Adolf Awards
Trumpets, bugles, corianders [playing “She’ll
be cumin round the mountain when she comes”? –
Ed], glockenspiels, and a peal from the oranges: It’s
Adolf Award time yet again. Yes, folks, our annual awards
ceremony for those who, in the last year, have provided Conspicuous
Disservice to Peace or related affronts to humanity, and a
few other things thrown in besides. We had so many entries
[untrue, untrue – Ed] that we had difficulty editing
them down to manageable form. Here, without longer ado, are
our awards.
Dinosaurus Wrecks Award: Ian Paisley, the man
who, unlike Frank Sinatra, did not do it (his way). He may
be more silent in the world at large put he’s still
top dog among the DUPed.
Survivor of the Year Award: David Trimble. Yes,
a surprise award this considering he was ousted ignominiously
from the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party following
disastrous election results. He is given this award one last
time because a) To have survived so long as leader of the
UUP is a remarkable achievement, and b) It’s a bit like
getting to keep a cup after three wins in a row, he has been
a survivor so long it would be unkind not to give it to him
one last time.
Spy of the Year Award: Denis
Donaldson is the clear winner (but plenty more awards to come,
all over the place).
The I Can Point A Gun In Your Face Award:
Irish Minister for Offence, Willie O’Dea.
The Stick Your Head in an Incinerator
Award: The Irish government for going for a carcinogenic
solution to a waste-full problem.
The Uncertain Nuclear Storage Award
(Perpetual Cup for 100,000 Years); To Tony Blair
for his enthusiasm for a new generation of British nuclear
reactors (not to mention replacing Trident).
The Norn Iron Nonviolent Communication
Award: Fr Alex Reid for comparing Unionist treatment
of Catholics to Nazi treatment of Jews.
The Norn Iron Opportunists of the Year
Award: To all those who tried to use Alex Reid’s
unfortunate language as a means to discredit IRA disarmament.
US Stoolpigeon of the Year: Birdie
Ahern, for doing so much to assist the US war effort in Iraq
– no questions about ‘rendition’ (for torture)
flights going through Shannon, and 330,000 US troops through
there in the 2005 (more than double the number in 2004).
Glorification of Violence Award: Bertie
Ahern and Fianna Fail, for reinstituting an Easter military
parade commemorating the 1916 Rising.
Direct Line Award: To George
Bush, who it was revealed told a Palestinian in 2003 that
God had told him to fight the terrorists in Afghanistan, end
the tyranny in Iraq, and get a state for the Palestinians.
We eagerly await the latter though his success in the two
former is highly dubious if not non-existent.
Capitalist Exploitation Award:
the governments of the Republic, UK and elsewhere for persisting
with PFI (Public Finance Initiatives)/PPP (Public Private
Partnership) arrangements for schools, hospitals etc despite
clear evidence that they are woefully more expensive and may
provide a poorer service to the public (who are, actually,
the ones that pay).
Blue Skies Thinking Award: The
British Government of 1975 (as released state papers revealed)
whose advice included the suggestion of deploying comedians
Morecombe and Wise to Northern Ireland in a ‘Brighten
Up Ulster’ campaign [the Ulster “Expo ‘72’
a couple of years earlier had speedily being rechristened
‘Explo ‘72’ so this might have been renamed
‘Blighten up Ulster’]
Defending Tradition Award (International
Division): Vladimir Putin and the Russian government
for continuing the traditions of Russian oligarchy and coming
down hard on progressive NGOs, Chechens and anyone else getting
in their way.
- - - - - - - - - -
Anyway, on with the rest of the show –
Billy -
Gandhi, King, Ikeda
I caught the “Gandhi, King, Ikeda” exhibition
at Queen’s University Belfast before it closed in December
and thought I’d share my reflections on it with you.
It is the ‘United Kingdom’ version of a floating
exhibition, with very little in the way of original artefacts
(a letter written by Gandhi from prison, possibly in Hindi
but I’m not sure, was one of the few original items
– I saw neither a translation nor explanation of what
the content was about), the rest is composed of floor to ceiling
panels on the three men concerned and the work and issues
surrounding them and that they have been immersed in. There
are a lot of words but the panels are well illustrated and
three-quarters of an hour to an hour could have you rather
more knowledgeable about the three. I would consider it suitable
for mid-secondary school upwards (younger school students
would need assistance getting into it). Presumably the exhibition
has now moved on to its next booking.
