Saoradh (web | Fb | tw) have added a pro-Palestine mural with the slogan “Resistance is not terrorism” to the Falls Road at the old Linden Street (replacing TMN’s homage to Vaughan Bodē).
See also: RNU Stands With Palestine.
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This mural has been added to the “D company” corner at Northumberland and Divis streets (see Our Struggle Continues), with traditional words (“saoırse/freedom”, “beır bua/seize victory”) and imagery of the four provinces and a lark in barbed wire.
In the background can be seen the old Divis flats. The flats were built to replace the tightly-packed streets of the lower Falls. After the first three blocks were completed in 1969, there was a plan to have a mixture of flats all the way up to Dunville Park (“Phase 2” in this 30-minute BBC video on the flats, which also includes the story of its eventual demise.
In the (blacked out) spot of the Orlando nightclub shooting mural.
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“Dedicated to the memory of INLA volunteer Matt McLarnon, Nora McCabe and Peter Doherty who were murdered in this area by British state forces during the 1981 H-Block hunger strike. A Mhuıre banríon na nGael guí ar a son”. The area in question is Clonard/Falls. Doherty and McCabe were hit by plastic bullets; McLarnon was shot by a sniper on Divis tower. Erected by a Sınn Féın group (Lower Falls/Clonard Committee) rather than INLA. Linden Street, Belfast.
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The Republican Network For Unity (RNU) affirm their solidarity with Palestine over the recent deaths during the March Of Return (see also His Land, His Legs, His Life) with a new mural showing an Israeli hand smothering a Palestinian face. Here is the RNU’s statement on the recent deaths in Gaza. “RNU in west Belfast” and “End internment” are from the ‘Free Tony Taylor’ mural that this board covers over.
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Larne man and member of the Continuity IRA or Irish Republican National Congress (IRNC – see Join The IRNC and Maid Of Erin; also IRPC, who now have a Fb page, as does the Free Niall Lehd campaign) member Niall Lehd was initially arrested on explosives charges in 2014 (BBC-NI) and given early release in 2016 (An Phoblacht). He is associated with Ciaran Maxwell, who says that he became a republican bomb-maker out of fear (RTÉ | Express). He was returned to jail in March (Irish News).
Below is a wide shot from 2018-02 showing the advertising hoarding that appears to be disused and (another shot of) the ‘RIP Jamie’ graffiti below.
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The Great March Of Return was a six-week protest by Palestinians in Gaza. Most protestors at the border fence with Israel were non-violent but there are reports of some with rocks, burning tyres, Molotov cocktails on a kite, and an AK-47 (WP). It ended (officially – incidents have continued) on May 15th, Nakba Day, the “day of the catastrophe”, meaning the displacement of Palestinians in the 1948 war. The protest demanded that refugees be allowed to return home – there are 1.1 million living in Gaza. During the protest more than 100 Palestinians died, many by live fire by Israeli forces, and more than 13,000 were injured. According to the mural above, “It’s time the Irish Government show some humanity and act for the Palestinian people. 1. Officially recognise the state of Palestine. 2. Impose economic sanctions on Israel. 3. End all diplomatic ties with the apartheid state. Boycott Israel, an apartheid state.”
The wheelchair protester shown on the right is double amputee Saber Al-Ashkar. He has not, however, been reported dead, as the text below the image (and reports on Twitter and elsewhere) suggests: “They took his land, his legs, and finally his life.” The death might refer to another such protestor Fadi Abu Salah, who was killed in May (Alaraby) (or Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, who was shot in December 2017 – Independent obituary). The UN Commissioner for Human Rights called the killing “incomprehensible” (Guardian); an internal IDF investigation found that Abu Thuraya was not shot by Israeli snipers (Times Of Israel).
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Hillview is the – currently vacant – 11-acre area on the Crumlin Road between Woodvale and Ardoyne, formerly the site of a Dunnes store. In August of 2017 the City Council voted to allow the site to be redeveloped as a shopping centre (Belfast Live | BelTel). The possibility of using the site for housing has been pressed by PPR (see Lidl On Quality and various Build Homes Now posts); the tarp shown above is sponsored by Saoradh, who took up the cause in September.
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The International Wall on Divis Street draws coach-loads of tourists every day (“tens of thousands” according to Sinn Féin’s Fra McCann). A new IRSP board affixed to the top of the ‘magic lantern’ mural (see Spreading The Word) warns visitors to take precautions. “Community notice: thieves are operating in this area. Please make sure your valuables are secure and out of sight. Respect our community and visitors. Cease this activity!” Here are articles about the Divis Hoods Liberation Army (DHLA) from 2017 and 2016.
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The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was reformed in 2001 as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), as recommended by the Patten Commission. This Saoradh (web | Fb | tw) tarp in Hugo Street questions the extent to which the force has changed. The traditional RUC officer in bullet-proof vest is on the left; the modern officer on the right is more heavily protected. In the centre, the PSNI emblem overlays the old RUC one, with Stormont in the background.
For the board celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, see versions in Andersonstown| Ardoyne | St James.
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This poster, which is all over the lower Falls, is in response to recent Gerry Adams interviews, one with Peter Taylor, in which he told dissidents to “Go away”, and aninterview with Andrew Marr where Adams said that the IRA is gone: “We are not going anywhere, Gerry. 32 [county Ireland] or nothing … the IRA.”
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Extramural Activity 