This September, I helped organize a historic delegation of Palestinian, Indigenous, and Black leaders to convene with Irish freedom fighters and community organizers in the north of Ireland. For those who are less familiar, the British controlled north of Ireland was a critical site of anti-imperialist struggle over the course of 800 years, where the Irish fought against British occupation and militarization. One of the deadliest days of this struggle was the 1972 Bloody Sunday Massacre, where British soldiers killed dozens of unarmed civilians in Derry. Our hosts, the Bloody Sunday Trust, also run the Museum of Free Derry – are survivors of the massacre, who went on to become political prisoners, organizers and community historians who are continuing the struggle towards a unified Ireland.
As we commemorate the one year anniversary of the genocide in Gaza, with an onslaught of Israeli attacks on Yemen and Lebanon, leaders of this delegation were able to place themselves in a historic timeline of struggle with the camaraderie of our Irish – who are no stranger to occupation. Our delegates included representatives from the Adalah Justice Project, Arab Resource and Organizing Project, Hospitality for Humanity, Healthcare Workers for Gaza, Honor the Earth, Community Movement Builders, Palestinian Youth Movement – both Britain and U.S. leaders, Palestinian Feminist Collective, National Students for Justice in Palestine and me – from 18 Million Rising!
Join us for a virtual report back on Wednesday, October 30.
From the moment we landed in Derry, I was elated to see Palestinian flags on every corner of the city. The historic ‘You Are Now Entering Free Derry’ mural in the Bogside, where the Bloody Sunday Massacre took place, was covered in beautiful art paying homage to the Palestinian people, honoring journalist Moataz Aziza, who was in Ireland a few weeks prior. I learned quickly about the importance of language in Ireland – like how using the term ‘Britain’ instead of ‘United Kingdom’ is politically correct, because calling it the UK assumes that the territory is unified under British colonial power.
Ireland taught me so much about resisting colonialism, and its connections span as far as the British Empire has. The British invented modern torture and occupation, and every technique that has been used to brutalize the global South, was experimented on the Irish, and later exported to its colonies. British colonial administrators moved from Ireland to pre-partition India, deploying strategies that repressed and violated the human rights of nationalist movements and political leaders, and Ireland was the laboratory for many of these brutal experiments. Afterall, it was the British who were the key architects and negotiators of the original Zionist plan to colonize Palestine.
We had the opportunity to sit with political prisoners and hunger strikers Martina Andersen and Laurence McKeown, and speak extensively about the role of mass incarceration and criminalization to maintain control and attempt to destroy the radical spirits of movement leaders. Laurence used theater as a tool to build narrative and cultural power while unjustly incarcerated, and he shared with us, “No revolutionary movement is complete without poetic expression.” One of my favorite moments of this exchange was witnessing the Palestinian Youth Movement give a copy of The Trinity of Fundamentals – a book that was smuggled out of Israeli prisons – to former Irish political prisoners.
I was inspired by the possibilities of internationalist solidarity and how international boycotts can be a key site of agitation. We had a round table with organizers from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Sadaka, the Irish Palestinian Alliance, who are working to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, a groundbreaking law that outlaws goods and sales from illegal Israeli settlements. This October, the Dublin City Council passed a motion to enact the bill, sending a loud and clear message that there will be consequences to a genocidal regime.
In many ways, the Irish have achieved governing power – albeit in a divided Ireland, where the British still maintain control of the north of Ireland – their political parties that were founded in their defiant lineage of republicanism, namely Sinn Feín, still hold a populist majority across Ireland. But that doesn’t come without the contradictions of capitalism, political violence and the socio-economic relationships the island keeps with the United States, where a majority of Irish people outside of Ireland live, including our current genocide-in-chief, Joseph Biden.
With our comrades in the north of Ireland, we got to share experiences of resisting colonization and state violence, strategies and tactics for the homeland and diaspora, the strength and leadership of political prisoners, and how to hold pain and grief while remaining steadfast in the struggle.
- The Museum of Free Derry is one of the most unique examples of an interactive space to honor, mourn and struggle with the questions of political freedom. Similar to the South African process for Truth and Reconciliation, this film We Shall Overcome highlights the survivors and family members of British occupation and their struggle for justice.
- Definitely watch Kneecap – this brilliant new film on Ireland’s first hip hop trio, who are bringing Irish language and history to young people across the world. It’s hilarious!
- When preparing to meet political prisoners, I listened to this panel on the The Palestinian Prisoners Movement and the Struggle for Liberation from The People’s Conference for Palestine hosted by the Palestinian Youth Movement. It was unreal to hear from Sana Daqqa, the wife of Walid Daqqa, who smuggled her child out of an Israeli prison.
Everywhere we went in Ireland, we saw the words ‘Saoirse Don Palestine’ – which translates to ‘There is no freedom until Palestine is free!’
In solidarity,
– Sharmin, Irma, Turner, Kari, Leyen, Allison, Brenda, and Van – the 18MR Team
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