But I have a fundamental problem with it. Gandhi
and King are global icons and dead. Ikeda is not so well known
and living. And although it seems the evolution of the exhibition
is due to Lawrence Carter of Morehouse College in the States,
the exhibition itself is produced by SGI, the lay Buddhist
organisation of which Ikeda is president. So I have a big
question here; who is promoting whom? I had the uncomfortable
feeling that it was as much trying to promote Ikeda to global
stardom as it was about the work of Gandhi and King and their
approach to life. And while Ikeda and SGI may undoubtedly
be working for international understanding from a ‘nonviolent
perspective’, I would feel there is a big difference
between Ikeda’s ‘gently gently’ approach
and Gandhi and King’s strong, upstanding, community-rooted
nonviolence. It’s not that I don’t think there
is a place for Ikeda’s and SGI’s type of work,
it’s just that it’s rather different and linking
the three jarred rather strongly with me.
And doing this kind of exercise, producing an
exhibition which links a leader of your organisation with
other renowned (and dead) world leaders is subtle but fundamentally
flawed because it comes across as self promotion. It’s
a bit like INNATE deciding there should be a “Gandhi,
King (Martin Luther), King (Billy)” exhibition which
would include myself in the pantheon of nonviolent gods. [You’ve
got to be joking! – Ed] [Yes, but you get the point
– Billy]. What, say, they had produced a “Gandhi,
King, Davitt” exhibition for Ireland – same content
on King and Gandhi but the rest on Michael Davitt; if it was
reasonably done then I would be saying, great, book it for
your centre or library now. But as it stands I feel it is
fundamentally flawed. In fact I am not that much into the
‘human icon’ model of promoting nonviolence; it’s
not that I don’t use Gandhi or King [no relation –
Billy] [didn’t think there possibly could be –
Ed] but that holding up nonviolent ‘saints’ can,
if done wrongly or indeed excessively, make us all look like
‘sinners’ – that we cannot possibly, possibly
emulate anything that such characters did. And this is fundamentally
the wrong message about nonviolence, which is about the power
of people or even ‘the power of the people’, not
the power of nonviolent stars in the firmament (who had their
own faults and foibles too).
I did purchase the booklet that went with the
exhibition for a few pounds (“Three Ordinary Men. Three
Extraordinary Lives. Gandhi – King – Ikeda Peacebuilder’s
exhibition”). In talking to a friend, they said “It’s
the kind of organisation that gives prizes to other similar
organisations”. And there in the booklet it was –
hadn’t they given the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community
Builder’s prize to a member of the Nobel family! And
another one to Betty Williams, who already had a Nobel prize,
and their very first to HRH Prince El Hassan bin Tabal of
Jordan, president of the Club of Rome (which has, actually,
done some useful awareness raising on global warming). All
this served to heighten my concern (their choices, where they
differed, are at least as conservative as the Nobel Peace
Prize). So, if it comes your way, by all means go and see
the exhibition but I think you should be aware of what I have
said.
Anna
It’s a place, not a person. In fact it’s a small
village in the north of Latvia near the Russian border, the
population quite recently was up to near a thousand people
but has sunk below half that as people have emigrated to find
work. And Latvia as a whole risks having a declining population
with the economic stagnation that that can entail –
Ireland was there and did that for over a century. Anna’s
men have almost all gone abroad to work leaving pensioners,
the young, and mothers with children behind, and the strain
of long distance relationships. One young man of seventeen
in Anna bemoaned the lack of anything to do – we could
see he is possibly one of the next to go abroad, even sports
teams became impossible locally as the young emigrate.
So where have the people of Anna emigrated to?
Ireland, working on the building sites and elsewhere in the
Republic. Anna was featured on RTE’s television news
of 21st December last, and its ‘deserted village’
feel is highly reminiscent of Ireland, at least the west of
Ireland, as recently as the 1980s. Irish good fortune has
been replaced by Latvian bad fortune as its workers move within
the EU to where there are jobs. Emigrant payments home will
of course help to buoy up Latvian fortunes slightly but at
what a cost in broken lives and relationships. As with the
Irish before then, some will swim well in their new environment
while others may sink or drown in loneliness or alcohol. What
a sad comment it is all on our global, and EU, economic system
that people cannot remain where their heart is, to forge and
find their future in the environment they love, but are forced
to become strangers to make their living.
Willing travel and work abroad is a great thing,
an opener of minds and, with the emigrant returning, a store
of new knowledge and experiences (look at the literally hundred
thousand or more Irish who have returned home when they could
with the opportunities of the Celtic Tiger). Forced emigration
to find a living can be a tragedy in the making, the worker
cast adrift in a difficult sea with some surviving well and
many finding the going exceedingly tough. It’s a strange
world we live in. And it’s even stranger because thirty
years ago Ireland was in a similar boat. But the Republic’s
economic ‘miracle’ is a once off, largely due
to massive multinational investment in an EU English-speaking
country, and there are many side effects and costs (e.g. the
problem of purchasing housing now), and other countries seeking
to replicate Ireland’s good fortune will find that the
door is quite securely locked and the key hidden in a very
large haystack.
