THE Irish far right has been developing in spits and spats across our island, threatening businesses, the right to work, the right to education and the right to freedom of worship – and ultimately the right to safety and the right to life – for a number of years.
Racist arson attacks on the Glen Road and the Shankill in recent weeks are clear and loud signals to all of us of the murderous intent of those who create hysterical, racist narratives.
In Scarva at the weekend those who support a genocidal, evil Israeli state, exposed themselves as not only anti-human rights but also anti-human decency. In their fervour to attack those who think that deliberately obliterating an entire nation from its babies to its elderly is a bad thing, they engaged in gross racism and misogyny, under the watchful cloak of paramilitary protection.
On Monday night a vicious attack was filmed in North Belfast. A man was taken to hospital with horrific injuries, and another man was arrested and faces the most serious of charges. Crime is a sad part of living in our growing city, and we regularly see similar attacks reported, especially against women by their life partners, although most such assaults are rarely filmed and shared in the way this week’s events were. Unfortunately, the race of the attacker was seen as relevant, even mentioned by the PSNI in their statement, and that started the dog whistles that tried to scare us all into ignoring the rule of law, and the rights of our neighbours.
In these moments we have a choice. We can allow the fascists, with their links to criminal gangs and paramilitary groups, to dictate on our streets, tell us when to close our offices, whose rights we can defend, which causes we will support and who can walk in safety. Or we can reject the dark politics of easy violence and pretence that attacking or murdering those of another religion or race will somehow make the sunshine brighter, give us new houses and make us safer.
In Scarva the ghost of the worst days of Paisley was incantated to life. A dehumanising of the Palestinian people was accompanied with a dehumanising of those who walk in sadness and solidarity with them.
On the Glen Road and on the Shankill, arsonists also invoke memories of those horrific days when families were systemically burned from their homes because of their religion. It is instructive that defence of hardworking, law-abiding citizens being targeted by that racism has been pretty muted.
It’s no coincidence that characters who have nothing to say to the families still living with physical and psychological scars of those days of conflict, and indeed wish to close down avenues of restoration, healing and justice for those gross violations, are the same characters who will today give cover to those engaged in racist rhetoric, intimidation and the inevitable violence that follows.
We are not at a crossroads – yet. Every day we see relationships between all of our communities, old and young, growing and enriching in all of their glorious colours. But we need to protect that. We need to stand up to the far right and far right rhetoric when it comes sideways, keep our collective roads and businesses open, and build a future of fairness and equality together.
The alternative is our past – and we refuse to go back.
