Thirty-seven Israeli bombs fall on the women and children of Gaza, targeted at “babies”, “doctors”, “families”, “mosques”, “school”, “everyone”.
On the left (below), cartoon character of resistance Handala (WP) carries the Palestinian flag.
Bóthar Chaıtríona, St James’s, west Belfast
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“From the river to the sea Palestine will be free”
The 1916 centenary mural in Andersonstown has been repurposed and repainted to express solidarity with the people of Palestine.
From the frame of the previous mural – see Unbowed, Unbroken – the title, phoenix, and chains have been preserved but two instances of the inverted red triangle have been added at the top and bottom – see Resist! (and My Kite You Made).
The main panel puts the struggles in Palestine and Northern Ireland in parallel, showing (from top to bottom on each side) political prisoners, violence against protesters, and relatives carrying portraits.
On the left, Palestinian prisoners languish in Israeli jails (based on a photo of Hamza Abu Halima and on this Reuters photograph of prisoners sitting in the street, both from December 2023) and IDF soldiers make violent arrests – the one on the left is from 2016 (CCUN) and the one on the right is perhaps based on this Reuters photograph.
On the right: British soldiers restore order after the Burning Of Long Kesh (see Operation Pagoda), next to blanket-man Hugh Rooney, above three arrests made by British Army soldiers – their caps indicates that they are from the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (left) and the Paratroop regiment (centre). (For two of the original photos, see BBC | Getty.)
Along the bottom of both sides, marchers hold portraits of the dead, including the recently-killed leader of Hamas Yahya Sinwar (BBC).
For the mural to the right (in the wide shot) see Stop The Genocide – Save Palestine.
An Neasc Theas, Baıle Mhıc Aındréıs, Béal Feırste thıar (South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast)
October 13th:
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This IRPWA (web) board in Glen Parade, Andersonstown, is in support of Palestinian political prisoners. Al Jazeera reports that roughly, 9,500 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank are currently being held, and about 3,600 without charge, under “administrative detention”.
The missing exclamation-mark in the board above suggests that there is a missing third. See We Exist! We Resist! We Rise!
Next to the Saoradh mural with a large Palestinian flag – see From The River To The Sea and Palestinian Solidarity.
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Here is a selection of placards from the Village in south Belfast, many on the theme of the fight against Home Rule in 1912 and the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921.
The most interesting is perhaps the small placard sandwiched (in the image below) between the UVF territorial marking (see e.g. Welcome To The Village) and the “warning” to landlords (see Not A Dumping Ground). The quote form Salisbury – “Parliament has a right to govern the people of Ulster; it has no right to sell them into slavery” – comes from a speech made in 1892 (Launceston Examiner) and Spencer was addressing the Lords in 1893 when he said, “We feel like the Americans when the integrity of THEIR country was threatened, and, if necessary, we must shed blood to maintain the strength and salvation of THIS country” (Hansard). Both statements, that is, were made in connection with the second Home Rule bill (of 1893) rather than the third as the “1914” crest of the “South Belfast regiment” of the Ulster Volunteers would suggest.
Below is a reproduction of a stamp featuring Edward Carson, described in the Notre Dame collection. These stamps were sold as a fundraiser; they were not used for postage.
For the “brothers in arms” placard, see Ulster & Israel and below that, Stand Firm.
For the Craig placard, see What We Have We Hold. The final three were seen previously in The Red Hand And The Winning Hand.
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“Solidarity”, “تكافل” (in Arabic) between (Irish) republican prisoners and Palestinians in Israeli jails. Al Jazeera reports that roughly, 9,500 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank are currently being held, and about 3,600 without charge, under “administrative detention”. Springfield Park, west Belfast.
Below: “Support republican political prisoners” in “Maghaberry – Portlaoise – Hydebank”. IRPWA (web) board in Ardoyne Avenue, north Belfast. See also: the same message on Divis Street, west Belfast.
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“Stop the war on Gaza! Pray for peace!” There are doves in the upper corners but the central imagery is of a clenched fist and the background shows a republican volunteer (perhaps from the INLA) comforting a Palestinian.
For the mural that this framed image has been added to, see Clós Ard An Lao.
