty security permitting influx of agents and recruitment of informers. The very strategic concept of the 30 Years War was at fault which facilitated the subsequent sellout in the Pacification Process.

If one were planning a campaign to break Ireland from colonial occupation and control by the British ruling class, a major military power, why would one largely confine it to one-sixth of the nation? And worse still, one-sixth divided between nationalist and unionist communities?

One might say in its favour as the choice of main zone that the contradictions in the British colony were the most acute there, the Catholic population being discriminated against socially, politically, economically and culturally. And they were already in struggle for civil rights.

And that might be an important reason for diverting a certain amount of resources there. But the bald fact remains that logically the struggle against the British ruling class could not succeed if it were largely confined to that area.

Yet that is what the Provisionals did as they split from the organisation that then became known as “the Officials” in 1970. Nevertheless by 1972 they were proclaiming on their newspaper’s front page that Blian an Bhua, “the Year of Victory” was at hand.

In fact they appeared so sure of the impending victory that it seems they were attracted by the film company’s plans to record them – they would have a film for general release at the same time as their victory parade, star-studded (well, McGuinness-studded anyway).

What could have induced them to think that victory was imminent? Only two possible imaginary scenarios:

  • That the British didn’t really want to remain and by 1972 were beginning to get a good taste of what hanging on to the colony was going to cost them, or
  • That the Irish national ruling class were going to step in and help ease the British out in the cause of national unification.

If they believed the first, which a lot of people believe even today, they were not carrying out a historical analysis. At every possible juncture when they could have left, the British colonialists dug in deeper.1 Which is what they were doing in 1972, the bloodiest year of the War.

If the Provisionals considered the second a real possibility, they would have had to ignore the history and current reality of the Irish Gombeen2 ruling class, a totally foreign-dependent neo-colonial class.

Of course, to fight the war to win, they would have had to extend the struggle to the whole of the country and also build alliances with movements of nations within Britain and with the British working class, in particular through the mostly working-class Irish diaspora there.

Extending the struggle to the whole nation would have meant taking on the State, its social police the Catholic Church, equality for women, right to divorce, decriminalisation of contraception and pregnancy termination, of LGB, secularisation of education, full state health care …3

No. While Adams and later McGuinness recognised the fallacy of a quick victory in the occupied Six Counties, instead of extending the struggle to the whole 32 Counties, they opted instead for “the long war” – long and unwinnable (which made it ripe for a pacification process in a few decades).4

But this too had to be based on one or both of the same two presumptions:

  • The British didn’t really want to remain and by 1972 were beginning to get a good taste of what hanging on to the colony was going to cost them, or
  • The Irish national ruling class were going to step in and help ease the British out in the cause of national unification.

And those presumptions were just as fallacious for a long war as they had been for a short victorious one.

The other fundamental weakness in the Republican movement that made victory impossible in this scenario and by no means confined to the Republican movement’s leadership, is that of: “the leadership is right, they know best and only trouble-makers (or cowards) question them.”

Clearly an organisation must have discipline and at certain times decisions arrived at democratically or otherwise in emergency situations have to be carried out without a debate. But they should be open to discussion beforehand if possible and certainly to review afterwards.

That was not the style of the Provisionals and people disagreeing with the leadership’s line were labelled as “troublemakers”, censored from the letters page of their newspaper and isolated by warning others not to associate with the critics – for fear they’d be considered dissenters also.

And since the leadership was ‘always correct’ it followed that the organisation was always correct too. Critics had to shut up or face the fact of exile to the cold outside the movement. And why unite with other groups in a broad front when your leadership is the only correct one`?

All this happened in the past and the Provisionals are no more, just the SF electoral party now.

However, the majority of the current movement of ‘dissidents’, far from carrying out a critical review of past operational principles, seems to have to have learned nothing and to be happily replicating the style and content of the organisation from which many split.

End.

FOOTNOTES

1Even after the 1916 Rising, the electoral massacre of their client ‘nationalist’ party in the 1918 General Elections and the War of Independence 1991-1921, the British ruling class still insisted on retaining Ireland within the Commonwealth structure and even then, just in case, retaining six counties in a direct colony.

2From “gaimbín” in the Irish language, used to describe the opportunist creditors and land-buyers during and in the aftermath of The Great Hunger, now describing an Irish foreign-dependent capitalist class.

3Provisional Sinn Féin not only did not lead those struggles but in some cases opposed them.

4A long armed resistance war entails a heavy toll on the fighters (in deaths and jailings) and their community and, as the decades go by without any sign of victory, war-weariness sets in creating fertile ground for growing a pacification process.

