The Plough #41
30 May 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) Benefits Fraud?
3) Speech at Patsy O'Hara Commemoration
4) Anti-Social Behaviour
5) Iraq: This War is About Privatisation
6) Ill-Treatment of POWs in Maghaberry Prison
7) Free Tibet?
8) Letters
9) What's On?
*******
EDITORIAL
A story appeared in the Irish News Saturday May 29th concerning the
family of disappeared victim Seamus Ruddy. The story is factually
incorrect. At no stage did IRSP member Willie Gallagher threaten to
consult a lawyer regarding the remarks published in the Irish News
the previous day attributed to Terry Ruddy.
During the discussion with the journalist Willie Gallagher did use
the word "liar" not the word "lawyer"
There is no way the IRSP would ever consider legal action against the
family of one of the disappeared. Those who know Willie Gallagher and
his beliefs about British justice also know that resort to the courts
is not his way of dealing with problems.
*******
BENEFITS FRAUD?
A report by the National Audit Office revealed last week that
benefits fraud in Northern Ireland amounted to 53 million pounds last
year. The whole question of benefits fraud has been exploited out of
all proportion by the media. Moral outrage is expressed when
economically disadvantaged people try to maximise their benefits, but
none when richer groups try to maximise their income by working the
tax regulations to their maximum advantage, tax avoidance in
other words. The different status afforded to the poor is illustrated
when we contrast the controls against social security abuse with the
measures operated to prevent tax fraud. Not only is the size of known
tax abuse (be they in business accounts, PAYE system or tax returns
from directors) larger than the known social security abuse, but the
resources given over to tackle social security fraud are way in
excess of that afforded to the Revenue. When will we hear the media
calling for stronger measures against tax evaders?
(LOR)
WHEN THE POOR CHEAT THE SYSTEM IT IS CALLED FRAUD
WHEN THE RICH CHEAT THE SYSTEM IT IS CALLED TAX AVOIDENCE
WHEN THE BANKERS CHEAT THE SYSTEM THEY HAVE "TAX ISSUES"
GUESS WHICH GROUP IS MORE LIKELY TO GO TO JAIL?
*******
SPEECH AT PATSY O'HARA COMMEMORATION in Derry Sunday May 22nd by IRSP
Ard-Chomhairle member Eddie McGarrigle
Fellow republicans and friends, it is an honour and a privilege to be
invited here today to address you at this simple ceremony in
remembrance of Vol. Patsy O'Hara. Over these past few days I have
pondered over the words which might encapsulate Patsy's selfless
dedication to the republican struggle, the truth is there are no
words or speeches which would adequately explain the full extent of
Patsy's courage or determination. No fine words will be sufficient to
convey the enormity of the terrible burden of grief and pain endured
by the O'Hara family both during the traumatic days of the 1981
hunger strike and the long, lonely years which followed. We can only
bow our heads in awe of your courage and steadfastness. Mixed with
the grief and pain is a great sense of pride and today we gather here
at his graveside with you to embrace you in solidarity.
Patsy was 23 years old when he died on hunger strike; during his
short life he witnessed the barbaric nature of British rule. The
repression and gerrymandering of the Stormont state with the backing
of the British forced young men like Patsy to take up arms. He saw
injustice, he resisted, he saw brutality, he resisted, he witnessed
at first hand the lackeys of imperialism baton and murder peaceful
protestors in this city, he resisted. Patsy was on the side of the
downtrodden and oppressed, he was interned at the age of 17, he was a
victim of several frame ups and internment by remand. He was a
revolutionary soldier who joined the ranks of INLA and fought for the
liberation of his class and his people.
The "criminalisation" policy introduced in 1976 condemned hundreds of
republican prisoners to the cruelty and horrendous conditions of the
H-Blocks and the blanket protest. After finding himself in prison in
1979 he was then sentenced to 8 years. Patsy joined the blanket
protest, he refused to be labeled a criminal, he refused to allow the
republican struggle for freedom to be criminalised, he fought back
just as he did whenever and wherever he was faced with bullies. In
1981 Patsy and nine friends and comrades died in defense of the
struggle for Irish freedom.
Times have changed in many ways, it is clear that we all find
ourselves living in somewhat confusing times, spin doctoring seems to
be the order of the day. The recent report by the so called
Independent Monitoring Commission came as no surprise to any Irish
republican, its independence is a sham, it is a tool of policy for
both the British and Irish governments with a mandate to isolate and
demonise republicans, it is yet another mechanism by which they hope
to pressurize republicans into conforming to their set of rules, let
me make this clear, the Republican Socialist Movement will never jump
through any hoops to suit the agenda of either government.
