There is no overstating the barbarity of apartheid Israel’s genocide in Gaza or the desperate need for a ceasefire.
Over 26,000 Palestinians have been killed, 10,000 of them children. Millions displaced under a hail of Israeli bombs are denied food, water and healthcare.
If you attended one funeral a day for every child killed in Palestine, it would take over 27 years.
None of this could happen without the funding and military support of Joe Biden and his US administration. That’s why People Before Profit – alongside the mass, pro-Palestine movement – is calling on Irish politicians to boycott the White House on St Patrick’s Day.
Though failing to order a ceasefire, the ICJ’s ruling that South Africa’s claims of genocide are plausible adds new moral imperative to such a boycott. But this is not just about morality – it is also a strategic necessity.
Ruling-class diplomacy is no answer to this genocide. Israel and its US allies have consistently ignored calls for a ceasefire. In line with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we must force their hand by isolating them on the international stage.
Not only has the Irish government failed to challenge Israel, it now intends to visit the White House and legitimise Joe Biden, who writes cheques for the missiles that rain down death on Gaza.
People Before Profit expects as much from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and will continue to challenge them in the period ahead. We also note that SDLP has been suspiciously quiet on the matter. We are, however, dismayed by Sinn Féin’s decision to visit the White House in violation of the BDS movement for which it claims to stand. Sinn Féin’s notion that it can exert a restraining influence on the US government in the quiet, political corridors of Washington is fanciful at best. Its refusal to utter a word of criticism about Joe Biden thus far makes a mockery of this suggestion.
Truthfully, the visit will be another stage-managed charade where Irish politicians ingratiate themselves and sip champagne with the bloody representatives of US imperialism.
Many rank and file Sinn Féin members are deeply uncomfortable with its position. As with Sinn Féin’s u-turn on the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, activists who support Palestine must challenge the decision of their party leadership to attend these celebrations on St Patrick’s Day.
Despite Sinn Féin’s assertions, Palestinians are aghast at the decision to attend the White House, with important sections of Palestinian society set to publish their opposition in the coming days. Certainly, those in the popular solidarity movement have made their feelings known at demonstrations, in political discussions, and everywhere the movement has taken root.
Links to US capitalism are important for the nationalist vision of a united Ireland, where “investment opportunities” are plenty and corporate profits are largely untouched. Our socialist struggle, with a radical redistribution of wealth at its heart, is much different from that which requires Irish politicians to rehabilitate Joe Biden in the eyes of Irish-America in an election year.
Instead of prostrating themselves in front of the US establishment this St Patrick’s Day, we urge all Irish politicians to send a clear message of solidarity with Palestine by breaking all diplomatic connections with the backers of apartheid.
We reiterate our utmost solidarity with the inspiring people of Palestine and our support for the BDS movement. We call for the immediate expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, as well as the cessation of all British, US and EU military aid to Israel.
* Gerry Carroll is a People Before Profit MLA for West Belfast