SOURCES

Was Martin McGuinness A British Agent? – Toby Harnden Asks The Question

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/barristers-to-call-for-withdrawal-of-charges-against-dissident-republicans-arrested-in-mi5-sting/a1541598168.html

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/barristers-to-call-for-withdrawal-of-charges-against-dissident-republicans-arrested-in-mi5-sting/a1541598168.html

TRUTH AND LIES: REPORT ON SEVEN AID WORKERS KILLED BY ISRAELI STRIKES

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Internationalist Solidarity, Mass Media Criticism, Massacres, Palestine, Political Analysis, Zionism1 Comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 4 mins.)

Despite how distasteful the task it is nevertheless useful to subject media reports to a truth-and-lies analysis, which what I have done to this Reuters report in Breaking News ie.

Israel’s allies demand answers after airstrike kills aid workers in Gaza.

It is true that 1) the Israeli military killed (seven) aid workers in Gaza and 2) that allies of the zionist state have been obliged to protest strongly.

But the first lie appears in the first sentence of the report: “Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel mistakenly killed seven people …” How can it be a ‘mistake’ when THREE VEHICLES ARE EACH HIT, ONE AFTER THE OTHER?

And how can Reuters report “confirmed” as though it were true?

One of the aid agencies’ vehicles showing the missile penetration hole actually through part of the logo and text identifying the agency. (Photo cred: Reuters)

WCK… said its staff were travelling in two armoured cars emblazoned with the charity’s logo and another vehicle, and had coordinated their movements with the Israeli military. Not much chance of accident then, was there?

“Unfortunately, in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement. Unintentionally? See previous paragraph.

The Israeli military pledged an investigation by “an independent, professional and expert body”. What body could that possibly be? The Israeli government has refused to cooperate with the EU investigation of events on October 7th and instructed medical staff not to talk to them.

In fact Israel does not facilitate external investigations and accuses any organisation that does not agree with the conduct of the state of bias and even of ‘anti-semitism’.

At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations, and Hamas has previously accused Israel of targeting aid distribution sites. True – but not only Hamas has accused the Israeli state of that but many aid organisations and other states.

So report the list of accusers? Nope!

And they weren’t just “killed” as though by unknown persons – they were all killed by the Israeli military. Reporting commentators have noted that when it’s victims of Israel they are reported as just ‘being killed’ while if killed by Palestinians then it’s ‘Hamas has killed’ etc.

In a call on Tuesday, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak told Mr Netanyahu that UK was appalled by the deaths, which included three Britons, and demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation, Mr Sunak’s office said.

Again, what body could possibly carry out such an investigation in Israel? If it were truly independent and intending to be “thorough and transparent”, Israel would not cooperate with it. All its own investigations conclude with a ‘not guilty’ or at best ‘inconclusive’ verdict.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, said there was no evidence Israel deliberately targeted the aid workers but that it was outraged … etc. From any logical assessment, three strikes on three vehicles seems pretty conclusive evidence of “deliberately targeting.”

Israel has long denied accusations that it is hindering the distribution of urgently needed food aid in Gaza, which it has besieged in a war since October, saying the problem is caused by international aid groups’ inability to get it to those in need.

This would seem an appropriate spot to report on the few times the Israeli authorities allow supplies to pass from the long, long line of parked aid lorries outside the Rafah crossing gates, which Israeli protesters are impeding with no action by Israel police or army and. But no mention.

Or the times the Israeli military has opened fire on deliveries or on civilians approaching aid supplies that have gone through, or Israel’s execution of the Chief and Deputy of Gaza Police who organised a recent delivery of flour without food riots or Israeli gunfire. But no mention.

The aid convoy was hit as it was leaving its Deir al-Balah warehouse after unloading more than 100 tons of food aid brought to Gaza by sea, WCK said. So it was clearly identified by logo, by prior announcement to the Israelis and by its departure point.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” WCK’s chief executive Erin Gore said. A rare and very true statement but not by the media.

The US-based charity said it would pause its work in Gaza, and the United Arab Emirates, which has financed the seaborne food deliveries to Gaza that WCK distributed, said it was putting the shipments on hold pending safety guarantees from Israel and a full investigation.

Anera, a US-based aid group that works in part with WCK, said it too was pausing operations in Gaza because of safety concerns.

In other words, another step in the starvation of Gaza achieved by the Israeli state.

The conflict began after Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7th that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. An outright lie which does not become truth no matter how often repeated by the western mass media (which it is in every single report).

The conflict began many decades before October 7th with the zionist settler program which intended and proceeded to carry out a program of ethnic cleansing and, from the moment of the creation of the State in 1948, an expansionist and genocidal program.

Nor was it just Hamas that attacked, nor were all the 1,200 killed by the Palestinians but that is a different discussion.

Conditions in Gaza remain extremely precarious with fighting going on in several areas on Tuesday and 71 people killed in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza health authorities.

Yes, the Palestinian resistance continues to resist heroically, with innovation and in principled manner (for example not targeting Israeli Army medical evacuation helicopters) and the Israel military continues to kill civilians, even in hospitals.

