Daniel Levy is the latest in a long line of misguided pundits who have drawn analogies between how the Northern Ireland conflict was solved and how the Israel-Palestine one might be. I’m not going to repeat why these analogies are false, useless and the product of wooly minds yearning to believe that all problems can be solved by decent chaps like themselves getting together over tea and digestive biscuits for a good chinwag; if you want have chapter and verse on the matter just look here.
Continue reading ‘The Northern Ireland Analogy Surfaces Yet Again’
This is the final of three guest posts by Henry McDonald, who has covered Irish politics for the Observer and Guardian newspapers, examining the flaws in the frequently-drawn comparison between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Islamist terror groups like Hamas. The posts are drawn from the final chapter of Henry’s recent book, Gunsmoke and Mirrors - How Sinn Fein Dressed up Defeat as Victory, available here. You can now read the entire piece or download a handy PDF version over on the main Z Word site.
The narrative of the Irish peace process suggests a leadership driven by entirely practical concerns, willing when necessary to dump old ideological certainties in the pursuit of limited goals. Dissidents jibe that Sinn Fein’s entry into and embrace of the parliament at Stormont would be akin in the Middle East to Hamas entering the Knesset. In that at least the dissidents have a point.
Continue reading ‘The Limits of the Northern Ireland Analogy (3)’
This is the second of three guest posts by Henry McDonald, who has covered Irish politics for the Observer and Guardian newspapers, examining the flaws in the frequently-drawn comparison between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Islamist terror groups like Hamas. The posts are drawn from the final chapter of Henry’s recent book, Gunsmoke and Mirrors - How Sinn Fein Dressed up Defeat as Victory, available here. You can read Henry’s earlier post here.
Irish republicans throughout the generations have never lacked physical courage in pursuit of their goals. They have however been subject to certain boundaries imposed by their own particular background and culture. Throughout the hunger strike the prisoners’ supporters insisted that their fast for political status was not slow drawn out suicide, which for centuries was regarded as a sin in Catholic theology. It seems puzzling none the less that a political movement that produced activists willing to starve themselves to death for a cause would regard still suicide bombing as anathema.
Continue reading ‘The Limits of the Northern Ireland Analogy (2)’
This is the first in a series of three guest posts by Henry McDonald, who has covered Irish politics for the Observer and Guardian newspapers, examining the flaws in the frequently-drawn comparison between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Islamist terror groups like Hamas. The posts are drawn from the final chapter of Henry’s recent book, Gunsmoke and Mirrors - How Sinn Fein Dressed up Defeat as Victory, available here.
It was arguably the most unlikeliest of places to illuminate the chasm between Irish republican and Islamist terrorism. The ‘Star Letter’ of the January 2008 edition of the British toilet humour magazine/comic ‘Viz’ counterposed the terrorism of the IRA and Al Qaeda.
Continue reading ‘The Limits of the Northern Ireland Analogy (1)’
British commentators on the Arab-Israeli struggle just can’t resist drawing analogies with the Northern Ireland conflict and, in particular, how it was resolved. I’ve already argued that they tend to draw the wrong conclusions from what happened in Ireland over the last 40 years but this article by Jonathan Freedland obliges me to do so again.
Continue reading ‘Gaza: The Northern Ireland Analogy and Wishful Thinking’
Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the now defunct Irish Republican Army (IRA,) says
…the international community has to recognise the democratic mandate of Hamas and open dialogue with them.
Continue reading ‘Position Vacant: A Gerry Adams for Hamas’
Over at Open Democracy there’s a good piece by John C. Hulsman recommending some practical steps Barack Obama could take to bring about a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The gist of his argument is that the sort of negotiations that have been dragging on between the parties since Oslo are unlikely to get anywhere and that what are required now are fairly rapid and largely secret negotiations aimed at producing a deal that takes care of all the crunch issues in one go.
Continue reading ‘Yet More Irish Analogies’
