GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR JULY 2014 BULLETI GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR JULY 2014 BULLETIN CONTENTS 1. STANDING WITH PALESTINE 2. MARGARETTA GOES TO LIMERICK (GAOL AGAIN) 3. THE JAILING OF NIALL… 4. WHY WAR? PROFITS, GIGANTIC PROFITS! THAT’S WHY! 5. JOHN PILGER – A MUST READ!!!!!!! 6. O’FLAHERTY SUMMER SCHOOL – A REVIEW OF LIAM O’FLAHERTY’S ANTI-WAR NOVEL RETURN OF THE BRUTE 7. THE WORLD CUP AND ALL THAT – AN ANTIDOTE STANDING WITH PALESTINE One is virtually left speechless at the willful carnage being perpetrated by the Israelis on the defenceless people of Gaza. Yesterday’s slaughter of 4 young boys kicking football on a beach sums up the barbarity of Zionism. Such premeditated, vicious slaughter is particularly reminiscent of the German SS and the sadistic pleasure it took in liquidating the vast numbers of “Untermenschen”. It is indeed a shocking twist of history that victims of the Shoah and their offspring have adopted a similar ideology, Zionism, plus the same barbarous tactics to be a bulwark for US imperialism in the Middle East. The Eoghan Harris’ of this world have regularly denounced the Irish state for its apparent failure to help the Jewish people in their hour of need during the reign of Hitler. But what now of the Irish establishment’s silence with regard to the slaughter in Gaza? What of RTE’s obsequious treatment of spokespersons for the Israeli state? Shameful, truly shameful and epitomised by the response of the new Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Dail yesterday. oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail2014071600027?opendocument MARGARETTA GOES TO LIMERICK (GAOL AGAIN) AND NIALL WILL FOLLOW SOON BEHIND HER….. https://youtube/watch?v=ixZFHCZEw28&feature=youtube_gdata_player Margaretta D’Arcy sought to use her appearances in Ennis District Court to have a conversation with the Irish state about war and peace. On the 24th June she presented a number of important witnesses – Mairead Maguire Nobel Peace Laureate, Tom Clonan, Irish Times Security Correspondent amongst others – who in detail concurred with her belief that the state (and not herself and her co-accused, Niall Farrell) was “interfering with the proper use” of Shannon airport. Tom Clonan made it clear that Shannon airport is seen by the US Defence Dept as part of its weaponry. It has been turned from a civilian airport to weapon of the US military. The problem with this conversation - cogently argued by Margaretta - was that the state was deaf. The judge, Patrick Durcan, can indeed be described as the very personification of the 26 County State. His CV ties him both politically and personally to the reigning Dublin regime: a former Fine Gael running-mate of Taoiseach Enda Kenny, a former FG Senator and at the last general election the election agent of now Minister Michael Ring. Judge Durcan, since his elevation to the bench by his pal Enda Kenny in November 2011, would have us believe that he miraculously lost his Blueshirted beliefs once he donned the British colonial garb of the Irish courts. His performance at both trials of Margaretta and Niall showed for sure he hadn’t. Durcan was deaf to Margaretta arguments. He had his mind made up before the trial began. Niall accurately described Durcan’s whole charade as a “kangaroo court that is fitting for the banana republic of oireland”. So, the verdicts were always going to be guilty. But for Margaretta and Niall this is of little importance. Their aim has been to raise the issue of the US war machine at Shannon and Ireland’s role in Washington’s wars. There is little doubt that imprisonment of Margaretta, at her age and poor state of health, for some 9 weeks has highlighted the scandal at Shannon for the first time in a very long time. She is once more in prison – this time for two weeks - and has been fasting in solidarity with those who are suffering due Ireland’s collusion in the US terror wars throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. But her imprisonment and the forthcoming jailing of Niall for advocating peace in this the centenary year of the beginning of World War I sums up the failure of the Irish state to achieve independence. shannonwatch.org/blog/two-week-suspended-sentence-margaretta-darcy-and-niall-farrells-anti-war-action-shannon waterfordwhispersnews/2014/07/10/streets-a-safer-place-without-80-year-old-peace-activist-insists-minister-for-justice/?fb_action_ids=491761820955122&fb_action_types=ogments&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481 THE JAILING OF NIALL… Niall Farrell remains at large. Despite colourful rumours circulated by GAAW he is not on the run. He’s on holiday and will give himself up on the day of his return, Saturday August 1st. He will soon contact the warrant office to arrange for his arrest. Perhaps the most appropriate place for such an arrest would be at the statue of Liam Mellows, a true anti-imperialist who was shot to death by the forefathers of today’s Blueshirts. WHY WAR? PROFITS! GIGANTIC PROFITS, THAT’S WHY!! “The power and influence of the military-industrial complex in promoting serial wars has resulted in extraordinary rates of profit. According to a recent study by Morgan Stanley, shares in the major US arms manufacturers have risen 27,699% over the past fifty years versus 6,777% for the broader market. In the past three years alone, Raytheon has returned 124%, Northrup Grumman 114% and Lockheed Martin 149% to their investors.” (From an article by James Petras: The Soaring Profits of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Soaring Costs of