Setting the course for tragedy
John White's outrageous claim last week that nationalists were
attacking their own homes is a repugnant reminder of a particular
loyalist mindset but it went strangely unreported in the
mainstream media.
White, a spokesperson for the UDA-aligned UDP, said it was his
belief that nationalists and republicans were responsible for
recent attacks in North and East Belfast - attacks perpetrated on
their own homes. He accused republicans of staging the attacks in
order to cash in on security grants and said that they had
nothing to do with the recent split in the UDP.
He said this despite the fact that the first in this recent wave
of attacks came just after that aformentioned split.
John White and the UDP know very well what's going on. Loyalist
paramilitaries are slapping down nationalist communities that are
perceived to be encroaching on `traditional' loyalist territory
or are just plain vulnerable. Sectarian attacks are also the
tried and tested method whjereby rival loyalist groups flex their
muscles to win support and recruits.
But the cynicism and hatred that inspired White's outrageous
comments are also sadly evident in the more subtle and finessed
strategems of mainstream unionism. Assembly Arts Minister Michael
McGimpsey said on Tuesday that his party would maintain its
sanctions against Sinn Féin ministers in the absence of IRA
decommissioning. He was setting the scene for further hardline
antics at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting this Saturday and
at their AGM in March.
The silence of the UUP and broad sections of the media has been
deafening when it comes to loyalist attacks, although the same
sources have ranted incessantly about the decommissioning of
silent IRA weapons. It took the gutting of a North Belfast home,
40 attacks on this year, before the onslaught against vulnerable
Catholics was taken seriously.
It is only a matter of time before there are fatalities, like the
deaths of the three Quinn brothers at Ballymoney that terrible
summer of 1998.
d then, of course, the hollow condemnations will flow.
Shame of Sharon
It was bitterly ironic and telling of the Israeli electorate that
they chose this week as their new leader the man who is
responsible for initiating their latest bout of war with
Palestinians.
Four months and 380 deaths after Ariel Sharon's coat-trailing
visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, he can now look back on
his reckless action as the single most dynamic element of his
electoral campaign.
But for Sharon this was merely the continuation of a bloody
history of genocide. He will always be remembered for his
unilateral decision, as Israeli defense minister in 1982, to
allow Christian militias to enter the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps, in Beirut's southern suburbs, where they massacred 800
Palestinians. While his actions then forced him to resign, Sharon
it seems, is now back in business.
The Israeli people have not just opted for increased `security'
against the Palestinians, as the papers tend to say, they have
also opted for a rejection of the Oslo peace process. This leaves
them, and the Palestinians who have suffered their oppression,
with the daunting prospect of an intensified conflict.
Sharon's supporters were seen on Tuesday night jubilantly
chanting his campaign slogans: ``End of peace process!'' and ``Thank
you God for this turnaround!''
The Israelis have now elected a leader with a military past,
bloodied by ruthless, genocidal policies against the Palestinian
people.
While we all hope that the peace process will resume, the
Israelis have made a decision described by Palestinian
information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo as ``the most foolish event
in Israel's history''.
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