The first time I saw the Palestinian flag was on a poorly timed trip as a teenager up North. Mid-July in Belfast wouldn’t be most Southerners’ idea of a fun getaway, but my friend’s family owned a cabin that we could drink ourselves stupid in for a week straight, so it was a real no-brainer at the time. About three days in we found ourselves in need of a restock which my cousin’s friend and her friend offered to bring us for. We happily blasted music as we swung from country roads into stratified suburbia on our way to the exciting location of the nearby big Tesco. Approaching the more residential parts, our yell-singing came to an abrupt stop. We had made the unfortunate mistake of going on a drinks run on July 11th. For anyone not on top of their Northern Irish intricacies, July 11th is known among unionists as the “Eleventh Night”, or “bonfire night”. It is as the name suggests, a night for lighting huge bonfires on which they pile symbols of their perceived opposition. It is a celebration on the eve before the Orange Order Parades. A whole day that the Orangemen use to don their garish sashes and dust off their Lambeg drums for excessive and archaic marching to commemorate their being protestants, or something along those lines.
Whatever your opinion on the Orange marches, mine clearly negative, it does not detract from the fact that this was a less than ideal time for us to go into town. Our two guides, who had also forgotten about the night despite being locals, made things all the more dramatic by telling us that we shouldn’t speak when we go into the shop as our Southern accents might cause us trouble in the obviously unionist part of town. How true this would be? I don’t know. We moved along without much problem. The trip, however, did give me insight into a world I had not thought much about. I knew the Orangemen were up to all sorts of Anglo-Saxon carry on up North, but I had never seen it with my own eyes. Looking at the large pyres, there was one symbol I did not recognise that caught my attention. In amongst tricolours, images of the Pope, and a variety of Irish Republicans on their campaign posters, was the Palestinian flag up on a bonfire that was, in my memory, probably about thirty feet tall. This flag was the only thing I knew was not associated with my country, so I did wonder what the burning of it had to do with us. Primitive and hateful, both bonfire night and the orange marches really are a source of low-lying disgust for me that I usually ignore but it will be a point of interest to see whether or not the burning of the Palestinian flag will continue in coming years. Though I believe these events should be halted and recognised at last for the xenophobic acts that they are, I do find some humour in the thought that there are Unionists running about in the dead of night to collect the poster for every Sinn Féiner they can and storing it in their shed until bonfire night, hoping that no one will find their collection and assume it’s some sort of perverse shrine to Republicanism.
The use of Palestinian flags as kindling at these bonfires is not unusual. There is a long and extensive history of the Palestinian flag being burned by Unionists over the years. But why has the Palestinian flag become synonymous with Irish Republicanism in Northern Ireland? Most likely for the same reason that the Israeli flag became a synonymous with Loyalist Northern Ireland. It may seem like I am rambling on with this historical tirade about Ireland and the way we associate with Palestine, but I promise that understanding the way our past shapes our attitude towards them in the present is vital to the bigger picture and why other Western countries, typically inhabited en masse by the coloniser and not the colonised, do not react the same way.
Settler occupation is something that is integral to the history of this island. The aggressive plantations of the English invaders on our lands have irreparably shaped our country for hundreds of years, right up to the continued occupation of the six counties that now make up Northern Ireland. In truth, both sides see bits of themselves reflected in the Israel-Palestine issue. Some who have been pushed by invaders from their ancestral land and homes, and settlers who have been there for multiple generations who have been taught that they are more entitled to the land than anyone else. Like anything, these conflicts are complex and layered and far more nuanced than we want to give them time for, which often leads them to be simplified into a sectarian based conflict instead of what it truly is, the result of years of violent occupation and colonisation through the destruction of culture, already existing infrastructure, and the ultimate eradication of human life which is excused on an institutional level. We know very well in Ireland that the conflicts of the North are not as easy as Catholic vs. Protestant, as much as some would push us to believe it is. This is why the pattern is easily recognisable when we see the rhetoric from Israeli sympathisers attempting to push a Muslim vs. Jew narrative.
Because of this history, Ireland has, for a long time, considered itself to have a different and more compassionate stance on Palestine’s situation. It is true that many Irish people see our own history in Palestine’s present and the lack of justice for the people in Northern Ireland brings them closer through the similarity of suffering. Much of it looks the same. Colonisation is a playbook that rarely changes.
