Post by Papa C. on Sept 13, 2006 21:42:01 GMT
I posted this on MySpace and got a good response so I thought I should also post it here.
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Comrades and friends,
I have listened with open ears and an open mind to those who choose not to support Republican prisoners' right to political status. I accept the fact that they don't support them, yet in defence of Socialism and Irish Republicanism I must present a rebuttal.
I wonder into the deepest parts of my mind and ask myself, how can any true socialist, in their right mind, not support Republican POWs and their demands for political status. Isn't their struggle political? Don't they have a politically legitimate argument against Imperialism and Capitalism? These are people who are fighting, not only against a major Imperialist propaganda system which injects itself into the minds of the politically naive and brainwashed, but also any force said Imperialist may decide to administer under threat of rebellion from working people.
The state in Ireland, Britain, the US and most western states in recent times have enacted laws in order to outlaw rebellion. They usually call them offences against the state, anti-terrorism legislation, the patriot act and so on, and the do their best to put political activists and, CIA built, mass terrorists under the same category. Well we are not religious fundamentalists, we are not fighting for a small minority of people. We are fighting for the working people of our countries, all the working people regardless our background and we have a legitimate political objective as do the POWs.
I enjoy listening to these so-called 'socialists/ libertarians/ believers in freedom and justice' who talk down the efforts of Republican groups and dismiss them as terrorists. It sounds like these people have gone to the houses of capitalist parliament to buy the Imperialist propaganda documents from said Imperialist and use it as an argument against people who use reasonable force against the Imperialist/ Capitalist.
Who are those people who are out in their droves to commemorate and salute the fallen heroes of Easter Rebellion in 1916 (hypocritical, opportunistic, capitalist leaders of the state and their working class armed forces dragged out behind their military leaders should be included here) yet they refuse to support the Republican groups of today who use the exact same tactics as our anti-imperialist forces of the Easter Rebellion. I could use this as an example to define hypocrisy.
James Connolly was a leader of the Easter Rebellion and a Socialist Revolutionary, a mammoth voice of the labour movement and defender of working people. He opposed the free-state, he opposed partition, he opposed home rule, he opposed Imperialism, Capitalism and their wars, and he led an armed force who ideologically were the predecessors of the INLA, with no ideological difference what-so-ever, against the British Government, and it was against the will of the majority of the time. The majority did not support the Rebellion and, in fact, some even fought against it. It's just like today and it's all down to ignorance coupled with the effectiveness of Imperialist/ Capitalist propaganda. In 1916 they used violence, they used guns and explosives but it was to achieve a politically sound objective. This was terrorism through the eyes of the state, again, just like today.
So why do people support the Easter Rebellion? Because they were Republican and Socialist activists out to try and free working people from the state supported exploitation and oppression by capitalist means and the Irish free-state Government, on the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, acknowledged their heroism by commemorating them along with thousands upon thousands of working people all over the country. I've heard all the desperate arguments over the years trying to link republicans/ socialists with terrorism but I've yet to hear a credible and non-hypocritical one.
The reason for this incredibility is because there is no plausible link. These same reactionaries will use British/ US Government anti-terror arguments as they watch these same Governments order hundreds of thousands of innocent soldiers to go off to kill and mame their foreign counterpart and all because the working class soldiers need the money to send home to their families. How can the reactionary socialist types side with a body who allows this to happen? These same reactionaries will wear t-shirts sporting the face of Ernesto Che Guevara who also used extreme violence and even claimed it was the only tactic to achieve revolution, yet when these same revolutionaries are on their doorstep reactionary socialists oppose them.
Revolutionary Socialists much strive to understand the truth behind Imperialist propaganda, they must understand that state media often leave out vital information in news reports to put a state slant on the majority of news reporting, they must understand the Imperialist, and the half-truths they employ because without understanding this, you cannot understand imperialism and thus cannot understand your own struggle. The number one rule in any war, including our own class war is 'know your enemy' but also know your comrades.
For Socialism and Ireland, Support the POWs.