Within the IMC report is yet another attempt at criminalising the
Republican Socialist Movement, I refer to its assertion that the INLA
are involved in the drug trade. Those who propagate and peddle such
stories, whether within the IMC or the Sunday World, have one thing
in common, all of them fear, in one way or another, the class based
analysis of the Republican Socialist Movement.
The demonisation and attempted criminalisation of revolutionary
republicanism is just as evident today as it was in 1981. The INLA
are a principled, disciplined and noble army and I salute its
volunteers.
I agree with the political analysis of the IRSP that conditions for
armed struggle no longer exist, at this time, and I concur also with
the INLA ceasefire, I believe that we should pursue peaceful methods
of struggle at this time, however various republican organizations
have chosen different tactics. Despite the differences between
republican traditions it is essential for republicans never to forget
that our common enemy is still British imperialism. Regardless of the
strategy each of us take in pursuit of freedom, regardless of the
difference of opinion, let us always treat each other with respect,
dignity and comradeship. Let us promote dialogue between us, and let
each of us respect our differences.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the plight of the republican
prisoners in Maghaberry Prison. All republicans, regardless of
differences or tactics, need to rally to their support. Today in
Maghaberry Prison Irish republican prisoners face the same enemy as
the prisoners faced in Long Kesh in 1981, the issues are the same,
the agenda of the British is the same, their goal is the
criminalisation of Irish republican prisoners. Republicans of all
shades need to put their differences to one side and form a unified
campaign of support. Wherever and whenever injustices are found
republicans of all traditions need to stand shoulder to shoulder.
Political frame ups as experienced by Patsy in the 1970s are not a
thing of the past, local republican Seamus Doherty, a principled
republican from this city, is currently awaiting trial on falsified
charges. He is the victim of a state stitch up and should be freed
immediately. The overriding legacy which Patsy O'Hara and his
comrades left to us was their strength of character, their courage,
commitment, integrity, honesty, principle and the bonds of friendship
and camaraderie they forged. It is our duty as republicans to aim to
emulate those same characteristics, to do otherwise is unthinkable.
Comrades, there is no finer calling in this world than to stand
shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed, with the marginalised and
with the poor. It is there we will see the spirit of men like Patsy
O'Hara live on. Thank you.
*******
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Recent months have seen a spate of attacks on commercial and
residential property in the Ardglass area, which the IRSP believes
could have been prevented, had the RUC/PSNI taken an interest in
growing anti-social behaviour. Within the space of three weeks houses
have been burgled, cars stolen and in one night £3000 pounds of
damage was left by vandals. Tensions are growing in the community and
the IRSP must ask "what is this so-called 'police force' doing to
protect the people of Ardglass from mindless vandals"? Further
complaints have been heard about this sort of behaviour and many
locals believe that a drug influx has led to local youths behaving in
such an erratic way. Local residents say that the police are never on
patrol at weekends when these attacks are most common. It has been
noted that mon-fri the RUC/PSNI members enjoy a walk to the local
shop for a paper and biscuits but are never seen apart from this
little excursion. This begs to ask the question "why are these people
situated in Ardglass and what is their purpose?!" The IRSP urge
residents to stay together to stop this disease of anti-social
behaviour spreading and getting even more out of control.
Pol O'Corrain, IRSP Ardglass
*******
IRAQ: THIS WAR IS ABOUT PRIVATIZATION
By Eugene Plawiuk
Ok enough of this crap, about contractors. Lets call a spade a spade,
these so called contractors are hired guns; mercenaries attached to
the US military. So why isn't the media calling them that? Cause the
news would read different. Lets take Fallujah for instance if you
heard or read or watched a news broadcast that said four heavily
armed mercenaries were ambushed and killed by residents of Fallujah,
well that would have a different spin than calling them contractors.
Contractors implies some guy in coveralls working driving a truck or
building something or serving food to someone. It does not imply a
guy in military khakis carrying weapons. Mercenaries are hired
killers however, and calling them contractors as if they were another
truck driver is clever and disingenuous, and the media has played
right into this rhetorical slight of hand.
Iraq is Bush and the Republicans first full scale Privatised war.
