Israeli Propaganda in West Belfast.

international | arts and media | event notice Saturday August 06, 2005 17:50 by Aine Fox peacefulreturns at yahoo dot com

As the feile an phobail wraps up -Gearoid O'Cairbheallan invites Israeli propaganda to theCulturlaan

Dr. Shlomo Izre'el has been invited by Gearoid O'Cairbheallan of West Belfast's 'Culturlaan Centre' to talk under the theme.
"The revival of Israeli Hebrew - A lesson for Irish?"

Dr. Shlomo Izre'el has been invited by Gearoid O'Cairbheallan of West Belfast's 'Culturlaan Centre' to talk under the theme.
"The revival of Israeli Hebrew - A lesson for Irish?" ( Sunday 7th August 3pm.Culturlaan Falls Rd)

There has been contention over the announcement of the scheduled lecture. Some people within the community including myself find it very hypocritical that as Palestinian flags fly on the lamposts the whole length of the Falls Rd and many walls are adorned with boycott murals that someone would be invited to disclose their love for the manner in which Israel has colonised the whole region of historic Palestine.

Dr Sholmo Izre'el does not acknowledge the persecution of Palestinians in facilitating what he considers the 'revival of hebrew' he sees this project only as a positive thing. We should never forget the horrific events of Nakba and the continuation of oppression that the Israeli state has forced upon Palestinians - those in the occupied territories and within the boundaries of the current Israeli state.

My concern extends beyond this and I am questionning as to how this has any similarities with the revival of the Irish language. The Irish language was wiped out by colonisation - it is not the language of the coloniser as is the present day Hebrew.

As a result of this invitation the academic has been given a speaking tour of Ireland
sponsored by the statutory body Udaras na Gaetlachta. The 'revival' of hebrew in Israel is now being linked nationally to the Irish Language.

The discussion the Irish speaking community should be having is why did the Irish state accept the language of the coloniser and continue with its use after independance. There is no comparison between the revival of the irish language and that of the present hebrew.

Due to that fact that there is currently an Academic Boycott of Israel I feel that as a pro Palestinian activist I should be questionning the motives of this invitation into my community. Pobal apparently the sponsors of the event have placed a disclaimer in the Irish language paper La, they apparently had no idea of the events content.

The event is advertised in Feile booklets as -
"Annual Pádraig Ó Donnchú Lecture
An Chultúrlann .Sunday 7th August 3pm

Padaí Dubh was a prominent Irish language activist in Belfast and a founder of Glór na nGael. Tragically Padaí died aged just 27 but his warmth, charm and humour, especially as Fear an Tí at céilí’s all over the city, is still fondly remembered. This lecture is dedicated to his memory. Croí na Féile."

Nothing like desecrating the memory of an Irish Language Activist ?

Those of us that have opposed this event have been described by Gearoid O'Cairbheallan -
" as people firing imaginery AK47s in the air'. (Personally speaking I know I have never owned an imaginery AK47)
Gearoid goes onto state that
" Dr Shlom Izre'el, for example. In 1982 he was one of the very few Israeli academics who protested against the Israeli government's occupation of Lebanon. However,I'm sure that this will make little difference to those for whom the fact that he's an Israeli(and Jewish) is all they need to know in order to condemn him"

I am not opposing this event on the basis that I am a racist/anti semitic which is implied here. For years I have worked actively with groups and individuals from within Israel and both Israelis and those from the jewish community in Ireland who share my vision for the equality of life and rights for Palestinians in both the Israeli state and the Occupied territories and importantly not forgetting the 6 million refugees who have no right to return to their homeland.

I therefore believe that as an activist i should actively illustrate my opposition to this event and not allow any apologists to mask over the treatment of Palestinians historically and presently.

Who will Gearoid be inviting to speak next year ?
A professor from Spain to speak about the revival of Spanish in the Basque Region?
Or a speaker and linguist to discuss the comparisons in the revival of the English in Ireland?
A representative on the revival of Afrikaans in Aparthied South Africa?

Are they going to discuss implementing the Israeli tactics used to enable the establishment of the state and its use of hebrew as its choosen language? (maybe Gearoid will begin to do so with our imaginery AK47's?)

Should the example of the apparent revival of hebrew in Israel really be what we want for the Irish language?