The CPI and Palestine – getting on the bandwagon?
The statement HERE published on the CPI website on 22 May following Ireland’s announcement that it would recognise the State of Palestine could, on the surface and as an initial position, be described as a run-of-the mill but not exactly an enlightening declaration.
We fully expected that enlightenment would follow but…. to date not a word. This CPI statement does not even mention the Irish government statement never mind provide any commentary, analysis or dissenting view.
The statement HERE from the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, announcing the recognition deserved a closer look than the CPI was prepared to give it. First and foremost: every single word, every comma, every dot on every i was agreed to, or dictated by, the US State Department. So, when you find yourself not challenging a single word the US State Department puts out it really is time to take a critical look at your own position.
As we publish this critique (8 June) it is now more than two weeks since the CPI position was published and there is still no critical analysis of the Irish government/US State Department statement. The CPI statement is republished in the current edition of Socialist Voice without any further commentary. Neither the recognition of the state of Palestine nor the Irish government/US State Department position gets even a mention in Socialist Voice
Either the CPI is happy to ride on the Palestine bandwagon or it simply failed to find any fault or bias or misrepresentation in the declared position of the Irish government/US State Department.
As reported by POLITICO: “Dublin was determined to take this step without damaging its typically strong relations with U.S. politicians — particularly Biden’s White House.
“Consequently, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs diplomats ensured that their U.S. counterparts in the State Department were speedily briefed on every conversation the Irish had with like-minded European governments — Belgium, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and above all Spain — as they pursued a joint plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, the official said.
“This included face-to-face discussions with senior National Security Council officials at the White House in March as part of St. Patrick’s Day-related diplomacy; multiple phone calls between Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin, who led the Irish initiative, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken; and final calls to Washington following the Irish Cabinet’s formal signoff on its decision Tuesday night.
“We couldn’t have been clearer in spelling out our intentions weeks, months in advance to make sure there were no surprises or needless suspicions raised in Washington,” said the Irish official, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Apparently, the US side was quite chuffed with the outcome: “They tried to make enough of a group so that it would make a splash, but in our view, it’s more like a ripple.”
A closer look at the Irish statement announcing its intentions will show quite clearly that the Irish position soon emerged as an Irish government/US State Department position or, in short, a US State Department position.
Let’s start with the “hostages”:
“It is long past time for a ceasefire, for the unconditional release of hostages and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid.”
and,
“Let me be clear that Ireland condemns the barbaric massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7th last. Civilians attacked and murdered. Hostages taken in the most brutal and terrifying of circumstances, including a young Israeli-Irish child.
We call again for all hostages to be immediately returned to the arms of their loved ones.”
Harris is referring here to more than one hundred Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Nowhere in his statement does he even refer to the 5,200 Palestinians hostages, including at least 170 children held prior to October 7 2023, nor to the 7,350 more hostages taken by Israel since that date.
Move on to “children”:
“Children are innocent. The children of Israel. The children of Palestine. They deserve peace.”
Look at the order. Yet, the killings are in a different order – 10,651 Palestinians were slaughtered by Israel in the 23 years up to 7 October 2023, including 2,270 children and 656 women (Israel’s B’Tselem figures). That’s 460 a year. In that period Israel was exterminating Palestinians at the rate of 8:1 and children at the rate of 16:1.
The figures since 7 October are so horrific that they cannot even be accurately counted – on the Palestinian side. That is before we even start to think about starvation and denial of medical and other essential requirements, the destruction of medical facilities, injuries and the unrelenting terror.
Now we get to the “two state solution”:
“It is a statement of unequivocal support for a two-State solution – the only credible path to peace and security for Israel, for Palestine and for their peoples.” (note the order again)
and,
“A two-state solution is the only way out of the generational cycles of violence, retaliation and resentment, where so many wrongs can never make a right.”
It is not for us nor for the CPI to determine what is best for the Palestinian people but when the chief enablers of the barbarism against the Palestinian people tell you that there is only one solution – a two state solution – it is legitimate to constructively analyse that position. However, when the Irish government – in unison with the chief enablers of the barbarism – insists that this is the only solution, it becomes an imperative that a communist party would provide at least some context and analysis.
