Raymond McCreesh – H-Block Martyr

 — with Rory Dubhdara

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Support for Palestinian hunger striker

Republican groups of all hues have rallied in support of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan, who is said to be near death while shackled to a bed in an Israeli hospital.

Mr Adnan is on the 62nd day of his hunger strike and is in immediate danger of death, according to the latest medical reports.

A baker from a village near Jenin, he is being held without charge by the Israeli authorities under what they term “administrative detention”. He began his hunger strike on 18 December, the day after being arrested.

Adnan’s hunger strike is in protest at his detention without charge or being told of any evidence against him, and over abuse and degrading treatment during arrest and interrogation. This is his ninth period of detention. In the past he has acted as a spokesman for a Palestinian militant group.

He has asked to be charged or released. In his own words Khadar said “My dignity is more precious than food.”

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has called on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore and his European counterparts to urgently intervene to save his life and demand that the Israeli state meet their responsibilities under international law.

“United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk has expressed his urgent and extreme concern regarding Khader Adnan, and urged the international community to intervene on his behalf so it is not good enough for the Tánaiste to simply express concern,” he said.

“I am calling on the Tánaiste and his European counterparts to urgently intervene to save Khader Adnan’s life.

“The practice of ‘administrative detentions’ is clearly unjust and has been used systematically as part of the military occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Israeli state.

“Over the years Israel has administratively detained thousands of Palestinians for prolonged periods of time without prosecution, without informing them of the charges against them, and without allowing their solicitors to study the evidence making a mockery of the protections specified in Israeli and international law to protect the right of liberty and due process, the right of defendants to state their case and the presumption of innocence.

“There are 308 Palestinians are currently being held ‘administrative detentions’

“Apportioning political labels to detainees is no justification for prolonged imprisonment without trial”.

Geraldine McNamara, National PRO of Republican Sinn Fein, condemned the Israeli administration for refusing to act.

“His condition is now extremely grave,” she said. “Yet prison authorities shamelessly called his health ‘acceptable’. They found no grounds for shortening his detention or releasing him.

“Sadly soon Khadar will be released from his prison hell in the same way Bobby Sands and his comrades were in 1981 in Ireland.

“Too many stood idly by then and we should be ashamed that no international body has succeeded in calling on the Israeli’s to end this tragic situation.

“We are told that a person is innocent until proven guilty but in Israel a person can be interned (detained) without trial as has happened in this case.

“Unfortunately imperialist governments worldwide never learn from their mistakes, Khadar will become a martyr and many more will follow in his footsteps.

“He is fading fast now but his strength of character will live forever.

“Our prayers are with Khadar and his family at this time.”

éirígí held vigils in Belfast and Newry this week in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoner.

Speaking at the Newry vigil, éirígí’s Stephen Murney said all Palestinian and international organisations and activists had been asked to join in a campaign of solidarity with the hunger striking prisoner and to launch protests and solidarity actions.

“So here we are here today to show solidarity with our comrades in Palestine who are currently on hunger strike. We have deliberately picked this location, Ray McCreesh Park, for obvious reasons. Over thirty years ago Raymond McCreesh and his comrades also embarked on hunger strike and paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so.”

Murney said that, en route to the event, he had been detained, searched and questioned about his attendance at the vigil by the PSNI police, who he described as a ‘militia’.

“éirígí will continue with our local, national and international campaigns. Internationalism and internationalist solidarity have always been a central theme of Irish republicanism. éirígí understands that now, more than ever, the struggle for an Ireland free of the twin fetters of capitalism and imperialism is integrally linked to the wider international struggle of the poor and oppressed against the rich and powerful.”

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THE CLONOE 514

More than 500 bullets were fired at four IRA Volunteers who were killed in an undercover British army ambush 20 years ago this week, it has emerged.

A commemorative march is to be held this weekend to recall the lives and deaths of the four men. Fresh details about how they were shot dead in the grounds of St Patrick’s Church at Clonoe in County Tyrone during the covert military operation have emerged on the 20th anniversary of their deaths.

Some of the details include confirmation that 12 undercover soldiers, believed to be members of the SAS, took part in the secret operation. During the ambush, 514 rounds were fired at the IRA unit by undercover soldiers. The soldiers were dug into hedgerows around the church building, which went on fire after being struck by a bullet or flare.

