WELL done to all of those – 1,600 at the last count – who last week participated in the Hunger for Justice Fast/Troscadh ar son na Córa in support of the people of Palestine. Over €100,000 has been raised. As well as individual contributions, scores of vigils and protests were held across the island.
The decision in recent days by the Irish government to finally support the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice case is a welcome development but should have been taken months ago. More critically, the incoming Irish government must now set down a clear marker that its intention is to robustly defend international humanitarian law. This means passing the Occupied Territories Bill and enacting meaningful sanctions against Israel. This also has to include passing into law the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill; providing no more approvals of export licences for dual use products, which have a military application; taking steps to ensure that Irish sovereign airspace and our airports are not being used to transport weapons of war; and intensifying efforts to suspend the EU-Israel Association agreement.
As Israel’s allies continue to arm and politically defend the apartheid regime, scores of civilians die each day in Israel’s relentless slaughter. As we in Ireland prepare for Christmas, the people of Palestine prepare for more genocide and more repression. The bald statistics make grim reading:
·Over 45,000 people have been killed; many thousands more are believed buried beneath the rubble.
·Almost 17,000 of these were children; children loved by their parents and families and robbed of life.
·1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced, most several times.
·2 million people, many of them children, suffering from acute food insecurity.
·The healthcare system is almost non-existent.
·Not a single hospital remains fully operational, and fewer than half are functioning at all.
·Medical care for the sick and injured is critically scarce.
Education provision for our children is something we all take for granted. But not in Gaza or the West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been especially hard hit. The schools and universities that once housed over 600,000 students are gone. They have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military. According to the United Nations, “More than 625,000 students have been out of learning since the war began, half of them were going to UNRWA schools. They have all lost a year of education and learning to the war, risking becoming a lost generation. They have all witnessed unimaginable atrocities no child should go through.”
The 782,000 students in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem are also impacted by Israel’s apartheid and military policies. And yet in the midst of this devastation the strength, courage and resilience of the Palestinian people still inspires. This is especially true in the determination of parents, teachers, educationalists and students to provide a measure of education for the young people of Gaza. Tent classrooms have been established into which scores of children of all ages are packed with teachers working hard to provide some measure of education.
For Palestinians, education has always played a vital role in the sustaining their culture, their history, identity, language and values. The schools and universities have also been critical in empowering Palestinian resistance to Israel’s apartheid policies and it is for these reasons that the education system in Gaza and in the occupied territories is being targeted by Israel.
The closure of its Dublin Embassy by the Israeli government is a compliment to the people of Ireland. Of course it is not aimed at us. It is aimed at all those other states who need to raise their voices in support of international law and against genocide. It is aimed at the incoming Trump administration. Will he welcome An Taoiseach and others to celebrate Ireland’s national day in March while his allies in Israel rail against Ireland? One thing is for sure. We must never be silent in support of peace in the Middle East and in support of the right to freedom of the people of Palestine.
Future in sharp focus on the Falls
ON Monday, Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald TD joined National Party Chairperson Declan Kearney on the Falls to publish the report of the work of the party’s Commission on the Future of Ireland. The Commission was established to undertake a grassroots engagement by providing citizens with a space in which they can have their say on the future of Ireland.
The extensive work of the Commission is clearly evident in the twenty-one public events, the thousands who have attended, the breadth of speakers who have participated, including those from the Protestant/unionist section of our people and the hundreds of written submissions that have been made.
The current level of discussion on constitutional change is remarkable. As well as Sinn Féin, other groups have also been discussing Irish unity. These include Ireland's Future; Gaels le Chéile; Constitutional Conversations; Belfast Women's Assembly; Trade Unions for Irish Unity; the SDLP’s New Ireland Commission; Labour for Irish Unity; and the Women's Assembly (Hosted by Mary McAleese in conjunction with the National Women's Council).
DRIVE: Declan Kearney and Mary Lou McDonald with the report
The Oireachtas Good Friday Agreement Committee published a landmark report on Perspectives on Constitutional Change; another report on Women and Constitutional Change; and last Friday the Women's Charter for Inclusive Constitutional Futures by Fidelma Ashe and others was published.
All of these are part of the dynamic driving forward the debate on Irish unity. The Commission’s report highlights the fact that people want to be part of the conversation on the future of Ireland, on the shape of constitutional change and how best to navigate the next length of the journey to reunification. They like to be asked and when given the opportunity are pleased to be part of this process of dialogue. If Sinn Féin and others can facilitate dialogue on constitutional change how much more effective and inclusive would the discussion be if the Irish government fulfilled its constitutional responsibilities and obligations and took up a more positive role. The next government in Dublin must prioritise planning for reunification and for the unity referendums provided by the Good Friday Agreement.
Mary Lou in her remarks to the launch pointed to the practical steps proposed by Sinn Féin that the incoming Irish government should take to advance preparations for the future. Key to this is a Citizens’ Assembly.
It is irresponsible of those in political leadership, especially in the Irish government, to refuse to advance what is the most important conversation of a generation. The Commission report demonstrates what can be done when one party prioritises an open conversation about the future. Just imagine what is possible, what can be achieved, if a government did this.
Reach out to Leonard this Christmas
I’VE posted a Christmas card to Leonard Peltier. I don’t know if he will receive it. Or the numerous other notes and cards I have sent over the years. At 80 years of age, Leonard, a native American rights activist and victim of a miscarriage of justice, has been imprisoned for 48 years. This makes him one of the longest serving political prisoners in the world.
Like so often before, there was a lobby for President Biden to use his Presidential power to include Leonard among those to be pardoned as he leaves office. On December 12 the White House announced that 39 people were to be granted pardons and almost 1,500 others had their sentences commuted. Leonard was not on the list.
The native American activist was convicted in 1977 of the killing of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota. He has always protested his innocence. A few years ago James H. Reynolds the former US Attorney General whose office prosecuted Leonard appealed for his sentence to be commuted. In October 2022 Amnesty International appealed to President Biden to grant Leonard Peltier clemency on “humanitarian grounds and as a matter of justice.”
Calls for Leonard Peltier’s release have also been supported by international figures, including the late Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson.
With Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and the occupied West Bank, its invasion of Lebanon and events in Syria, there are huge humanitarian crises across the world, but if you have a moment remember Leonard Peltier and write him a letter or send him a card.
Leonard Peltier,
#89637-132 USP Coleman,
US Penitentiary PO Box 1033,
Coleman,
FL, 33521,
USA.