The fact is that large numbers of Palestinians have always, and still, oppose the Oslo Accords and the concept of a two state solution. Indeed, a large part of the reason for the successful election of Hamas in Gaza was its opposition to those concepts. Yet, the Irish government and the US government insist this is the ONLY way forward.
However, Ulster says NO! Sorry, Israel says NO! NEVER! to a two state solution with Netanyahu boasting that “everyone knows that I am the one who for decades blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence.”
Despite the clearly stated and unequivocal refusal of Israel to even consider a two state solution, the Irish and US governments insist that it is the ONLY option. So, Ireland has now recognised the state of Palestine but retains the right to tell them what to do in step with the US government telling them what to do.
Unchallenged
Yet, time and again, the-two-state-no-other-option option is put forward in the Irish government’s statements and the CPI does not pay a blind bit of notice. It is usually the case that failure to challenge some point amounts to tacit support for that position. Even we find it hard to believe that this is actually the case with the CPI, so we have to allow that it has been just another failure to get anything right.
There is so much more that could have been said on any of these issues but unfortunately these words have not come from the CPI. An Irish government statement essentially went unchallenged despite the fact that statement was compiled with/by the very instigators and enablers of the barbarism that is taking place.
The CPI is right to say that “However, while welcoming the decision, we believe that it will remain an empty gesture unless the government takes active measures to back up their words with deeds.”
The problem is that the Irish government has presented itself as this brave cheerleader for Palestinian statehood – though nothing could be further from the truth – and has not had that presentation challenged. The CPI is again correct to say that the Irish government had its hand forced by the well organised and sustained campaign against the Israeli/US/German/French and most of the European Unions’ barbarism in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, for our brave leaders in the Irish government, it then became a matter of how to manage this particular problem. Enter the US State Department. From then on, Ireland stayed firmly within the boundaries allowed – as it always does. And that is what it came down to: what would Ireland be allowed to say or do. The statement provided by the Irish government, if read carefully, clearly shows what those boundaries are.
It did not stop there: on 28 May, the day the Palestinian flag flew outside Leinster House, Harris stated “And Europe could be doing a hell of a lot more, Europe needs to do a lot more in relation to this.” Europe but not the United States of America! Know your boundaries and stick to them – or else.
How are people who have no access to alternative news and opinion supposed to know any of this? Well, it might be expected that the CPI would at least attempt to provide some real news on the matter.
Sadly, people have to look elsewhere because reading the CPI position on its website or in Socialist Voice is no more informative than reading the Irish Independent.
When will Ireland recognise Ireland as a state?
The real irony is that in fighting SO hard for Palestinian statehood and sovereignty, the Irish government – as usual – entirely sacrificed its own statehood and sovereignty as it crawled on its belly to the US State Department begging for some understanding for the little pickle it found itself in. The fact is that the Irish government would not dare step one inch outside the well-established boundaries that have been set for it by the US authorities.
Yet, the Irish government is successfully strutting its stuff – unchallenged – about how brave it is, what a wonderful defender of the oppressed it is, what a promoter of peace it is as it crawls back from its ‘consultations’ with the worst offender of all those concepts the world has ever known.
And still, the CPI has neither commented on the crawling nor on the content of the statement and has also completely ignored of the origin of the content.
Now that Palestine is sorted, perhaps we could look to seeking statehood and sovereignty for Ireland? Even the farcical position of the Irish government leading a charge on Palestinian statehood while simultaneously begging forgiveness and understanding from the despots who rule the US (and who think they rule the world) escaped the gaze of the CPI. One thing is certain, the Irish government will not lead that charge. Unfortunately, it looks like neither will the CPI.
Amid all this, perhaps it’s just that the CPI wanted to bask in the limelight just for once? Bob Dylan, a long time ago, had something to say on this:
“You never understood that it ain’t no good
You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you.”
An edited version of this article was published in Dissident Voice