Sure mercenaries have been used in other recent conflicts but not on
this scale. Bremer's role in Iraq is to privatise all existing state
owned industries and civil infrastructure.
The military is being supported by 10,000 mercenaries from companies
in the US and UK. The UK is the largest supplier of mercenaries; it
has several of the largest companies, made up of former SAS, special
ops personnel.
The US has recently seen a boom in private security/mercenary
companies all headquartered in Virginia around the CIA and Pentagon.
These companies are made up of ex US military personnel and ex CIA.
To say that these folks don't understand the military code they once
served is ridiculous. The reality is they are outside the Uniform
Code of Justice because the US Congress did NOT declare War in Iraq.
However in 2000 the US Congress passed a law that would put
these 'civilian' mercenaries under Military oversight, they just
haven't applied it.
Mercenaries (Military Contractors sic) are part of the overall effort
of the US to contract out all the support services in its operations
in Iraq. Troop suppliers are contracted out, field operations contain
military personnel supported by contracted out food, medical and
material supply personnel. Private contractors such as Bechtel and
Halliburton are building infrastructure. Much of this is not just oil
pipelines, but the schools and hospitals, electrical generating
stations, etc.
Sure the US says its building hospitals and schools, but lets look at
what they are building, private hospitals and private schools. The
ideology of privatisation and contracting out, so-called free
enterprise is behind the destruction and reconstruction of Iraq.
Saddam was the excuse. The reasons for the war are many, oil
security, Israel's security, most importantly what Bush and his
Republicans bring to Iraq is in the words of Senator Elizabeth
Dole: "a free market." So privateers are running the country under
the protection of mercenaries and US troops.
What about the workers in Iraq? They are not allowed to organize
unions under a 1987 law passed by Saddam. Since the state controlled
all enterprises all workers were made government employees under the
law.
Bremer has continued to use this law to disallow free collective
bargaining in Iraq. Independent unions have arisen and workers have
gone on strike only to be told by the Coalition Government and its
Finance ministry they have no right to strike or unionise. US
military forces have attacked union offices in Baghdad.
There are no union or worker representatives present in the Governing
Council nor has the UN made any effort to include the workers and
their unions in the new government coming into effect in July. Yet
the ILO is part of the UN and has not been called in to review the
conditions of the working class in Iraq.
This is reality of the war in Iraq, it is to take over the
infrastructure of the country, remove it from state control and sell
it off to the highest bidder, which is exactly what Bremer and
Company are currently doing. State run industries are being sold off
at fire sale prices with no concern for the workers in those
industries.
Lets look at where all the billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq are
going
Mercenaries cost $100,000 a year
Contracted Truck Drivers (like James Halwell) $1000 a week
Average Iraqi Oil worker- $160 a month
This is the real outrage of Bush's Privatisation war.
Until the media ends its complicity with the US government by calling
mercenaries "contractors" the people of Canada, the US and the UK
will continue to be hoodwinked as badly as the Iraqi prisoners.
*******
ILL TREATMENT OF POWS IN MAGHABERRY PRISON
Record of events, May 10-15, 2004
A meeting took place in Maghaberry prison between the administration
and screws on Monday, 10 May 2004. The reason for the meeting is not
known but the outcome was clear, a combination of raids and ill
treatment of Republican prisoners.
The following days were witness to:
* Screws wearing boiler-suits and with dogs forcing their way into
cells, using foul and obscene language, calling prisoners bad names
and challenging prisoners to fights in a clear attempt to force
prisoners into confrontation. Prisoners showing good sense refused to
be drawn into confrontation.
* Strip-searching of prisoners was also carried out on a large
scale.
* In the raids bedding was pull onto the floor and was soiled by
the dogs. When prisoners asked for bedding to be replaced the screws
refused to do so leaving prisoners to lie without bedding for almost
a week.
* Prisoners weren't allowed hot water nor were they allowed to
take meals outside their cells. Meals brought to cells by the screws
were refused by prisoners; although it must be stresses there is not
a no-eating protest or hunger strike.
* Prisoners who had to go to court were not allowed out of the
cells to have a meal, and weren't allowed hot water.
* The prison was put on lock-down and prisoners were locked in
their cells.
One reason for this week of ill-treatment of prisoners as put forward
by a prisoner is the screws may be looking for a reaction from
prisoners to win back overtime that has been cut. If screws could
force a reaction or protest lost overtime could be reinstated.
It should also be pointed out that protesting prisoners could be
removed from Maghaberry to prisons in England, Scotland or Wales.