Eight cars, each containing two British soldiers, offered back-up to the undercover troops during the ambush. None of the shots fired during the incident have been attributed to the IRA men.

Now the families of the four men — Barry O’Donnell, Sean O’Farrell, and Peter Clancy, all from the Coalisland area, and Patrick Vincent from Dungannon — have threatened to take legal action to force the Stormont administration to hold an inquest into their deaths.

The four republicans were killed shortly after launching an attack on Coalisland RUC station on February 16 1992. One of the dead men, Sean O’Farrell, was stopped at a British army checkpoint close to the spot where he died just hours before the ambush and was allowed to continue on his journey.

Over the past 20 years the families of all four men have been locked in a battle with authorities to force an inquest into the circumstances of the men’s deaths.

Although a preliminary inquest has been heard a date for a full hearing has yet to be set.

On the night they died the four IRA Volunteers attacked Coalisland RUC station and made the short trip to the church in the back of a stolen lorry.

The Volunteers intended to dismantle their machine gun in the church grounds before leaving the scene.

However, within seconds of arriving in the church car park the four, who were all members of the IRA’s east Tyrone brigade, were shot dead. Two other Coalisland men, Aidan McKeever and Martin Woods, were wounded.

In the aftermath of the ambush, the British government said the deaths were justified, while former first minister Ian Paisley praised the killings.

Controversy continued when 200 mourners walked out of the funeral Mass of Barry O’Donnell and Sean O’Farrell at the Church of the Holy Family in Coalisland when the local parish denounced the IRA leadership.

Roisin Ui Mhuiri, the sister of Kevin Barry O’Donnell, said that the families’ campaign may have received some hostility because of their loved ones’ roles as IRA Volunteers.

“People over the years, especially when it happened, did demonise them and said things that were hurtful to all the families,” she said.

“They were our brothers and sons and it doesn’t make our grief any less because they were combatants or IRA men. Our grief is the same as anyone else’s and we feel the loss and we loved them.

“What they were does not diminish our rights to have an inquest and have the truth.”

Mrs Ui Mhuiri said the British army ambush was a ‘shoot to kill’ operation.

“There was no shoot-out. It was shoot to kill. There were over 500 bullets fired that night at these men and they never stood a chance,” she said.

Mrs Ui Mhuiri said the families of the dead IRA men had not ruled out launching a judicial review to force authorities to hold an inquest.

“There are already parents who have died and we need closure for this,” she said.

Mrs Ui Mhuiri said the families believe they are entitled to the truth.

“‘We are part of the solution too and we need our answers just like any other families that have been hurt or had someone injured or killed during this conflict,” she said.

“Our tears are no less than tears anywhere. We want to see an end to all this.”

ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

A weekend of events has been organised to remember the men.

The anniversary weekend of events starts on Thursday 16th with Candle lighting at each grave; 6pm Clonoe, 6.30pm Coalisland at 7pm a torchlight procession at Edendork. On Friday 17th Memories of Barry, Patrick, Peter and Sean – a night of stories and music at 9pm in Clonoe Community Centre. On Sat 18th there will be Wreath laying ceremonies at each of the Volunteers graves beginning at Clonoe 2pm, Coalisland 2.30pm and Edendork 3pm. That evening at 7.30pm there will be an Inquest Discussion in association with Relatives for Justice, in the Cornmill, Coalisland.

On Sunday 19th February, the National Commemoration will take place from Clonoe to Coalisland, assemble at Clonoe at 2pm.

The organisers urged everyone to attend, although no party political emblems are to be carried.

“Barry, Patrick, Peter and Sean’s story is one that must be remembered, it is a story of bravery, friendship and commitment,” they said.

“Their belief in a free and united Ireland is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. These four young men will always be remembered as Irish men who fought to remove the British occupation of their country and who made the ultimate sacrifice for Ireland.”

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PSNI SILENCE OVER FILM SET NIGHTMARE

A vicious attempt to murder Catholic teenagers last Friday was covered up by the North’s police for over three days before details finally emerged.

Eighteen-year-old James Turley was left for dead after a mob of loyalists descended on a group of teenagers working as extras on a film set in the Village area of south Belfast.

