City/Town

We Stand With Palestine

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As the shelling of Gaza continues and the death-toll mounts, there are protests on a daily basis. In Belfast, there were rallies supporting Palestine this week in Poleglass (Xitter), Lenadoon (Xitter), Ardoyne (reddit | Xitter) — home of this new mural showing F-16 jets over Gaza — and more to come in the city centre (Friday) and Dunville Park (Saturday). For more upcoming rallies, see Belfast IPSC (Fb) | Derry IPSC (Fb) | IPSC (Fb).

The final image is from the rally at Queen’s University on November 4th, of a protester with a hand-painted “Saoırse Don Phalaıstín” board.

Murals and graffiti so far:
In Belfast: Stop The Slaughter In Gaza | Stop Israeli Murder In Gaza | Stop Israeli Terror | Israel Get Out Of Palestine | Free Palestine
In Derry: Free Palestine | Ireland Supports Palestinian Resistance | Victory To Gaza
And also Ulster & Israel.

Balholm Drive, Ardoyne, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2023 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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A Place Called Old Ardoyne

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Going by the streets and places mentioned in these plaques – see the list below – “old Ardoyne” would not have included Balholm Drive, where this gable wall is; Brompton Park and the streets above it – built c. 1935 are renamed c. 1939 (after a 1937 rent strike) – were known as Glenard. (See also Belfast Forum one | two.)

According to an entry on Belfast Forum, Skinny Lizzy’s real name was Elizabeth Gilmore. According to another, Greasy Nellie’s chip shop and the Crumlin Star was opposite one another.

These memories from emigrants to Austalia mention Davidson’s shop and Andy’s shop, Skinny Lizzy, The League, Toby’s Hall, and Beltex Mill.

left side: Crumlin Star, Peter Toal’s hard wear shop, Beltax [Beltex] mill, Cassidy’s shop, Holy Cross Boys school

top row: Chatham Street Skinny Lizzy shop, Elmfield Street Reid’s shop, Brookfield Street McCafferty shop, Flax Street Greasy Nelly’s, Granny Byer’s shop

second: Oakfield Street, Kerrera Street Skillen’s shop, Hocker Street Rock’s shop, Butler Street Tom’s shop, Top Of The Pad, Dan The Man’s Rockiet[?]

third: The Millie Dam, Crumlin Street Billy O’Hara’s, Herbert Street Davidson’s shop, Fairfield Street Black’s shop, Paddy’s barber shop, McNab’s Chippy, Raynardo’s chippy

fourth: The GAA Tin Hut, The Gap Andy’s shop, Hole In The Knickers, The Unity Club

fifth: Rose Bank mill, Flax Street mill, Toby’s Hall, The Hibbs [Hibs] Club [in Herbert St], Bloody Mary’s Arch

sixth: Brookfield mill, The League AWMC [Ardoyne Working Men’s Club (Fb)], Roy Kane’s shop

Balholm Drive, Ardoyne, north Belfast

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Angry Birds

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Dundela “ultras” have been told they are not welcome at the team’s future games after “unsavoury chanting” at the NI Championship match against local rivals H&W Welders – “the most cataclysmic derby match in world football” (BelTel).

Thirteen more soccer-related stickers are below, including [Glasgow] Rangers Action Force.

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X14544 Joe Gormley Cliftonville He hates the Linfield
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Stop The Slaughter In Gaza

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“Stop the slaughter – ceasefire now”. A pro-Palestinian board was added to the “International Wall”, Divis Street, and launched on November 4th. The previous Saber Al-Ashkar mural — His Land, His Legs, His Life — has been mostly painted over, with part of the mural remaining at the top and the image of a man carrying a wounded child perhaps deliberately left to the right of the board.

The image represented would appear to be an from social media (probably AI-generated, as no one can say who is depicted or where) of children sitting among their ruined house, surrounded by broken toys, including SpongeBob and Pudsey Bear, with the boy using an incorrect Palestinian flag to cover the girl.

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Ulster & Israel

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“Ulster & Israel – brothers in arms”. The Uzi was developed in Israel in the late 1940s and became a general-issue weapon in 1956 (WP). It was used (and copied) by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland (Balaclava Street has a comprehensive history of loyalist weaponry) and appeared in a both UDA and UVF murals and graffiti: The Elite | Ulster Says No! To The Politicians | Sandy Row 2nd Batt | UFF Uzi.

Here is an article from TheJ.ca interviewing PUL politicians on their support for Israel and an Irish News article revisiting the issue in light of the current conflict. And loyalists have previously (since 2002? Irish Times | OU) flown the flag of Israel — see Gregg & Carson (2011) | View From The North Bank (2012) | The Young Conquerors (2013) | The United Nations (2014) | The Glorious Memory (2014) | Ulster Supports The People Of Israel (2018) | EU Hands Off Ulster (2021). But this is the first time that a symbol of violence has been used as the symbol of solidarity. (In republican muraling, see PLO-IRA (1982) | Women In Armed Struggle (1983).)

Tate’s Avenue, in the Village area of south #Belfast.

The placard in the middle, between Brothers In Arms and “Sir E. Carson K.C., M.P.” was discussed in Stand Firm. The Winning Hand was seen previously in The Red Hand And The Winning Hand.

See also: Godfather Of The Israeli Army.

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Stop Israeli Terror

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A march/rally supporting Palestine takes place in Belfast today, starting at noon and going from Writer’s Square to City Hall. The graffiti above is on the Falls Road at the Royal: “Stop the genocide. Stop “Israeli” terror. ‘Fom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!; BDS [Boycott, divestment, sanctions (web)] IPSC [Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (web | Fb)]”

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Forever 16

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Caitlin McLaughlin died suddenly on June 24th. She collapsed from a heart attack as she walked to the bus station in Belfast to return home from a music festival at which she had taken ecstasy (BBC). A requiem mass was held in Galliagh on the 28th (BelTel) and the mural shown here was launched in Brookdale Park on October 27th, which would have been Caitlin’s 17 birthday (Belfast Live).

“I saw you all, my family & friends/the day God took me home,/I smiled, I cried, I felt so proud/You didn’t let me go alone//To all my friends, please listen now/To what I have to say,/Please don’t leave your loved ones/the way I did that day//I’m with the angels in heaven now/and with our we[e] Kyle too,/But often I look down and sigh/For I’d rather be there with you//Forget me not/XO”

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Copyright © 2023 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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