The only clear reason or known reason lies with those who carried out
the ill treatment of prisoners i.e. the prison regime and screws.
(Belfast Republican Sinn Féin, May 24, 2004)
*******
FREE TIBET?
By Liam O'Ruairc
In Western countries, the movement to 'Free Tibet' from Chinese
occupation is very popular among the 57 different varieties of
liberals and human rights campaigners. The media generally presents a
very positive image of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is hailed as a modern
saint, and an idealized image of Tibet before the Chinese take over
is given. However, it is worth examining what sort of place Tibet was
before the Chinese intervention, who benefited and who lost from it,
and who the people campaigning for 'Free Tibet' are (1).
In Tibet, prior to the Chinese take over, theocratic despotism had
been the rule for generations. An English visitor to Tibet in 1895,
Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the Tibetan people were under
the "intolerable tyranny of monks" and the devil superstitions they
had fashioned to terrorize the people. In 1904 Perceval Landon
described the Dalai Lama's rule as "an engine of oppression" and "a
barrier to all human improvement." At about that time, another
English traveller, Captain W.F.T. O'Connor, observed that "the great
landowners and the priests . . . exercise each in their own dominion
a despotic power from which there is no appeal," while the people
are "oppressed by the most monstrous growth of monasticism and priest-
craft the world has ever seen." Tibetan rulers, like those of Europe
during the Middle Ages, "forged innumerable weapons of servitude,
invented degrading legends and stimulated a spirit of superstition"
among the common people. (Stuart Gelder and Roma Gelder, The Timely
Rain: Travels in New Tibet (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1964),
123-125) In Tibet, slavery was the rule. The following account was
written by Sir Charles Bell, who was the British administrator for
Chumbi Valley in 1904-05: "Slaves were sometimes stolen, when small
children, from their parents. Or the father and mother, being too
poor to support their child, would sell it to a man, who paid them
sho-ring, 'price of mother's milk,' brought up the child and kept it,
or sold it, as a slave. These children come mostly from south-eastern
Tibet and the territories of the wild tribes who dwell between Tibet
and Assam.' (Charles Bell, Tibet: Past and Present, Oxford, 1924, pp.
78-79. Taken from http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tibet-faq/ )
In 1953, six years before the Chinese takeover, the greater part of
the rural population (some 700,000 of an estimated total population
of 1,250,000) were serfs. Serfs and other peasants generally received
no schooling or medical care. They spent most of their time working
for the monasteries and high-ranking lamas, or for a secular
aristocracy that numbered not more than 200 families. They were in
practice owned by their masters who told them what crops to grow and
what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent
of their lord or lama. A serf might easily be separated from his
family should the owner send him to work in a distant location. Serfs
could be sold by their masters, or subjected to torture and death.
(For more details see http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html )
Whatever wrongs and new oppressions introduced by the Chinese in
Tibet after 1959, they did abolish slavery and the serfdom system of
unpaid labor. They started work projects, and greatly reduced
unemployment and beggary. They built the only hospitals that exist in
the country, and established secular education, thereby breaking the
educational monopoly of the monasteries. They constructed running
water and electrical systems in Lhasa. They also put an end to
floggings, mutilations, and amputations as a form of criminal
punishment under Buddhist rule. Chinese rule in Tibet has often been
brutal, however its extent has often been exaggerated. The
accusations made by the Dalai Lama himself about Chinese mass
sterilization and forced deportation of Tibetans, for example, have
remained unsupported by any evidence. Both the Dalai Lama and his
advisor and youngest brother, Tendzin Choegyal, claimed that more
than 1.2 million Tibetans are dead as a result of the Chinese
occupation. This figure is more than dubious. The official 1953
census, six years before the Chinese take over, recorded the entire
population of Tibet at 1,274,000. Other estimates varied from one to
three million. Other census counts put the ethnic Tibetan population
within the country at about two million. (Pradyumna P. Karan, The
Changing Face of Tibet: The Impact of Chinese Communist Ideology on
the Landscape (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky,
1976), 52-53) If the Chinese killed 1.2 million then entire cities
and huge portions of the countryside, indeed almost all of Tibet,
would have been depopulated -- something for which there is no
evidence. The Chinese military force in Tibet was not large enough to
round up, chase, and exterminate that many people even if it had
spent all its time doing this. It is worth examining who is behind
the 'Free Tibet' movement. The former elites lost many of their
privileges due to the Chinese takeover. The family of the Dalai Lama
lost no fewer than 4000 slaves! It is thus not surprising that feudal
lords should campaign against the social gains of Maoism. Their
campaign has found an international echo thanks to the CIA.