Turley, a trainee chef from the nationalist Short Strand area, was assaulted, beaten unconscious, dumped in a wheelie bin and left for dead.

Despite running into a house for help he was again beaten by the mob. He played dead to escape after hearing one of his attackers say: “That’s enough. I think he’s dead.”

Four other teenagers were also attacked. The friends, who were extras on the set, had just filmed a scene when a mob gathered and began making sectarian remarks.

“When we were packing up to go, that’s when they started getting closer,” Mr Turley said. “They just surrounded us.”

He said some of his friends attempted to flee in a car but the mob smashed the windows with their fists, forcing him and two other friends to run.

“I ran into a house,” he said. “I said: ‘Please help me. They’re going to kill me’.”

The man went out to the door as if he was going to help me. But as he tried to escape through the house he heard one of the gang shouting: ‘There’s a Taig [Catholic] in there.’

“They all just came in and started beating me,” he said. “They stamped on my head and everywhere. The woman [the householder] said: ‘Get him out of my garden’ and they dragged me out into the alley.

“They just started beating me again. They put me into a bin and were pushing me somewhere. I didn’t know where I was going.

“I think they realised they couldn’t beat me when I was in the bin. They kicked or pushed it over and dragged me out of it.”

Mr Turley said at one stage he was knocked out, but “I started to come around and I heard them saying: ‘That’s enough. I think he’s dead’.”

The teenager stumbled away as soon as the gang fled and was picked up by a passing motorist who drove him to the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Mr Turley said he thought he was going to be killed. “When I got put in the bin I thought that was it,” he said.

A friend of Mr Turley’s who was also working as an extra said he had been standing beside the car when the loyalists attacked it.

“They were kicking it and punching it. They were trying to pull people out of the car windows,” he said. “They were punching me saying ‘There’s another Taig there’ and five or six of them ran at me so I ran and I climbed over a wall.

“I was running about the Village (in south Belfast). I didn’t know my way out of the place, “I didn’t know where I was, I was actually fearing for my life to tell you the truth. It was a scary ordeal.”

The PSNI did not publicly release details of the attack for three days, and only confirmed the incident when Mr Turley’s family came forward.

Mr Turley’s mother Donna told journalists that when she received a phone call about the attack she thought that her son had been killed.

“It’s like deja vu,” she said. “My husband was murdered. That’s what it was like. I can’t remember getting from here to the hospital.

“I was just thinking please, please, just let him hang on for me. I really did think he was dead on me. I’m just glad he’s alive.”

It is not the first time the PSNI has been criticised for not releasing information about sectarian attacks.

In March, the PSNI apologised for not making public details of a loyalist riot at Belfast’s Odyssey entertainment complex. The PSNI were further criticised in July when it emerged that they only released information about a sectarian attack on a Catholic football team. Four players from the north Belfast Crumlin Star team were injured in the attack at the hands of a loyalist mob.

The mayor of Belfast, Sinn Fein councillor Niall O Donnghaile said the victims of the latest attack had been left “deeply traumatised”. He claimed that the sectarian gang was “a minority”.

“We will continue to play our part with everyone in our community to ensure those people are faced down,” he said.

SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell condemned the “vicious and brutal” attack, while Alliance councillor Maire Hendron described the attack as “horrific”.

Susan Picken, a producer with Manifesto Films which is making ‘The Good Man’, said the firm would continue to liaise with local loyalists to try to prevent further attacks against its Catholic employees.

With Many Thanks to the Irish Republican News.

‘Boycott the charge’ campaign launched

A campaign by members of the Dublin parliament to boycott the 100 euro household charge is “a very dangerous road for our democracy”, according to the coalition government.

Homeowners are likely to end up paying between up to 600 euro a year as the charge is ramped up over coming years.

A group of eleven TDs drawn from the United Left Alliance and Independents, has launched the campaign to convince the public to ignore the new austerity tax, set to be levied on almost every household in the state from next year.

So far, two Sinn Fein TDs have said they will also not pay the charge.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan described the campaign as “irresponsible and inappropriate”.

“I think those TDs should pull back from this irresponsible activity where they are advocating, as lawmakers, that Irish people break the law. It is a very dangerous road for our democracy,” he said.