But you have to go to other sources to get that kind of information, never in the western mass media.

A final thought: If the victims had been seven Palestinians, would we be even reading about it in the western mass media?

END.

SOURCES:

https://www.breakingnews.ie/israel-hamas/israels-allies-demand-answers-after-airstrike-kills-aid-workers-in-gaza-1608933.html

Also: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/3/outrage-grows-over-israels-deadly-attack-on-gaza-aid-convoy

ANTI-IMPERIALIST ACTION HOLDS DUBLIN 1916 RISING COMMEMORATION

On By rebelbreezeIn Basque Country, British imperialism, Cultural Comment, Current Event Report, Dublin Lockout 1913, History commemoration, Housing, Housing Struggle, Imperialism, Ireland, irish history, Irish Republicanism, National Liberation, NATO, Political Analysis, Song, US ImperialismLeave a comment

Clive Sulish

(Reading time: 6 mins.)

Easter is the time of year in Ireland for Easter Egg hunts and/or for attendance at religious services but for the Republican movement it is one of commemoration of the Easter Rising and its martyrs, with parades and speeches.

The commemoration parade proceeding along Phibsboro and approaching the Cross Guns canal bridge. (Photo: Rebel Breeze)

Easter Monday in Dublin saw one of those commemorations organised by the Socialist Republican organisation Anti-Imperialist Action at the Citizen Army plot in the St. Paul’s section of the famous Glasnevin Cemetery at the Republican Struggle Monument1.

Participants rallied near the Phibsboro Shopping Centre to march from there to the Cemetery, a distance of around two kilometres, over the “Cross Guns” bridge over the Royal Canal, then passing the main entrance to the Glasnevin Cemetery on the right before turning left for St. Paul’s.

Garda POU van parked extremely dangerously, hiding left turn from view of eastbound traffic, as they chat with other Gardaí and a ‘Branch man. As is said, “one rule for the people …!”
In the laneway between houses visible in the background, a cameraman lurked taking photos. (Photo: Rebel Breeze)

In a marked departure from the previous year, the State’s political police, plainclothes Gardaí of the “Special Branch”2 did not approach the participants to attempt to intimidate them and gather intelligence, demanding their names and addresses under the Offences Against the State Act.3

That had been followed up by a raid on the home of one of the leading activists. Sunday’s police behaviour was an even greater difference from Saturday’s, when a different Republican group, Saoradh, had their Easter Rising commemoration in Dublin’s city centre.

Around 300 police, including many in riot cop uniform (Public Order Unit) had harassed the participants demanding names, addresses and other information, attempting to intimidate them. At least seven police vans had been in attendance also to the bemusement of onlookers.4

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

LOCAL 1916 HISTORY

The Phibsboro/ Glasnevin area also figured in the 1916 Rising, with an insurgent barricade in Phibsboro and a Fianna youth, Sean Healy, mortally wounded at the crossroads by a British artillery shell fragment (a plaque on the ground at the SW corner commemorates his death.

Earlier, Irish Volunteers had guarded the canal bridge briefly; these were seen by the dozen Volunteers that marched along the canal from Maynooth, slept in Glasnevin Cemetery and got into the headquarters garrison at the General Post Office on Tuesday.

Later British soldiers set up a barricade on the Bridge preventing even foot traffic across and shooting dead a deaf and dumb man who could not hear their challenge.

EYE IN THE SKY? (Photo: Rebel Breeze)

PARADE THROUGH STREETS TO CEMETERY

The parade from Phibsboro on Sunday was led by the Glasgow Republican Flute band (formerly the Garngad RFB, which is where most of them are based) playing the airs of known Republican ballads, muted to regular tocks on their drums as they entered the housing estate.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

Also leading was the colour party dressed in white shirts, black trousers, jackets, berets and sunglasses, carrying the traditional flags for Republican colour parties: the Tricolour, Starry Plough, Sunburst, followed by the flags of the four provinces of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.

Over the marchers the flags of the Tricolour and the Starry Plough, flag of the Irish Citizen Army flew in the breeze while those of the Basque nation, Palestine and of the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine lent an international flavour to the commemoration of the Irish Rising.

There was some beeping of passing traffic and cheering from bystanders at the entrance to the laneway that leads to the bridge across the railway tracks to the St. Paul’s section of the graveyard. The marchers filed in and proceeded to the monument.

The Chair of the proceedings welcomed the attendance before reading from the 1916 Proclamation of Independence and calling a singer to step forward. Revolutionary activist Diarmuid Breatnach introduced the two songs he was going to sing as emphasising the role of the working class in the Rising.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

“The decision to go ahead with the Rising on Easter Monday was taken in Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the working class at the time,” he reminded the gathering, “which is also where the Proclamation of Independence was printed.”