So Anna’s children may find they need
to emigrate for a long time to come.
Una O’Higgins
O’Malley
The death in December of Una O’Higgins O’Malley
removes one of the foremost figures of the Troubles-era ‘peace
movement’ in the Republic (apart from many other involvements).
I wrote about her previously (NN 97, March 2002) when her
autobiographical book, “From Pardon and Protest: Memoirs
from the Margins” (published by Arlen House), had come
out. The daughter of assassinated Minister for Justice Kevin
O’Higgins, Una had what amounted to, in Dublin terms,
an upper crust charm but you also sensed a tremendous integrity
and a great determination as well. She made up her own mind,
including on the very divisive H Blocks issue where she took
an anti-establishment line. A founder member and leading light
in Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, she had had the initial
impetus and obstacle in life of becoming reconciled with the
killers of her father. She was a tremendous woman that I remember
with fondness and a great respect. I wasn’t party to
much of her work, and the early Glencree had some struggles
including defining itself as Christian or secular, but I knew
that with Una there would have been a carefully and thoughtfully
worked out position which she would have articulated calmly.
I previously related (NN 97) that we would have
been on the same picket lines of Provisional Sinn Féin
in Dublin in the early 1970s – and the sheer genius
of the police/Gardai in becoming convinced that I was a Provo.
[Always had a suspicion you were a spy of some sort, did they
turn you then? – Ed] [Very unfunny – Billy] But
there was another time, in Belfast, that Una O’Higgins
O’Malley indirectly led me into trouble. I was involved
in ‘Dawn’ monthly magazine at the time [a sort
of ‘Nonviolent News’ for the pre-computer/internet
era – Ed] and we published an article by Una O’Higgins
O’Malley on the H Blocks situation in the same issue
as an interview with John Morrow who was at that stage the
incoming leader of the Corrymeela Community. The front cover
had the words ‘Corrymeela’ and ‘H Blocks’
prominently displayed but with sub-headings, and anyone more
than glancing at the cover would have realised that they referred
to two different features.
Anyway, selling ‘Dawn’ outside ‘Corrymeela
Fair’ fundraising event in Belfast (and it could have
been any peace-type event), a middle-aged woman passed me
and, having glanced at the cover, said pointedly and with
some venom “We don’t like Corrymeela being linked
with H Blocks”. I followed her across the pavement to
try to explain that the captions referred to different pieces,
and that the H Blocks article was written by Una O’Higgins
O’Malley of Glencree, the nearest southern equivalent
to Corrymeela. Clearly not one word was going in, so determined
was she in her prejudice, and she turned on me at the edge
of the pavement before crossing the road and growled “If
you follow me any more I’ll get you taken in for molesting
me” ! That was literally what she said. Clearly, even
in a supposedly ‘peace’ context, dialogue was
a difficult concept and prejudices had to have their outlet.
It was a sad illustration to me of the work that had to be
done even with our own, so-called ‘peace constituency’.
[‘so-called’ – that’s strong words
or strong inverted commas – Ed] [Well, would you consider
her part of a ‘peace’ constituency? – Billy]
[Don’t know anything about her – Ed] [Well, neither
do I beyond the above – Billy]
Anyway, here’s to Una O’Higgins
O’Malley who had the courage to stand up when many were
rooted solidly to their chairs or the inside of their bunkers.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam.
Blessing the troops
Well, bless my soul, before Christmas the Church of Ireland
Archbishop of Armagh, Robin Eames, went out to visit British
troops in Iraq (specifically the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish
Regiment). Was I surprised? Well, obviously I didn’t
know he was going to do it but I wasn’t surprised surprised,
if you get my meaning. It did merit one or two letters in
publications across the water in Britain but no comment that
I know of this side of the Irish Sea so I am trying to remedy
that.
The justification (the ‘Just War Visit
Theory’!) is of course that it was a ‘purely’
pastoral visit, looking after the spiritual welfare of the
troops, blab la. If someone supports the British state and
its military enterprises in support of the Free (Market) World
and Gorge Bash Enterprises, and also agreed with Christian
support for said wars, then you could say it was a fine thing.
But of course this is an illegal, immoral, grossly expensive,
naïve failure of a war. Turn back the tide on terror?