Throughout the 1960s the Tibetan exile community received $1.7
million a year from the CIA, according to documents released by the
State Department in 1998. The Dalai Lama's organization itself admits
that it had received millions of dollars from the CIA during the
1960s to send armed squads of exiles into Tibet to undermine the
Maoist revolution. The Dalai Lama's annual share was $186,000, making
him a paid agent of the CIA. Indian intelligence also financed him
and other Tibetan exiles. (Jim Mann, "CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles
in '60s, Files Show," Los Angeles Times, 15 September 1998; and
New York Times, 1 October, 1998) Today, mostly through the National
Endowment for Democracy and other conduits that are more respectable-
sounding than the CIA, the US Congress continues to allocate an
annual $2 million to Tibetans in India, with additional millions
for "democracy activities" within the Tibetan exile community. (See
Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison, The CIA's Secret War in Tibet
(Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 2002) for example).
Also, while presenting himself as a defender of human rights, the
Dalai Lama support more than dubious causes. For example, in April
1999, along with Margaret Thatcher and George Bush senior, the Dalai
Lama called upon the British government to release Augusto Pinochet.
While Chinese rule is resented by many in Tibet, people are also
afraid to loose the social gains of Maoism. A 1999 story in the
Washington Post notes that the Dalai Lama continues to be revered in
Tibet, but "few Tibetans would welcome a return of the corrupt
aristocratic clans that fled with him in 1959 and that comprise the
bulk of his advisers. Many Tibetan farmers, for example, have no
interest in surrendering the land they gained during China's land
reform to the clans. Tibet's former slaves say they, too, don't want
their former masters to return to power. "I've already lived that
life once before," said Wangchuk, a 67-year-old former slave who was
wearing his best clothes for his yearly pilgrimage to Shigatse, one
of the holiest sites of Tibetan Buddhism. He said he worshipped the
Dalai Lama, but added, "I may not be free under Chinese communism,
but I am better off than when I was a slave." (John Pomfret, "Tibet
Caught in China's Web," Washington Post, 23 July 1999)
(1) This article has benefited greatly from much of the information
contained in http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
*******
LETTERS
*
Message from the Campaign against the Racist Referendum (CARR)
The Campaign Against the Racist Referendum asks you and your
organisation to show your support for a NO Vote and the rights of all
children.
The Campaign Against the Racist Referendum (CARR) has been set up by
a broad range of organisations and individuals with the aim of
strengthening opposition to the June 11th Citizenship Referendum.
Cherish All The Children Of The Nation Equally
We need all groups to sign up to the campaign and join us in working
to defeat the amendment. All those who believe in human rights as a
matter of principle must oppose this referendum, which if won will
lead to a change in the rights of citizenship and discrimination
against some children on the grounds of ethnic origin.
Join The Campaign
CARR are coordinating a national campaign of individuals and
community groups opposed to the referendum and we need your
organisations support!
We are asking your organisation to sign up to the campaign and hope
that you / members of your organisation will engage in other
activities to get the Vote No message across between now and June
11th.
Please let us know if you can:
? Sign up to the campaign!
? Organise delivery of the NO leafleting in your locality?
? Circulate information to your membership?
? Provide financial or administrative support to the campaign?
? Organise a public meeting in your sector or locality?
? Have a representative of your organisation speak at press
conference or to local media?
? Join discussion group for the campaign
againsttheracistreferendum@yahoogroups.com or come along to meetings.
To join the campaign sends us an email on
againsttheracistreferendum@eircom.net or contact us at the following:
Campaign Against the Racism Referendum C/o 12A Brunswick Place,
Dublin 2
Phone: 0876662060 or 0877974622
Email: againsttheracistreferendum@eircom.net
Website: http://www.activelink.ie/carr/
If you believe we should cherish all the children of the nation
equally. If you think everyone born here is entitled to the same
basic human rights. If you want an Ireland free from racism and
discrimination VOTE NO.
*
Hello
We in Belfast Islamic Centre can provide Cultural Awareness /
Diversity training? For any interested group/organisation please
contact the centre if you would like to arrange any programme.
Tel: 028-90664465
http://www.belfastislamiccentre.org.uk/
JAMAL IWEIDA, President Belfast Islamic Centre.