Householders face a fine of up to 2,500 euro if they fail to register before the March 31 deadline. The fine will still be applied even if the homeowner has passed away, Minister Hogan declared, insisting the 2,500 euro fee will still be applied the estate of the deceased.

The nine who launched the boycott were: Clare Daly and Joe Higgins (Socialist Party); Richard Boyd Barrett and Joan Collins (People Before Profit); and Independents Seamus Healy, Thomas Pringle, Mick Wallace, Luke Flanagan and John Halligan.

The deputies, together with a number of councillors, vowed that they would rather go to jail than pay a tax described as “repressive”.

The government characterised the opposition, particularly the threat to boycott the charge, as a “cynical and emotive public relations stunt”.

Sinn Fein has stated its opposition to the charge but has not publicly advocated non-payment. Two Sinn Fein TDs — Aengus O Snodaigh and Dessie Ellis — have said they have taken personal decisions not to pay the charge.

Ms Daly said: “Against the background of three years of massive austerity, this is the line in the sand. This is the first opportunity for people to say that enough is enough.”

Socialist Party/United Left Alliance TD Joe Higgins warned of a mass boycott, saying there is a huge campaign calling on Ireland’s 1.6 million householders to refuse to pay the charge.

“This is their opportunity to have their own referendum on these erroneous austerity policies,” Mr Higgins told the government.

“Do you know that the attitude of the people out there is if you bring one to court on March 31, they will all go?

“Our people will be taking a leaf, actually, from the history pages of your own county, when the people stood up and resisted the unfair, unjust extortion of landlords,” he said.

“You will be the new Captain Boycott of austerity in this country.”

Separately, landlords have insisted tenants must pay the charge, as well as a new tax on second and multiple property ownership.

The Irish Property Owners’ Association, which represents landlords’ interests, made the demand. Ir appeared to have the support of Minister Hogan when he said it was up to landlords to decide whether they wished to collect the money from their tenants.

“The owner of the property is responsible within the legislation to ensure the money is paid… What arrangements they enter into with tenants is their business,” he said.

SCANDALS

The government’s efforts to squeeze more cash out of the poorest members of society came as new corruption and delinquency scandals continued to emerge from the state’s so-called elites.

Among the latest controversies to hit the heaadlines in the last week are the “maladministration” by the Department of Education of a EU fund for retraining workers, which has seen over 50 million euro lost to the department — even as 428 teaching posts have been axed by the Department from schools servicing poor and disadvantaged areas.

There is also a renewed scandal over a trade union slush fund operated during the economic boom by the powerful SIPTU trade union. At least five million euro, and possibly a larger sum, has now been found to have been channelled through the bogus ‘Siptu National Health and Local Authority Levy fund’ from various government sources. The money was used to corruptly subsidise junkets and other fraudulent ‘expenses’ for well-connected union and government officials.

And the so-called ‘smart economy’ was used as a cover for a major tax avoidance scheme based on bogus patent licenses, it has emerged. It is estimated the giant tax loophole was used by major firms and wealthy individuals to avoid paying tax on traditional income, to the tune of at least a billion euro.

But despite being mired in controversy, the government easily passed the new household charge through the Dublin parliament on Wednesday night, thanks to the full support of the Labour Party.

CAUTION URGED

Sinn Fein Social Protection spokesperson Aengus O Snodaigh TD told the Dail this week said he will not be paying the Household Charge “as a personal family decision in the full knowledge that he may face fines and the tax of 2,500 euro”.

He said the “scabbiest” waiver scheme ever had seen only limited exclusions for residents of ghost [abandoned] housing developments and those on mortgage interest supplement. But he did not want to advise people to take on the state in this matter.

“While it would be easy for me to jump on the “don’t pay” campaign bandwagon I am urging caution, that people should understand or be made aware of the possible full consequence of taking such a stance,” he said.

He hoped he didn’t want to see a situation which many people are facing as a result of supporting the “don’t pay the bin charges” campaign.

“They were encouraged not to pay and are now facing in some cases nearly 2,000 euro in charges and the campaign has all but disappeared,” he said.

He was standing against the Household Charge “with all others of like mind” and would organise with those who will take a similar stance.

“This tax is unfair and as our pre-budget alternative has shown, not required and so should not be introduced,” he said.

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