Belfast west

BLM Scum

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The height of anti-BLM sentiment came last year (2020) when the statue of Winston Churchill in London’s Parliament Square was vandalised and boarded up for protection, lest it suffer the same fate as the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol (iNews | NYTimes) met at the hands of protestors marching in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA (for CNR support for see An Injustice To One Is An Injustice To All | You Cannot Put A Knee Upon The Neck Of An Idea | Here To Stay | Black Lives Matter). The graffiti in the Woodvale (below) is from 2021, however. The graffiti above is in the Highfield area.

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Beechmount Remembers

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A new board has been mounted in AMCOMRI Street for the fortieth anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, with photographs from the area in the background, including the Revolution mural at the bottom of Beechmount Avenue in 1996-1997.

“Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something.”

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La Solidaridad Invariable

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Comandante Che Guevara gazes down on the people of west Belfast and the giant flag erected on Sliabh Dubh. The mural replaces the Battle Of Long Kesh on the International Wall.

“Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez … President of the Republic Of Cuba 11.6.2021. ‘Irish friends and Cubans living in Ireland have placed a Cuban flag on a mountain in the city of Belfast. The flag is 46 by 23 metres, the largest in the world. With the flag [is] the giant slogan and it’s [sic] demand to #UnblockCuba. [This is a] Moving and beautiful gesture from the “solidarious” children of an admirable people, [a] dignified and patriotic gesture of Cubans who are far away. Thank you for your unshakable solidarity …”

(Originally in Spanish: “Amigos irlandeses y cubanos residentes, han colocado en una colina visible desde la ciudad de Belfast, una bandera de Cuba, de 46 por 23 metros, la más grande en el mundo. La acompaña un letrero también gigante, demandando #UnblockCuba. Bello y conmovedor gesto de los solidarios hijos de un pueblo admirable, digno y de patriotas que están lejos. Gracias por la solidaridad invariable.” #LetCubaLive

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The Desire For Freedom

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The Falls Commemoration Committee (Fb) organises an annual commemoration for IRA D company volunteers from Divis and the lower Falls (as well as special events for the fiftieth anniversary of the Falls Curfew in 2020). The fourteen local volunteers are portrayed in a group above St Peter’s. They include the five volunteers who died in 1972 and were depicted in a mural previously at this spot.

“‘They won’t break me because the desire for [freedom and the] freedom of the Irish people is in my heart. The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show. It is then that we will see the rising of the moon’ – Bobby Sands [March 17th, 1981]” Originally in Irish: “Ní bhrısfıdh sıad mé mar tá an fonn saoırse, agus saoırse mhuıntır na hÉıreann, ı mo chroí. Tıocfaıdh lá éıgın nuaır a bheıdh an fonn saoırse seo le taıspeáınt ag daoıne go léır na hÉıreann. Ansın tchífıdh [chífidh] muıd éırí na gealaí.”

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Hands Across The Water

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Another tribute to Scottish friends: “Millsy our brother, always be in our hearts. Springburn Derry (Fb)”. Please get in touch if you have any information about “Millsy”, from Springburn in Glasgow, Scotland and supporter of Rangers (the north stand at Ibrox is named after Sandy Jardine, star player for Rangers (and Scotland) in the 1970s (WP)).

Shankill Road at Mountjoy Street

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Aontacht Lenár Lınn

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“Am le haontacht na hÉıreann” [Time for Irish unity]. Between stints in prison in 1976, Bobby Sands carried a green harp flag – symbol of Ireland and in particular of the United Irishmen – in an August march to protest the withdrawal of political status (Gérard Harlay/Bobby Sands Trust). He is shown here marching under the #TimeForUnity message on Slıabh Dubh in the campaign for a border poll and Irish unity “lenár lınn”/”in our time” (Fb | tw).

See also: Reıfreann Anois | Time For Irish Unity

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Brick

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Vermont-based ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would no longer sell its products in the Occupied Palestinian Territory which it says is subject to an “internationally recognised illegal occupation”. In response, Israel threatened parent company Unilever with “extreme consequences” (Reuters). The Saber Al-Ashkar mural has been modified so that his slingshot contains a carton of B&J’s Cookie Dough.

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Half Human

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Work by emic (web) at the Spectrum Centre (Fb) on the Shankill Road, between Loyalist Or Racist and Not Today, Satan. Not Today by Friz.

The top (human) half of this image is perhaps a reproduction of this Jason Rosewell photograph.

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55

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Local club Linfield are premier league champions for the 55th time, matching Glasgow Rangers in Scotland for the most league championships in the world. The celebratory tarp is at the Rangers Club on the Shankill Road.

(See previously: Blues Brothers | We Are The People | Respect Heritage Culture | Welcome To The Ulster Rangers | F*ck Your Ten In A Row | Terminus Rangers)

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The Invincibles

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Orange Lodges 839 (Duke Of Manchester’s Invincibles) and 739 (West Belfast) parading on the Twelfth past the UVF C Company mural on the Shankill.

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