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
SUNDAY 6TH JUNE 8.00PM
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Falls Women's Centre Present
The Fabulous IRISH BRIGADE PLUS GUEST ARTISTES in aid of PALESTINE'S
CHILD CHARITY
The FELONS, Andersonstown
SUNDAY 6TH JUNE 8.00PM
TICKETS £4.00
*
Monday 7 June 2004
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster is currently
taking evidence on hate crime in Northern Ireland in order to inform
its discussions on the proposed legislation. The Committee is keen to
hear from organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland who have
experience in this area. The Hansard Society is responsible for the
management of the e-consultation and NICVA has agreed to act as their
partner in Northern Ireland. In order for groups to find out more
about the Committee's debates to date and how the consultation will
work, a seminar with the Hansard Society has been arranged for
community and voluntary organisations on Monday 7 June 2004 at
11.00am, finishing with lunch at 1.00pm. To book a place please
contact Teresa Flanagan on tel: 028 9087 7777, NICVA, 61 Duncairn
Gardens, Belfast, or email: teresa.flanagan@nicva.org
*
Friday 11th of June
The School of Politics and International Studies
The Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict In conjunction with the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) presents a one-day
conference: 'Interpreting ongoing crises in the Northern Ireland
peace process: International dimensions'
Professor David Schmitt (North Eastern University)
The US War on Terrorism and Its Impact on the Politics of
Accommodation in Northern Ireland.
Dr Christopher Farrington (Queen's University Belfast)
'We're not quite as interesting as we used to be': Conflicting
interpretations of the international dimension among Northern Irish
political elites
Professor Paul Arthur (University of Ulster)
The American-Irish Dimension: Have the dynamics changed?
Dermot Nesbitt MLA (Ulster Unionist Party)
The Northern Ireland problem in the 21st Century European context
Professor Elizabeth Meehan (Queen's University Belfast)
From the EU in NI to NI in the EU
David Russell (Democratic Dialogue)
The unintended consequences of power-sharing: A compared exploration
of the Belfast Agreement and Lebanese Ta'if Accord.
Professor Adrian Guelke (Queen's University Belfast)
The lure of the miracle? The South African connection and the
Northern Ireland peace process
Eoin O'Broin (Sinn Féin)
Sinn Féin and Batasuna: Fact and fiction in an evolving
relationship
Professor Michael Cox (London School of Economics)
'Bringing in the international' Revisited
Places will be strictly limited. If interested please contact
Christopher Farrington, School of Politics and International Studies,
Queen's University Belfast, C.Farrington@qub.ac.uk, 028 9097 3231.
*
Saturday 19th June
IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Presents WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE...AN ANTI-
WAR GIG OF TOP IRISH MUSICIANS WILL PERFORM IN A MAJOR CONCERT
AGAINST BUSH'S WAR AND US MILITARY USE OF SHANNON
Featuring Christy Moore, Damien Rice, Mary Black, Kila, The Revs,
Katell Keineg & comedy with Barry Murphy (Aprés Match).
Saturday 19th June -- The Point Depot, Dublin. (Doors Open - 5.30pm)
The concert is aimed at raising awareness of the issues involved in
the protests against Bush, particularly highlighting opposition to
the US war and occupation of Iraq.
Tickets for the event are 30 standing 33.50 seated. (Plus 2 for
agents / 12.5% phone and Internet bookings) Tickets from The Point,
Ticket Master -- Usual outlets. Ph: 0818 719300 Internet:
http://www.ticketmaster.ie/ Also from CTB at Liberty Hall, Dublin.
Ph: 01 8721122 http://www.libertythall.ie/ Or to avoid paying booking
fee and get your tickets directly contact Kieran O'Sullivan at 087 61 87 680
The funds generated from the gig will be used to finance the costs of
organising and advertising the STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN protests taking
place the following weekend.
Any surplus funds will go to the Irish Anti-War movement to finance
its on-going anti-war work. All of the musicians have generously
offered their services to perform at the concert free.
*
Saturday 19th June
AGAINST THE BUSH VISIT
Protest details:
Dublin; Saturday 19th June at Parnell square at 2.30pm Critical mass
to Shannon; leaves from end of Dublin march, ring 0872820906 to join
Buses to Shannon (going Friday 25th return Sat 26th) Ring 086 1767936
to book ticket
Dublin Grassroots Network - More info at http://struggle.ws/dgn
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+
*******
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