Rebuild Iraq? You must be joking – they’re probably
queuing up to join Al Qaeda and associated enterprises just
like some people in Derry queued up to join the IRA after
Bloody Sunday in 1972. The US, British and allied forces are
between Iraq and a hard place. If Robin Eames was out and
about in Iraq, which he assuredly wasn’t, he would have
felt right at home like in Norn Iron; the US and British have
succeeded in fostering (Sunni/Shia) sectarianism where none
existed before. Marks out of ten for the US and UK? About
minus ten.
When will Christian leaders stop being that
naïve they can provide a ‘pastoral visit’
in this kind of situation without overwhelming political overtones?
They cannot. Surely the Christian thing to do in this context
– even going on the limited Just War theory let alone
any Historic Peace Church understanding of Christianity –
would be to continue to condemn it and urge withdrawal at
the first available opportunity – and that would also
be the best pastoral support for British troops. Many Christian
leaders did openly oppose the Iraq war before it began; it
is sad to see this kind of support for Britain’s ‘our
boys’ which is clearly at variance with basic Christian
teaching. When the Iraq war started many in Britain swung
behind the British forces in support; it is sad to see a Christian
leader – and an Irish one at that - taking the same
tack a couple of years later. Maybe if he issued a clear statement
condemning the war and then went on a pastoral visit that
might be acceptable morally but if he did this then his invitation
would have been withdrawn – what army is going to want
to be told “I’m here to support you pastorally
and individually but you should never have been here in the
first place, what you’ve been doing is wrong”.
But that is precisely the kind of thing he should have been
doing, or trying to do. Anything else is just being used as
a justification for the war.
And the scripture reading
today…..
Well, it’s always worth reading your local newspaper(s)
because almost inevitably there will be some snippet about
some person or development which is worth knowing about. Occasionally
there are even pieces of wider significance. I consider one
such piece appeared in the South Belfast News of 28th January
2006 when former (Alliance) Lord Mayor of Belfast Tom Ekin
shared some information about his time in office (2004-5).
It had become policy in 1990 – in the context I assume
it was a Protestant exclusivist move (“we own the scriptures
more than anyone else, so, it’s one up for us if they’re
read before meetings”, that kind of thing) – to
read scripture before the start of monthly Council meetings.
Tom Ekin followed this policy to the letter – except
the ruling did not indicate which scriptures should be read
so he included readings from Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist
and Baha’i scriptures – and no one noticed as
they stood for the readings. No one noticed – and if
they had, the bible-beaters would have raised hell (to coin
a phrase). As he recounts in the report, “I found suitable
passages with an appropriate theme – that of unlocking
people’s potential and then made sure that it was translated
correctly”. If ever there was an inter-faith test on
the similarity of faith approaches to at least some issues
then this was it – and in a society with religious antennae
which are so acutely tuned, no one noticed.
When Tom Ekin came out about it, some people
did complain about the wool being pulled over their eyes but
Free Presbyterian Minister David McIlveen surely got it all
wrong in saying (quoted in the South Belfast News) that “it
undermines Belfast City Council’s very strong line –
that of a Christian council for a Christian people.”
This is highly reminiscent of being ‘a Protestant parliament
for a Protestant people’ (indeed, in some people’s
use of the term ‘Christian’ in Northern Ireland,
it means exactly the same thing). Belfast City Council is
surely for all the people of Belfast and Tom Ekin may have
played a trick on councillors but it was a highly revealing
one; the shibboleth of religion in this context is just that,
a shibboleth (“A slogan or catch phrase, usually considered
outworn, characterising a particular party or sect”,
Collins Shorter Dictionary) and in such a formal setting no
one was able to tell the difference between the teaching of
different religions. So much for the ‘scripture’
knowledge of these devoted Christian councillors!
Well, that’s me for now, the crocuses
are starting to flower, and I sowed my broad beans [you old
‘has bean’ – Ed] [no, the best has yet to
bean – Billy] the other day, so here’s to the
springtime-a-coming. Wishing you all the best for what’s
left of 2006 (!) - Billy
Who
is Billy King? A long, long time ago, in a more
innocent age (just talking about myself you understand),
there were magazines called 'Dawn' and 'Dawn Train'
and I had a back page column in these. Now the Headitor
has asked me to come out from under the carpet to write
a Cyberspace Column 'something people won't be able
to put down' (I hope you're not carrying your monitor
around with you).
Watch this. Cast a cold eye on life, on death, horseman
pass by (because there'll almost certainly be very little
about horses even if someone with a similar name is
found astride them on gable ends around certain parts
of Norn Iron).