Clós Ard An Lao/Ardilea Close, in the Bone, north Belfast
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Sugarhouse Entry, running between Waring Street and High Street, and home to the Muddlers’ Club of the United Irishmen, was closed in 1972 as part of the “ring of steel” securing Belfast city centre (DC Tours) and for fifty years served only as a back alley to various businesses between Waring Street and High Street; there was talk in 2022 of reopening it (Irish News) and again in 2023 (BelTel). It has now (August, 2024) been refurbished and reopened (BelTel | UTv includes interview with Sean Napier | Belfast City Council video on youtube).
Peter Strain (web) produced illustrations for a number of entries in 2020 and 2022, including one from 2022 for Sugarhouse Entry. It quotes United Irishman Thomas Russell as saying, “Every time I look at a lump of sugar, I see a drop of African blood”.
The precise source of the quote is unknown (please comment/get in touch if you know it); towards the end of Russell’s 1796 Letter To The People Of Ireland, in which he exhorts Irish people to develop a national spirit and take an interest in politics, he takes as a present-day example refraining from supporting the Crown in the French Revolutionary Wars by serving in the army or by buying taxed goods (such as sugar): “Are the Irish nation aware that this contest involves the question of the slave trade, the one now of the greatest consequence on the face of the earth? Are they willing to employ their treasure and their blood in support of that system, because England has 70 or 7000 millions engaged in it, the only argument that can be adduced in its favour, monstrous as it may appear? Do they know that that horrid traffic spreads its influence over the globe; that it creates and perpetuates barbarism and misery, and prevents the spreading of civilization and religion, in which we profess to believe? Do they know that by it thousands and hundreds of thousands of these miserable Africans are dragged from their innocent families … transported to various places, and there treated with such a system of cruelty, torment, wickedness and infamy, that it is impossible for language adequately to express its horror and guilt, and which would appear rather to be the work of wicked demons than of men. If this trade is wrong, is it right for the Irish nation to endeavour to continue it? And does not every man who contributes to the war contribute to its support?” (archive.org p. 22)
(Other pieces by Strain in the entries can be seen in Handsome, Easy-Going, And Utterly Untrustworthy | The Blots On The Page Are So Black | As You Lived You Must Die | Trust Women.)
See also: the Visual History page on the Belfast Entries Project.
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Kneecap’s new album Fine Art was released on June 14th on Heavenly Recordings. (The cover of the new album is included in the recent update to the mural on Madden’s bar – see Sásta A Bheıth Anseo.)
Their film, also called Kneecap, had its Belfast premiere in the Kennedy Centre, west Belfast, on Tuesday and has been on general release since Thursday (RTÉ | BBC).
The band yesterday (Friday August 9th) launched a third mural in Hawthorn Street/Sráıd Na Sceıthe, (joining Incendiary Device and England Get Out Of Ireland,) which blows up the sticker seen on the street-sign (below; and previously in Land Grab) into a mural: Saoırse don Phalaıstín [Freedom for Palestine]. The launch was moved to an earlier time (2:30 p.m.) so that it would not conflict with the anti-racism rally in the city centre (BelTel).
The mural had previously been a sticker (see the street sign, above) and flyer – this one is from Waterford Street, in April
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Naoıse Ó Caırealláın Móglaí Bap Lıam Óg Ó Hannaıdh Mo Chara JJ Ó Dochartaıgh DJ Próvaí
“Seasann Léana An Dúın leıs An Phalaıstín [Lenadoon stands with Palestine]”. Gaels Against Genocide – “a collective of people from the Irish language, sporting & cultural communities” (Xitter) – was formed in January (Saffron Gael) and organised rallies in Belfast city centre in February (Pensive Quill | Belfast Media video on YouTube) and in June (BBC | Belfast Media gallery | Irish News).
Lenadoon Avenue, west Belfast
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The Easter lily and the red star mark this graffiti-art-style slogan in Durrow Park, Derry, as republican-socialist; RSYM = Republican Socialist Youth Movement (Fb), IRSP = Irish Republican Socialist Party (web), AFA = Anti-Fascist Action (Fb)). There is a small “Victory to Hamas” graffito to the right.
For the large Arm Saoırse Náısıúnta Na hÉıreann (INLA) board, see Serious Trouble.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 