Colonialism - Crimes of Britain

Sinn Féin and the poppy

Provisional Sinn Féin’s president candidate Liadh Ní Riada has stated she would wear a poppy if elected.

Every year there is a debate on the poppy. What does it represent and who does it remember. It’s made clear by the Royal British Legion, who are responsible for the appeal, that the poppy remembers every single British soldier that has died since WW1. It is often a common misconception that it is used just to remember Brits who died in the first world war. The poppy honours the very Brits who carried out war crimes in 1916, the Black & Tans, those who shot 14 innocent men dead on Bloody Sunday and the many more in the decades that followed in the six counties. We all know this including those within the ranks of Provisional Sinn Féin. But it comes as no surprise that the presidential candidate for the sinners would be willing to pin on a poppy.

Ever since a revisionist grouping got control of Sinn Féin in 1986, a slippery slope has followed. They fractured the movement with the acceptance of Leinster House. Just over a decade later they would enter Stormont. In 2005 they surrendered arms to the enemy. Up until 1986 the object of the Provisionals was the defence of the 32 county Irish Republic. Today they recognise English crown law in Ireland as legitimate and uphold British rule in the north of Ireland. Over the years they have called on the Irish people to become British informers and collaborators. They have called for a unilateral ceasefire, accepted partition, accepted the unionist veto and endorsed the colonial RUC. These are hard truths to swallow for shinners who have time after time excused each and every one of these actions. And already some are defending the wearing of the poppy.

For a colonised people to pay tribute to their colonisers is nothing short of treachery. It is a spit in the face of IRA volunteers who gave their lives fighting the British Army. The reality is Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada would be paying tribute to men who pulled the trigger on Irish Republicans.

The poppy is a symbol of British imperialism.

Two imperialist peas from the same pod

Both the British Conservative and Labour parties are as red, white and blue on the issue of foreign policy. They are in essence two peas from the same imperialist pod. Much has been made of Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed “anti-war” position. But let’s explore the recent Labour manifesto.

Labour has pledged to spend at least 2% of the GDP on defence which in their own words is to “guarantee that our Armed Forces have the necessary capabilities“. The manifesto goes on to boast that Britain’s defence industry is “world leading” and that Labour would continue to support “development and innovation in this sector“. All to protect the jobs of those in Britain’s booming bomb making industry. Much of which goes to Saudi Arabia, where a campaign of genocide is being carried out against the Yemeni people.

Trident, Britain’s nuclear ‘deterrent’, is only mentioned once in the manifesto. Labour supports the “renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent”. Quite the u-turn from Corbyn. Labour go on to state they want to “lead multilateral efforts… to create a nuclear-free world“. More doublespeak from the Labour camp who desire to create a nuclear-free world by upgrading Britain’s nuclear weapons system.

Under the inappropriately titled ‘diplomacy’ section of their manifesto it talks of Britain’s relationship with the US being “based on shared values“. It goes on to claim Trump ignores them. Britain is a racist state founded on the mass looting and genocide of more than half the planet. The faux outrage at Trump is sickening and very typical case of the Labour party acting as it if possesses some kind of moral superiority when it comes to the issue of racism. It was the Labour party that subjected women immigrating to Britain from Asia to “virginity tests” in the 1970s. It a Labour chancellor during their much celebrated “Spirit of 45” years that referred to Britain’s colonies as “diseased nigger communities”. And it was the Labour Party of the Attlee years that pushed the burden of post WW2 costs on to those living in the ‘colonies’ and sucked the wealth back to Britain to build a welfare state off the back of Black and Brown people in the global south.

They go on to talk of the millions who have been killed in recent years and how terrible they think it is. But it was the Labour party that killed and displaced millions in Iraq. And cue the predictable “Corbyn voted against it” screeches. Yes he did, but who the hell are the Brits to vote on whether it is okay to bomb somewhere or not. You have ask what sort of individual would remain in a party that has carried out such crimes.

The Chagos Islands also get a mention. That the Labour government would support their right to return to their homeland. It was the Labour party of Harold Wilson that gave the authorisation for the islanders to be expelled in the first place.

Britain is arguably historically the biggest abuser of human rights on the planet yet the Labour party think they can lecture China, Egypt, Gulf states (most of which are British neo-colonies!), Myanmar, Russia, the Philippines and Turkey on their affairs.

And perhaps the most sickening of all is the framing of Britain’s war on Yemen as “Saudi-led”. Diminishing Britain’s role to one of merely selling arms. When we know the British are advising on air strikes which happen to be deliberately hitting the agricultural industry in Yemen. This has led to widespread famine with Yemenis starving to death.

The Conservatives and Labour parties are both imperialist entities and will continue to operate in this very way because Britain’s economy is reliant on imperialism. Corbyn is a social imperialist, he puts a friendly face on it. But it makes no difference for those living outside of the Eurocentric Corbyn project whether it’s Tory or Labour bombs dropping on them. And you’d be a fool to think British imperialism would end with Corbyn.

The dynamiting of Palestine

British Army blowing up homes of Palestinians in Nablus, late 1930s.

Throughout the Arab uprising of 1936-39 the British used collective punishment against the Palestinian people. The destruction of property was central to British military repression in Palestine, such tactics are today used by the colonial settler state that the British paved the way for.

The largest act of destruction came on the 16th June 1936 in the city of Jaffa. 240 buildings were blown up and 6,000 Palestinians made homeless, most left with nothing but the clothes on their back. The British air-dropped leaflets on the morning on the 16th and people were told to vacate the same day.

One quarter of the town of Jenin was blown up by the British on the 28th August 1938. The village of Mi’ar on the 26th October 1938 was also dynamited, reduced to mere mangled masonry. Mi’ar no longer exists thanks to the British who laid the foundations for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.

British troops even went to the length of forcing Palestinians to demolish their own homes. In the village of Bani Na’im locals were made to carry 200lbs of explosives to the building for its demolition. They then had to watch the explosion as a deterrent measure.

Britain was the author, architect & butcher in Palestine. The colonial settler state of ‘Israel’ has learned from what it was spawned from, British foreign policy.