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There
are certainly more enjoyable ways to put in a Saturday
afternoon than standing on the middle of the Falls
Road at the bottom of the Whiterock inhaling the exhaust
fumes from passing cars. But those other activities
while enjoyable would not be anywhere near as rewarding
as giving a few hours to highlighting the plight of
Palestinians who live under Israeli occupation and
who remain in desperate need of medical aid.
When
it is not organising events, protests, lectures, guest
visitors, holidays for Palestinian kids, the Ireland
Palestine Solidarity Campaign frequently sets up a
little Palestinian island at the bottom of the Rock
bedecked with flags and posters. Public receptivity
is overwhelming. It is a rare event when some grunt
would snarl something unintelligible from a speeding
car. Most motorists, many of them former republican
prisoners stop, exchange a few words, engage in a
bit of banter, offer support and take a leaflet. What
is often uplifting is the sight of a female driver
taking the time to explain to her children in the
car the purpose of the gathering.
The
IPSC manages to draw an eclectic mix of people to
participate in its activities. Whatever their views
on other matters the ability of those involved to
work together - and to bond as friends as colleagues
- is one of the strengths of the body. All hands are
very much on deck aboard this little vessel.
Last
Saturday one of our foremost activists was unable
to join us due to other pre-arranged commitments.
Sean 'Johnboy' O Muireagain is now an instantly recognisable
face in West Belfast courtesy of the Israeli state
aided by British spooks. Standing on the Falls Road,
tired and perspiring in the sunshine, my mind drifted
to the words of Johnboy who in his recent bid to highlight
the injustices being inflicted on the Palestinians
has a different middle of the road experience. Out
in the occupied territories working on education programmes
and twinning schools while trying to organise a holiday
exchange scheme for Palestinian kids to come to Belfast
he had the misfortune to be stopped at a check point
near Ramallah. Detained by the Israeli military on
the false but malignant prompting of British intelligence,
Johnboy was subjected to a more arduous ordeal than
any mild discomfort we experienced on our Falls Road
venture:
They
blindfold you and cuff your feet. They took my clothes
off in the middle of the road - they put them on
again - when I was blindfolded and handcuffed. It
is a bit humiliating when you know there is traffic
driving past.
His
ordeal didn't end there. He was to endure almost a
week under interrogation in an Israeli cell somewhere
near Tel Aviv. Most of this time the Israelis were
aware that the British spook inspired security operation
was guff. Yet they continued to hold him. Johnboy's
explanation for this was as short as it was clear,
'the Israelis are trying to intimidate foreign nationals
out of the place, to stop them witnessing what goes
on to Palestinians.'
In
some small way I hoped our efforts in Belfast would
help continue to bear witness to Israeli carnage.
An atrocity concealed is the gateway to yet another
atrocity. And it is working. In the course of writing
this article a local woman called to my home asking
what she could do to help the Palestinians.
Protest
over, I was off to the pub to meet a friend. Only
then while quenching a parched throat did I realise
that I was soaked through with sweat. Hot day, hard
work - but at least we go home to our children and
put them into pyjamas rather than shrouds. The persistent
slaughter of Palestinian children is an aspect of
Israeli murder policy - performed so efficiently by
its Einstatzgruppen - that the government of Israel
would prefer remains hidden. More people of the mettle
of Sean O Muireagain are needed to uncover it.
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