Military Casualties. petras.lahaine.org/?p=1991) In this the centenary year of the First World War - that “war to end all wars” - it seems as if we are in a never ending Third World War. Since the autumn of 2001 the US and its allies, including Ireland, have been waging war and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, in Libya and Mali. It has all been done in the name of “human rights”, “freedom” and “democracy”, but in truth it has been done for profits, for resources. Indeed, even before 2001 there has been permanent war in Central Africa, in particular in the Congo, resource wars with casualties of First World War proportions, have raged endlessly. There is no end in sight for any of these conflicts. The would-be peacenik Obama has just announced an injection of $.5 billion of arms for Washington’s proxy war in Syria even though much of this will fall into the willing hands of ISIS, the US’s apparent enemy in Iraq and the general war on terror. It boosts the profits of the arms industry – one of the few growth areas in the stagnant western economies – and creates more chaos for more wars. It’s good for Irish business too, so we dare not complain. AfrI’s most recent exposé on Ireland’s profiting from military contracts (afri.ie/news-and-events/afri-alarmed-by-irish-companies-supplying-us-army-and-military-industry/ ) is sneered at by our financial betters: independent.ie/business/world/news-focus-war-is-still-very-good-for-business-30336660.html Staying in Europe we have seen war erupting on the borders with the old enemy Russia. The EU has been busy recruiting former Soviet states into the new military coalitions. Georgia, Moldavia and Ukraine are signing Association Agreements which will see these countries adapt themselves to the EU’s foreign and military policy. The association aims at enhancing the three countries participation in EU-led civilian and military crisis management operations as well as relevant exercises and training activities. Ukraine is already contributing soldiers to EU battle groups, while Georgia has contributed 140 soldiers to the EUs Central African Republic intervention force. With its Framework Participation Agreements (FPA), the EU, for years, has been engaging numerous non-member countries - including Canada, Chile and South Korea - in its global policy operations. Only this week German Chancellor Merkel has met with 8 Balkan states, including Albania, insisting that they must kowtow to the EU’s foreign and “security” policy in particular with reference to the Ukraine and Russia. (This may prove difficult for Serbia, another aspirant for EU membership, because it signed a military agreement with Moscow last November.) Germany unquestionably calls the shots in the EU, even if it still has to tug the forelock in the direction of the US. At present Berlin is pretending to bellyache over its “future role in the world”. This has led to “Review 2014”, the outcome of which is probably a foregone conclusion: more involvement by German military forces in international conflicts. With the exception of the Left Party (and there is some confusion in its ranks too) the three other main parties, the governing coalition of CDU and SPD plus the Greens are all in favour of more and more military interventions. The German Greens, not unlike their Irish cousins, have proved to be fraudsters when it comes to peace. It was an SPD/Green coalition that sanctioned the first German military operations outside of Germany since 1945 with its participation in the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia. Despite the German political establishment’s pro-war stance, recent opinion polls show that 60% of Germans are opposed to their country’s involvement in any more military confrontations, 37% are in favour. In the end this means the political establishment will do what it wants – to hell with public opinion! War is good for business and Germany as the third largest exporter of military hardware in the world knows that the more instability and wars, the bigger the profits. And Japan, an old “Axis ally” of Germany, is pursuing an increase in military spending, which will please the arms industries and Obama as he pursues his “pivot” against China. So, all you tree-huggers get in the real world: P stands for Profits, not for that dirty word Peace! John Pilger – TELLING IT AS IT IS – A MUST READ The incessant propaganda emanating from all branches of the media in relation to the state of the world today could leave you believing that you are in some way “wrong-headed”. Then you read the following from John Pilger telling it as it is: The former US secretary of state and aspiring president of the United States, Hillary Clinton, was recently on the BBCs Womens Hour, the quintessence of media respectability. The presenter, Jenni Murray, presented Clinton as a beacon of female achievement. She did not remind her listeners about Clintons profanity that Afghanistan was invaded to liberate women like Orifa. She asked Clinton nothing about her administrations terror campaign using drones to kill women, men and children. There was no mention of Clintons idle threat, while campaigning to be the first female president, to eliminate Iran, and nothing about her support for illegal mass surveillance and the pursuit of whistle-blowers. johnpilger/articles/the-return-of-george-orwell-and-big-brothers-war-on-palestine-ukraine-and-truth LIAM AND TOM O’FLAHERTY SUMMER SCHOOL The O’Flaherty Summer School dedicated to the work of the two radical brothers, Liam and Tom, will be held on the weekend of the 30th & 31st August on Inis Mór. At the school