In the window of a house on Beechmount Avenue/Ascaıll Ard Na bhFeá the Blessed Virgin Mary is joined by support for Gaza and Palestine and commemorations of the 1981 hunger strikers, particularly Mickey Devine, who died on August 20th.
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Hugh Smyth OBE was born in the Woodvale area and represented the upper Shankill as an Independent Unionist and then a Progressive Unionist in Belfast City Council for forty-one years, until the year before his death in May 2014, including a term as Lord mayor in 1994-1995 – he is pictured in the main image (above) in his mayoral robes.
The portrait on the right (shown solo below) was taken by Bobbie Hanvey and is kept in a Boston College archive.
As the quote (shown in the final image below) indicates, his politics were orientated towards the working class: “Historically, Unionist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were first class citizens… and without question people believed them. Historically, Republican/Nationalist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were second class citizens… and without question the people believed them. In reality, the truth of the matter was that we all, Protestant and Catholic, were third class citizens, and none of us realised it!”
The board was officially launched on June 19th.
Replaces 90 Years Of Resistance in Canmore Street, Shankill, west Belfast.
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X02044 X02045 X02046 canmore st 40 years’ service to the people of the shankill 1939-2014
A Claddagh ring connotes friendship (caırdeas – sadaaka), love, and loyalty, here between Ireland and Palestine. The band is composed of their two flags. The wide shot, below, shows the adjacent “Free Palestine” mural, also featuring the Palestinian flag.
Replaces a Che stencil and a Cliftonville-Celtic mural
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X02041 X02040 Path to peace free palestine
Here are two images of the “Viva Palestine” message on Slıabh Dubh/Black Mountain (Visual History), the first with Palestinian, Irish, and other flags in the foreground, the second shows the Springhill memorial flying a black flag in the foreground.
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“Oppression breeds resistance”, in the form of Leila Khaled and an IRA gunman, and a clenched fist in the colours of the Palestinian flag. This is a new pro-Gaza mural in McQuillan Street with Irish “Tıocfaıdh ár lá” [our day will come] and Arabic “يومنا قادم” [our day is coming] (and in the shields “Saoırse” and “حرية”[freedom]).
The artist is DD Walker (“Rebel Rebel”), who painted the “Against Established Law” Che Guevara mural last (2013) October which this replaces.
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Palestinian icon Leila Khaled, who took part in aeroplane hijackings in 1969 and 1970, is featured in this new mural pro-Gaza mural in Hugo Street. The central portrait is a replication of a famous photo by Eddie Adams (WP), taken after her first skyjacking; she then underwent plastic surgery to disguise her identity prior to the 1970 attempt (WP | see also minute 30 of the 2005 Swedish documentary on Khaled).
Khaled is also featured in the pro-Gaza mural in McQuillan Street: Oppression Breeds Resistance
This mural replaces the right-hand side of Think Independently.
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X02035 Hugo St palestine flag AK-47 saoirse freedom popular front liberation
Here are two images of modified Israeli flags, protesting the incursion into Gaza. The first, above is on the Divis tower and shows a tricolour flying next to an Israeli flag with swastikas. The second, below, is from Monday’s protest march outside Belfast City Hall and shows a young girl covering her eyes beneath an Israeli flag covered in red (bloody) hand-prints.
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As part of the protest against Israeli action in Gaza, some – such as the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement – are calling for boycotts of US companies, because of their investment in Israel or because of the US’s support for Israel. Above, an advertising hoarding for Coke has been modified with “Viva Palestine” and “#shareacoke” has become “#killercoke”. Below, “”Boycott Israeli goods” has been written across the bottom of a McDonald’s hoarding at the junction of the Cavehill and Antrim Roads. McDonald’s is #9 in this list in the Christian Science Monitor.
Previously: Boycott Assrealy Goods
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Joe McDonnell was a Provisional IRA volunteer (óglach) imprisoned in the Maze H-blocks. He was the fifth hunger-striker to die, on July 8th, 1981 after 61 days. The Wolfe Tones wrote a ballad in his memory (for their 1983 LP A Sense Of Freedom), which FAI chief John Delaney was recorded singing in a Dublin pub a few weeks ago (November, 2014) after a 4-1 win by the Republic over the US in a friendly. He at first denied it was him, then apologized, and has kept his job (Guardian).
As of this morning (December 10th, 2014), the song, re-released by the Wolfe Tones as a charity Christmas single in aid of the Simon Community, is the #7 single at itunes.ie.
The mural above was painted in July by Gerard “Mo Chara” Kelly, on the Suffolk Road, Andersonstown, west Belfast.
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Banner outside Donegal Celtic’s clubhouse on Suffolk Road, with the flags of Palestine and the Irish Republic.
For more on the Anti-Racism World Cup, see East Meets West.
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X02034 anti-racism world cup 2014 bígí lınn the green brigade and the wakes
