What Would Rosa Parks Say?

By AM Saturday, December 14, 2013

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Guest writer David MacSweeney with a piece prompted by responses to the death of Nelson Mandela.

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In the years building up to the Stormont Deal/GFA a delegation of Unionists, Nationalists, Republicans and “Process” hangers on visited South Africa.

Martin McGuinness represented Sinn Fein on the trip. The purpose of the trip was to travel to various parts of South Africa to learn from the defeat of the apartheid philosophy of that country, which was to be the springboard for partial reconciliation and a certain form of peace in the African nation.

On his return I was at a Sinn Fein meeting in which McGuinness regaled the assembled with the hilarity the trip had exposed him to. Mr McGuinness explained how there was a main bus for the majority of the party and a minibus for the Sinn Fein people, because the Unionists would not travel on the same bus as the Shinners.

Mr McGuinness accepted this humiliation, happy to traipse around after the main bus relegated to second class citizenship. The irony of this taking place during the death phase of apartheid in South Africa seems to have escaped McGuinness, or maybe not.

It was just the Unionists being consistent, Stormont regime father figure Ian Paisley had referred to Nelson Mandela as a “black Sinn Feiner”. Again simple consistency, Paisley had gained his “Dr” title from the racist Bob Jones University in the state of South Carolina. It was only in 2000 the University lifted its ban on inter-racial dating. It was an honorary doctorate, birds of a feather and all that.

Nelson Mandela spoke often of his support for the Irish Republican Army. He also expressed the fact that the Irish peoples struggle against the British state was a source of deep inspiration to him. Indeed Mandela commentated on proposed PIRA decommissioning on a visit to Dublin in 2000. He stated ‘my position is that you don’t hand over your weapons until you get what you want.’ Simple consistency. Mandela was not going to betray his support of Irish resistance for political expediency.

If Mandela were to appear on the streets of Belfast tomorrow in the guise of a young student visiting, let’s say, there is a good chance he would end up sharing a cell next to Martin Corey if he expressed his political opinions on Britain’s occupation of part of Ireland.

Nelson Mandela was proud of the ANC/Umkhonto we Sizwe struggle to the end of his life, he praised his former comrades, indeed spoke with a great amount of love for them. That is what being honourable and consistent is about, isn’t it?

The military organisation Umkhonto We Sizwe was co founded by Mandela, at the trial which led to his years of imprisonment he pleaded guilty to serial charges. These charges included planning a bombing campaign on railway stations and shopping complexes. Indeed the ANC economic targeting of shopping centres lasted well into the 1980s. An example of this strategy was the targeting of the Pick and Pay Shopping centre in Durban in 1986.

Peter Robinson, Stormont regime kingpin today and protégé of the Rev Paisley was also active in 1986. At the launch in the Ulster Hall of Ulster Resistance that year, Robinson gave the keynote address. Ulster Resistance a paramilitary organisation was collaboration between the UDA, UVF and Unionist politicians.  Ulster Resistance went on to collude with agents of the apartheid state, mainly a South African diplomat called Daniel Storm in arms deals. The basis of the conspiracy was to deliver a Javelin generation surface to air missile to the apartheid regime. A successful delivery to Pretoria would have emboldened and possibly prolonged the Racist state

The Union Jack stood in the centre of the old apartheid regime flag in South Africa.  The recent protests over the same Union Jack in Belfast were sparked by a call to arms from leaflets distributed by Mr Robinson’s party machine. It is interesting that those protests were backboned by the UVF. Consistency across time I suppose.

To ask for an investigation of the First Ministers connections with the UVF and apartheid regime wouldn’t be unreasonable or inconsistent would it? The “bad character” legal card recently used against Seamus Kearney in the 6 counties could come into play for Robinson. Peter has after all led an attack on a police station in his past.  Robinson also wore a paramilitary uniform and red beret at the launch of Ulster Resistance. Given that Stephen Murney has spent over a year interned based mainly on the presence of a band uniform and pictures dating back to the 1960s in his home, it is proper that Robinson be held responsible for his actions. Or would that be anti-process consistency?

 Time is not an issue as the case of Seamus Kearney dated back to 1981.

I expect a statement any day now from Mairtin O Muilleoir calling on people not to lose sight of the fact that Nelson Mandela was a “micro” character with “no support” in Ireland or abroad. The statement may continue:

if you want to pay homage to the fallen come to next year’s Poppy Day in Belfast where you can show your respect to the MRF, the Parachute regiment and the Force Research Unit.

The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin put it well when he said in tribute to Mr Mandela ‘he was a father figure for the world.’ May he rest in Peace.