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The World Stands at a Tipping Point
In the
months leading up to the invasion of Iraq by American and British forces and
others in March 2003 Martin McGuinness and I warned Tony Blair and President
Bush not to invade. We pointed out that it would be a breach of international
law. At one particular meeting in Mr. Blair’s office in Downing Street Martin
and I urged the British PM to learn the lessons of British involvement in
Ireland and in other conflicts. We told him and his officials they were living
in cloud cuckoo land; “if you go into Iraq it will be another Vietnam
and it will be a huge mistake.”
One British
official told us that it would all be over in a matter of months. Martin told
him “... given the previous history of successive British military
expeditions to Ireland, that certainly would not be my view of how the
situation in Iraq is going to move in the next short while."
We raised our concerns regularly with Tony Blair in the run
into the Anglo-American attacks on the people of Iraq. It became obvious to me
that Mr Blair was not listening to what we had to say. He was set on joining
George Bush in his ill-considered offensive. If anything Mr Blair was more
hawkish than Mr Bush.
Martin and
I were right. They were wrong. The consequences for the people of Iraq were
enormous. The estimates of those killed vary from several hundred thousand to
over one million. The political and environmental infrastructure of the country
was devastated. The political ramifications in terms of global instability are
still playing out today.
The Israeli
genocide in the Gaza Strip and the pogroms against Palestinian towns and
villages in the west Bank strike a similar note today and a lesson for the
international community. The support of the British Government and the White
House for the Zionist assaults on the Palestinian people is shameful. It is
also, like the war in Iraq, short sighted and counter-productive.
Over 60,000
Gazans have been killed – mostly women and children and 80% of the
infrastructure of Gaza has been destroyed; a thousand are dead in the west
Bank; south Lebanon is ablaze; Israeli forces have moved deeper into Syria, and
the US President is seeking to expel the Palestinian people of Gaza from their
homeland. The world stands at a tipping point amid the real risk of a possible
wider conflagration.
The western
states who were part of the Iraqi War have failed to learn the lessons of those
events. Instead of upholding international law and supporting the International
Criminal Court and Court of Justice they have grievously damaged and undermined
these legal institutions. As a result, almost two million people – the
population of the six counties – have been forcibly displaced in Gaza and most
have lost everything.
The history of the last forty years or so reflects a litany
of these militaristic adventures by the larger Western powers. Who has
benefitted from this? Not the people of the countries or regions on the
receiving end of this aggression. Thankfully saner voices have been raised in
support of peace, human rights and international law. Unfortunately,
the Irish government has not always been as principled as it should be.
Uachtarán Micheál D. Ó hUigínn has been much more consistent.
The Irish government is currently watering down the Occupied
Territories Bill which would block the import of goods and services into the
Irish state from Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land. The
government should be honouring the aims and objectives of the Bill and the
finding by the International Court of Justice that all states must abstain
from economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian
territory.
They must also support the right of the people of Gaza to
remain in their homeland and for international law to be defended. Interference
in the affairs of other countries rarely work out well for the people of these
countries. Ask the people of Iraq. Or Afganistan. Or Libya. Or Lebanon. If 77
years of Israeli occupation and apartheid have taught us anything it is that
the Palestinian people will defend their right to national self-determination
whatever the cost.
My Internment by Roseleen Walsh
Roseleen Walsh is one of 36 women who were interned in the
early 1970s. Her latest book – My Internment – tells the very personal story of
her life as a young woman in west Belfast in the late 60s and early 70s. Of the
constant pressure and danger of living under British occupation and of her time
as an internee in Armagh Women’s Prison.
Roseleen has been writing for many years, including during
her time in Armagh Prison. She is a writer of great skill including of poetry,
plays and books. She is also a very determined individual as her account of her
first days in Armagh makes clear. When her cell door was opened for the first
time she remembers that “there before me was, not a mess, but a blank
canvass. Immediately I knew white walls would suit me best for I intended
making those walls a work of art! I would surround myself within the comfort of
my own words. Since I was young, I had found it hard to express myself to
others until I discovered that poetry was a wonderful way to articulate what I
meant… The walls were to become like pages of a diary.”
Of course this was Armagh Prison and writing on the walls
was not acceptable to the prison authorities who told her that this was “considered
a form of vandalism and I would be obliged to remove everything I had written
on them, presumably with another coat of paint.”
Later a senior prison officer arrived to read the
poems. “After studying some of the poems, she sighed deeply then walked
out without speaking… After that there was no mention of vandalism or having to
remove my poetry from the walls! I was to enjoy and develop the creative
freedom I had in my cell.”
My Internment also tells of the hard times. Of the disputes
with the prison system. Of coping with the news of a comrade’s death in the
conflict outside the prison walls. Of facing her accusers in one of the corrupt
so-called courts set up to determine whether an internee could be released. It
also explores the comradeship that has always a hugely important part of the
prison experience for republican political prisoners and political prisoners in
other struggles around the world.
Roseleen’s website reflects her remarkable creative output.
Take the time to visit. You will enjoy the experience: https://roseleenwalsh.org/
Climate Crisis
January was a month of climate opposites. Storm Éowyn is now
believed to have been one of the worst to ever hit the island of Ireland. It
broke wind-speed records; forced the cancellation of flights and
ferries; and within hours had cut power supplies to over one million
households and businesses north and south. Tens of thousands were also
left without water as treatment plants lost power.
Although last month Ireland was colder than
usual January was still the hottest month ever recorded across the world.
More worrying it is the 18th month out of the last 19 when the average
global temperature was greater than that set by the world’s governments.
In the last decade governments have pledged to keep any
increase in the world temperature to 1.5C is above the average conditions that
prevailed before the industrial revolution. However, Copernicus which is
the EU programme that monitors our planet’s changing environment and climate,
has just reported that 2024 was the warmest year on record. It was also
the first to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the annual
global average temperature.
To add to this growing crisis President Trump has pulled the
USA out of the Paris Accords on climate and most world governments, who
were due to submit new plans this month for a major conference later this year
(COP30) will fail to meet this deadline.
The result of climate warming is more extreme weather
events, heatwaves, storms, droughts, melting glaciers and changing rainfall
patterns. For humanity it means millions facing serious water and food
shortages and significant political instability.
All governments must play their part in tackling the climate
crisis. The COP30 conference in November is an opportunity to prioritise a
fairer approach to funding global climate change efforts, particularly those of
low-income countries. They need financial support by the wealthier states to
decarbonise. Greater investment is required in renewable energy and the
transition away from fossil fuels. There is not a lot of time left.
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