Despite the will of the Irish people to speak up for Palestine and try to halt in their history what was never halted in ours, our government does not honour this cultural connect that is felt widely in the majority. We must question why this is. Why, when thousands upon thousands of Irish people are united in one mindset, is the government wilfully ignorant and continuing their connections and visits with those complicit, even actively carrying out, genocide? The answer is predictable and one that is widely known. The same dark looming shadow that is to blame for the vast majority of this world’s qualms. Systems of capitalism, value of economy over people, and those who would uphold these at the cost of immeasurable suffering.
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu published “Forms of Capital” in the 80s. In this he discusses the three main forms of capital that dictates the ease of access or acceptability an individual may have in society. These three forms are social capital, cultural capital and, of course, economic capital. Though much of Bourdieu’s point was that economic capital was not the be all and end all like we often thought it was, it certainly does overpower when you apply this to a nation-to-nation interaction. In truth Palestine has very little of any of these forms of capital. Any export that could be considered economic capital is controlled by the state of Israel who have kept Palestinians prisoners in their own country for decades. It is vital that people are aware that Palestinian lands, economy, and education are all controlled by Israel. A nation under lock and key can hold no capital. They are purposefully kept at Israel’s mercy within fences and countless gates with never ending security checks.
This now takes us to the West where all forms of capital run high and the rules can be bent or broken according to whoever is sitting at the top. Our nation of Ireland is small but located in a place that has not always been particularly comfortable but in the present gives us good position. Off in the West of Europe, Ireland is nestled between the historically voracious colonisers of Britain, and their successors just over the ocean, The United States of America. Not only are we positioned nicely, but we are also members of the EU, a group that provides economic gain, ease of travel, and further social capital. Through our membership we lend ourselves to a larger voice that benefits us greatly and keeps us in the conversation when we might have been pushed aside due to our size and position in the not-so-secret hierarchy. Ireland has done well out of becoming a member-state, as have many others. The EU is increasingly becoming hard to gain membership status in which is why a moronic, Brexit-like move would be among one of the worst things that could be done for a nation’s economy and trade. This does beg the question though, what of those outside the EU? The EU has proven time and time again that their policy is on the protection of member-states only. Those that are beyond the European borders are not of import to policy makers unless they serve economic purpose. The EU agenda is insular and increasingly, blatantly isolationist. Their own self-importance is a detriment to their morality and to become a member-state is like trying to gain access to an exclusive member’s club rather than a united place of peace, safety, and growth.
The rest of the controlling powers of Western democracy are not much better. Next up to bat is a country that delights in the torment of the Middle East and will take any and all opportunity to make them pay for the crime of existing. The United States of America has had its grips on the political reigns of Middle Eastern relations for decades now. For the sake of our sanity, I will not pretend for a moment that there was ever going to be an expectation of morality from the United States. A nation where indiscriminately bombing Middle Eastern civilians is as much a rite of passage for a President as dissecting yourself in the mirror is for a teenage girl, cannot be brought to the table as a serious contender for any form of righteousness or justice. Despite this, the US continues to hold much power on an International level and so their unequivocal support of Israel has a ripple effect of influence across the Occident. With the military power of Israel on their side, the hold the US has on the Middle Eastern region is solidified. It is this malicious proxy control that should be monitored. We need to stop asking why US army bases are getting attacked in these countries and instead ask what they are doing there in the first place.
So far it has only been non-Western states that have upheld any sense of morality in regards to trying to help the Palestinian people. Yemen, a country ravaged by war and famine caused massively by US intervention in this region, are blockading ships coming through the Red Sea. These are cargo ships from Israel, Britain, and the US. The Houthi, who maintain this blockade, have not cowered despite being under threat and having bombings carried out against them as a result. The repercussions of years of military occupation are now being felt by the US. They will now learn that when you spend years destroying the culture and land of a country, they grow accustomed to your evil and the consequence is that they lose any fear they may have held. Without fear, they cannot be stopped as a nation such as the US only knows to use fear as its weapon, never diplomacy.
As Yemeni forces take direct action in the Middle East, South Africa has taken judicial action in the ICJ, the International Court of Justice. This play forces the hand of Western indifference. The final result of this case will dictate whether or not the ICJ is a legitimate authority on the protection of justice on an international level, or if they are just another façade used to exert Western superiority.
South Africa’s argument on proving that Israel has genocidal intent is strong and backed up by countless admissions released across social media and news outlets by IDF soldiers and Israeli spokespeople alike. The Israeli response was weak, lacked proof, and they failed to have the case thrown out and dismissed as they had first tried to.