Theo Dorgan will give a talk “The Brutal Truth, the Slaughter of the Poor”, in which he will reflect on the First World War looking at themes in the writings of Liam OFlaherty and with particular reference to his novel The Return of the Brute. A REVIEW OF O’FLAHERY’S ANTI-WAR NOVEL, RETURN OF THE BRUTE When World War I ended in 1918, it seemed unimaginable that there could ever be such slaughter again. The arts in particular reflected the sense of exploded bodies and insanity, a world spiralled out of control. Artists who had often been directly involved in military action, gave eloquent voice to their profound abhorrence of war and to their warning of its utterly destructive nature. Ireland’s Liam O’Flaherty changed his name to Bill Ganly, his mother’s maiden name, in order to enlist as a volunteer in the British Army in 1915. By 1917, he had become shell-shocked and suffered a trauma that would be with him for the remainder of his life. Arising from his experience of this war, O’Flaherty wrote ‘Return of the Brute’. It is a major contribution to anti-war world literature. ‘Return of the Brute’, published in 1929, stands out as a literary masterpiece in many ways. It is a novel without a hero. The men of the No 2 bombing section, whose lives in the trenches are at the centre of this novel, never fire a shot at an enemy. There are other features of the novel form that O’Flaherty experiments with. It is imbued with Aran-inspired imagery. It anticipates Beckett. The character from whose limited perspective the reader largely sees the novel’s action, is Bill Gunn, a labourer and volunteer, a man of great physical strength, a person who is at times confused but always capable of responding with humanity and compassion. Gunn protects and defends Louis Lamont, little more than a child and another misguided volunteer, defies the military and loses his sanity in the effort. Lamont himself is a contender for the title of anti-hero in this unconventional novel: a nineteen-year-old who simply takes no part in any military activity. He sees through the military smokescreen like no other, has a child’s sense for personal survival, seeking protection and a way out of this war. The inability of the other characters to grieve for killed comrades or be traumatised by death, is striking. All that matters here is looting the dead for food and cigarettes. Equally unexpected in a war novel is the absence of military action on the part of the soldiers at its centre, although they themselves are attacked. The main action, very often leading to the death of the soldier involved, is that of obtaining food. The one ‘enemy’ these soldiers discuss having met is one who swapped chocolate for cigarettes with them and tried to negotiate a personal ceasefire with them: ‘ You no fire, I no fire’. Any efforts on behalf of their commander to get the privates to perform soldiers’ tasks or attacks end in grotesque scenes of getting lost and invariably failing in the task at hand. But laughter swiftly turns to horror as we read about these men building fortifications partly from blasted off bits of bodies of soldiers previously on this territory. This emphasises just how unimaginably devoid of humanity war is. Many of these scenes clearly communicate directly O’Flaherty’s own experience. War destroys humankind not simply by destroying lives, but also by destroying that within our relationships with other people that which make us human – the capacity for compassion, for support of our fellows, for having a creative purpose and for grieving. All these are depicted in their grotesque disintegration and deformation in this novel. ‘Return of the Brute’ is a modern novel, experimenting in interesting ways with other aspects of form. It introduces innovative dramatic elements, such as a photographic still shot with a voice-over effect stating each man’s civilian and military biography at the point where their corporal leads them into No Man’s Land. Then there is the Chaplinesque scene where several sections ostensibly led by their commanders into attack only end up completely lost, and finally some silent eerie choreographies of death´s dance. O´Flaherty´s imagery supports the anti-war message of the novel. War is presented as a quagmire. Slime, mud and are present from beginning to end, relentlessly sucking down life. Gunn´s hallucinations include terrifying images of a caveman with a club shattering the natural beauty of animal life. Glimpses of what the earth might be like, a love of animals and the beauty of the west of Ireland shining through, are used in counterpoint to the savagery of war. A violation of this natural beauty is an act of inhumanity and evil. In terms of this kind of imagery as well as his unequivocal stance on the utterly anti-human, indeed de-humanising nature of war, Liam O´Flaherty anticipates Samuel Beckett. Beckett´s ‘Waiting for Godot’, presenting us with a vision of post second world war man, is at one with O´Flaherty in depicting a downward spiraling of human relations to just barely meeting the criteria of homo sapiens, crawling in a barren landscape. ‘Return of the Brute’ is a timely book; it is of its time and has lost none of its significance today. The Brute continues to devour and devastate. THE WORLD CUP AND ALL THAT The perfect antidote to the 2014 World Cup is “Soccer in Sun and Shadow” by Eduardo Galeano (author of the Open Veins of Latin America). It gives an insight into the wonders of the beautiful game and where it has all gone wrong.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 10:38:06 +0000
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