He sang the “Jim Larkin Ballad”:
In Dublin City in 1913,
the boss was rich and the poor were slaves;
The women working, the children hungry,
till on came Larkin like a might wave …

Diarmuid Breatnach singing (Photo: Donated by participant)

Pausing to focus on a different key, the singer followed the ballad with Patrick Galvin’s Where Is Our James Connolly?

After applause, floral tributes were laid on behalf of Anti-Imperialism Action Ireland and of Dublin Republicans Against Fascism.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)
(Photo: Donated by participant)

The chairperson asked for a minute’s silence in honour of those men and women who had given their lives in the struggle for freedom in Ireland. The colour party lowered their flags slowly in homage to the fallen, raising them again slowly to signify the continuation of the struggle.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

John Heaney, Republican ex-prisoner from Armagh was called to give the oration for the event, which he dedicated to all those men and women who had opened their doors and their homes to fighters in the struggle, whether the latter were in hiding or just resting – his audience applauded.

The speaker also congratulated on those who came forward to carry on the struggle, youth, women and stated he was proud to see the traditions of struggle being upheld in the process to achieve the Republic for which so many gave their lives.

The speaker, John Heaney delivering his oration. (Photo: Rebel Breeze)

The marching band then played the air of Amhrán na bhFiann/ The Soldiers’ Song, verse and chorus and the formal part of the event came to an end. Band members lined up in front of the Monument for photos and a little later played the air of “Black Is the Colour” on whistles, to general applause.

SECOND 1916 COMMEMORATION FOR AIA THIS EASTER

This was the second 1916 Rising Commemoration to be attended by Anti-Imperialist Action as they had also participated in another organised by the Seamus Costello Memorial Committee in Bray on the previous day.

AIA is a young organisation, founded by socialist Republicans unhappy with the direction of the Republican organisation of which they had been members but now containing many young people.

AIA gave rise to the Revolutionary Housing League that occupied empty buildings in a campaign against homelessness and called for a general occupation campaign across the state. A number of court cases against them followed but sadly their lead was not followed.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

AIA have also been very active against NATO, picketing promotional meetings and a number have been charged following a demonstration against a visiting British Navy ship in Dublin last November.5 They have also been active as part of the Saoirse don Phalaistín activist group.

Following the event in Glasnevin, many of the participants relaxed at a social evening in a different part of the city where many songs of struggle were sung.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

OTHER EASTER COMMEMORATIONS

Other Easter Rising commemorations have been held around this time, for example: Lasair Dhearg held one in Belfast on Easter Monday, while Independent Dublin Republicans held theirs in the capital, marching from Liberty Hall to the GPO, then to Moore Street to lay a floral tribute.

On Monday too the Derry 1916 Memorial Committee held an event in its city.6

Former revolutionary Republican party Sinn Féin held theirs in Arbour Hill7 cemetery on Sunday; a large part of their President’s address was devoted to justification of support for the EU and a plea to support the party whenever the state’s general elections are held (this year or next)8.

End.

(Photo: Rebel Breeze)

FOOTNOTES

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

Anti-Imperialist Action: https://t.me/aiaireland

Lasair Dhearg commemoration: https://www.facebook.com/LasairDhearg/

Derry commemoration: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/petrol-bombs-thrown-at-media-during-dissident-parade-in-derry/a1835461558.html?

Sinn Féin commemoration: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mary-lou-mcdonald-makes-election-plea-at-1916-event-1608211.html

1My name for the Monument in the St. Paul’s part of Glasnevin Cemetery which stands in recognition of six periods of Irish Republican-led insurrectionary activity in Ireland: 1798-1916.

2Now officially the Special Detective Unit, they were previously known as the “Special Branch”, a name they inherited from the British occupation which had set up a political intelligence unit, the Irish Special Branch, to spy on and disrupt the Fenian movement among the Irish diaspora in British cities. Most political activists in Ireland continue to call them “the Special Branch” or simply “the Branch”. Their equivalent in Britain today and in a number of its colonies and former colonies continues to officially bear the name “Special Branch”.

3As amended in 1972 after a British Intelligence bombing killing two public transport workers in Dublin but blamed on the IRA; the amendment also permitted the setting up of no-jury Special Courts which are in existence to this day.

4In the context of assaults on persons in the city centre there have been regular complaints in the media and in the Parliament about the lack of Gardaí visibly patrolling the area.

5 https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/irish-activists-shout-at-british-naval-vessel-in-dublin

6https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/petrol-bombs-thrown-at-media-during-dissident-parade-in-derry/a1835461558.html?

7Where the 14 Dublin 1916 executed were buried, now a national monument in a former prison and church graveyard around the back of the former military barracks and now National Museum of Collins Barracks

8https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mary-lou-mcdonald-makes-election-plea-at-1916-event-1608211.html