Unfortunately, Israel’s tirade has not been slowed by the ICJ case, instead, their own prime minister, Netanyahu, claimed that “No one will stop us [Israel], not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else.” This nation believe themselves to be above international courts of law. In many ways, it seems that they are as they meet no resistance from the West. Israeli “proof” of Hamas presence is believed without doubt whilst Palestinians must fight tooth and nail to prove they are being decimated. Israel have onside bigger voices and stronger friends. Though in truth, their allies are unmistakably outnumbered by the millions of people who speak out in support of Palestine from all corners of the Earth.
The Palestinian people have been real time documenting their abundant grief, their relentless suffering, and the destruction of their entire way of life. With this they also show the joy they knew and the joy they must now make, the ways they continue life and love in all their brilliant human resilience. Their stories and voices have reached the souls of anyone who has one, which is why people, some of which who hadn’t even heard of Palestine before October, continue to march and fight. We have been given access to a 360-degree view of human life to the extreme and yet it is still not enough to condemn Israel for Western governments.
Since October 7th, Israel have killed over 25,000 Palestinians, including a death toll that has surpassed 11,000 children. This is proven to be fact yet there have been no repercussions other than visits from their Western friends such as US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. Israel was also paid a visit by our very own joke shop Tánaiste, Micheál Martin who posed happily in a protective vest under the very catastrophic damage to an Israeli home which consisted of a little hole in the ceiling. This picture was proudly posted to social media in a flagrant act of detachment from the will of the Irish people and from basic human decency.
It is obvious now that this isn’t about proof. The proof is laid out clearly for anyone to see. For the ICJ to consider genocidal intent to only be “plausible” is a cowardly ruling and refusal to commit properly to a side. Their lacklustre first ruling means that there is no cessation of the genocide on Palestine. Their suffering continues without even the smallest bit of fight from the entirety of the Occidental authorities. This a violent miscarriage of justice, devoid of any morality, compassion, or care. It is in this that we must understand that the system is a failure. We must resign ourselves to the fact that the International Court of Justice was not built as an indiscriminate beacon of truth but as an institution to protect Western interest and economy. The results have not led to any further protections for Palestine. Instead, the case will go through the excruciating lengths of the bullshit bureaucratic machine for months on end and most likely end all too late with dissatisfactory result. This has given Israel the time to formulate their punishment. In accusing some workers for UNRWA of being members of Hamas, they have easily coerced countries to stop funding this much needed organisation. Worth noting is that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is thousands of workers strong, Israel accused about thirteen of them. Countries reacted so fast and without pause that it seems they were waiting for an excuse to stop funding and there has been no talk of reinstating it despite articles being released on the lack of proof of a Hamas presence in UNRWA.
This defunding marks the collective punishment of Palestine by multiple countries. They lose out on life saving aid on the off chance that a handful of workers could be a part of Hamas. To collectively punish a group is against the Geneva Convention which was written as the core of international humanitarian law. This is not the first of its rules that have been broken against the Palestinian people, but it is the first that multiple countries are directly complicit in. When those who want the credit of writing, and then claim to revere the conventions and protocols are willing to break them so simply, then who will uphold these laws? More importantly, who can be trusted to uphold them? The Western world believe themselves to be the highest point of morality yet break their own rules at a moments notice, without a shred of regret. This undermines all law and all Western influence. These institutions and rulebooks that are created are made to be utilised only as weapons of perceived moral superiority. This is worth considering the next time you hear a Palestinian being asked the go-to question by useless journos, “Do you condemn Hamas?
Truth be told I would be surprised if any Palestinians did. All we have seen of them thus far have been blatantly fabricated propaganda films released by Israel along with claims that they do nothing but lie, and videos from Gaza where they are releasing Israeli hostages who seem almost sad to be leaving these paramilitants behind. Asking a Palestinian if they condemn Hamas is, in some ways, like being asked in Ireland if you condemn the pre-civil war IRB. There is an undeniable history of violence there, but the rebels of that time are celebrated and massively romanticised as some of the greatest heroes to our country. Hamas is much the same, as is any rebel group in an occupied territory. When it comes down to it, I truly don’t care if Hamas is condemned or not because either way they still continue to exist. If anything, I would condemn their nonexistence more because it would mean that the Israeli forces had truly wiped out any shred of resistance from the nation of Palestine. They are allowed no army, if Hamas takes that position then Israel has no one to blame but themselves. If the IDF cannot track them down and wipe them out without civilian casualty than it is nothing but a testament to their incompetence despite being listed as the fourth most powerful army in the world. There is no excuse for the excessive destruction. There is no rationale for any civilian death. Israel is an illegitimate, terrorist state and the uselessness of the West permits them to continue to be so.
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