The Following article was published this week on The Pensive Quill website by Belfast 32csm member Martin Rafferty.
Palestine Exposes The Failure Of Sinn Fein
Up and down the Island of Ireland tens of thousands have taken to the streets to show their anger at the genocide taking place in Palestine.
Many people listening to speeches at rallies and events couldn’t help but notice Sinn Fein speakers coming under pressure from within the crowds for some of the positions they have taken regarding support, or the lack of it some would say, of Palestine. This was no more evident than in the lavish Europa Hotel in Belfast on Tuesday the 6th of February when, at a Sinn Fein organised event for Palestine, they forcibly removed some Palestinians who challenged Sinn Fein's decision to still go to Washington on St Patrick’s day, giving political cover to the Biden administration as it funds the genocide in Palestine. How did Sinn Fein go from solidarity with Palestine to ignoring and dismissing its appeals for help and comradeship?
This is the inevitable outworking’s of The Good Friday Agreement.
The Good Friday Agreement and the Oslo Accords were liberal peacebuilding strategies devised by the West as a contemporary form of counterrevolutionary tactics. Tactics that have been deployed to places like the Basque country, Colombia, Iraq to name but a few. Basically, anywhere the Stormont Political class are sent to by the west to talk about bringing peace and democracy is a country in need of some good old liberal peacebuilding.
The democratic process. Under liberal peacebuilding only works when the outcome is favorable to the West's own interests. In the case of Palestine and the Oslo Accords the Palestinian Authority were the chosen safe pair of hands. But in 2006 Hamas won the elections and the response from the West was predictable. Total rejection of the result and no elections since. The only acceptable Palestinian representatives are those they deem “moderates” and pro-Western.
In the case of this part of Ireland a form of government was put in place to guarantee a system of administration divided alone sectarian lines, ensuring tribal politics would prevail. The political class just needs to wave the flag at each election and are left to do as they please, as long as they first and foremost look after the interests of the West. The administration has been beset with corruption and dysfunctionality from its inception.
Security/Development. A better description would be country insurgency.
In Palestine the PA were given the responsibility of policing and other internal suppression powers. This not only secures stability and control for the occupier but also keeps in check any perceived dissidents who may oppose the system, as in the case of Nizar Banat who was an outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority. He was killed in police custody 3 years ago.
In this part of Ireland policing and justice were devolved to the local administration in 2010 except for national security and 40% of the police budget. These are still controlled by the Northern Ireland Office i.e. MI5. Also a nationalist cannot hold the post of policing and justice. On the 13th of October 2000 Joseph OConnor, an outspoken critic of Sinn Fein, was murdered by gunmen aligned to pro-Good Friday Agreement elements within the republican movement. At least one of the gunmen was also a paid British agent. The then British Minister responsible for this part of Ireland said at the time that it was “internal housekeeping.”
So, it should be of no surprise to see Sinn Fein sharing a stage in a lavish city center hotel in Belfast with Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid of the Palestinian Authority. They are both the product of a carefully crafted strategy that has been put in place to look after the establishment and keep resistance down. Don’t be surprised if you see Sinn Fein sitting with collaborators from other occupied countries like The Basque country, Colombia, Iraq, or basically anywhere the Stormont parties were sent to by the West.