With solidarity and friendship,
Caoimhain.
www.geocities.com/starry.plough/
--------------------------------------------------------------
Comrades and friends,
I have listened with open ears and an open mind to those who choose not to support Republican prisoners' right to political status. I accept the fact that they don't support them, yet in defence of Socialism and Irish Republicanism I must present a rebuttal.
I wonder into the deepest parts of my mind and ask myself, how can any true socialist, in their right mind, not support Republican POWs and their demands for political status. Isn't their struggle political? Don't they have a politically legitimate argument against Imperialism and Capitalism? These are people who are fighting, not only against a major Imperialist propaganda system which injects itself into the minds of the politically naive and brainwashed, but also any force said Imperialist may decide to administer under threat of rebellion from working people.
The state in Ireland, Britain, the US and most western states in recent times have enacted laws in order to outlaw rebellion. They usually call them offences against the state, anti-terrorism legislation, the patriot act and so on, and the do their best to put political activists and, CIA built, mass terrorists under the same category. Well we are not religious fundamentalists, we are not fighting for a small minority of people. We are fighting for the working people of our countries, all the working people regardless our background and we have a legitimate political objective as do the POWs.
I enjoy listening to these so-called 'socialists/ libertarians/ believers in freedom and justice' who talk down the efforts of Republican groups and dismiss them as terrorists. It sounds like these people have gone to the houses of capitalist parliament to buy the Imperialist propaganda documents from said Imperialist and use it as an argument against people who use reasonable force against the Imperialist/ Capitalist.
Who are those people who are out in their droves to commemorate and salute the fallen heroes of Easter Rebellion in 1916 (hypocritical, opportunistic, capitalist leaders of the state and their working class armed forces dragged out behind their military leaders should be included here) yet they refuse to support the Republican groups of today who use the exact same tactics as our anti-imperialist forces of the Easter Rebellion. I could use this as an example to define hypocrisy.
James Connolly was a leader of the Easter Rebellion and a Socialist Revolutionary, a mammoth voice of the labour movement and defender of working people. He opposed the free-state, he opposed partition, he opposed home rule, he opposed Imperialism, Capitalism and their wars, and he led an armed force who ideologically were the predecessors of the INLA, with no ideological difference what-so-ever, against the British Government, and it was against the will of the majority of the time. The majority did not support the Rebellion and, in fact, some even fought against it. It's just like today and it's all down to ignorance coupled with the effectiveness of Imperialist/ Capitalist propaganda. In 1916 they used violence, they used guns and explosives but it was to achieve a politically sound objective. This was terrorism through the eyes of the state, again, just like today.
So why do people support the Easter Rebellion? Because they were Republican and Socialist activists out to try and free working people from the state supported exploitation and oppression by capitalist means and the Irish free-state Government, on the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, acknowledged their heroism by commemorating them along with thousands upon thousands of working people all over the country. I've heard all the desperate arguments over the years trying to link republicans/ socialists with terrorism but I've yet to hear a credible and non-hypocritical one.
The reason for this incredibility is because there is no plausible link. These same reactionaries will use British/ US Government anti-terror arguments as they watch these same Governments order hundreds of thousands of innocent soldiers to go off to kill and mame their foreign counterpart and all because the working class soldiers need the money to send home to their families. How can the reactionary socialist types side with a body who allows this to happen? These same reactionaries will wear t-shirts sporting the face of Ernesto Che Guevara who also used extreme violence and even claimed it was the only tactic to achieve revolution, yet when these same revolutionaries are on their doorstep reactionary socialists oppose them.
Revolutionary Socialists much strive to understand the truth behind Imperialist propaganda, they must understand that state media often leave out vital information in news reports to put a state slant on the majority of news reporting, they must understand the Imperialist, and the half-truths they employ because without understanding this, you cannot understand imperialism and thus cannot understand your own struggle. The number one rule in any war, including our own class war is 'know your enemy' but also know your comrades.
For Socialism and Ireland, Support the POWs.
With solidarity and friendship,
Caoimhain.
www.geocities.com/starry.plough/
