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Re: RAT ANTI-NATO-ART
Point of Clarification Aileen,
What England "did" To Ireland? So you "got over it"? I don't know
what kind of research you conducted (did it include the last 35
years?), but they're STILL doing it. Hard. "Temporary Peace Keeping
Forces" of the British Army were installed 30 years ago. There's more
of them now than ever before. And no sign of them leaving anytime
soon.
Amnesty International has documented numerous human rights abuses by
their lackeys, The Royal Ulster Constabulary, the 95% Loyalist "police"
force in Northern Ireland.
Ever been to County Armagh? Especially south Armagh? All of N.I. is
under constant surveillance, especially Nationalist areas, but nothing
like the Orwellian situation in south Armagh. Every single inch of it
is under 24/7 surveillance. Always. ITN news (outta England, no less)
touched on this fact last night in an interesting little segment on
what the natives of south Armagh think of the current situation & IRA
decommissioning of armaments.
Lord only knows (and John Sylvain) that I could go on about this ad
nauseum, & I'll spare this list that onslaught. It's just that I find
it extremely disturbing when seemingly well-educated, articulate people
talk about the current situation in Ireland as if it were a thing of
the past. Sure it's got its roots in the past (it's been going on for
the worst part of an eon now), but it is very much an everyday part of
reality for occupied Northeastern Ireland. And I ain't talking about
bombings, etc. I'm talking about the severe lack of basic rights for
47% of the population, namely Catholics.
We can continue this off-list if you like.
Sharon MacMenamin
--- InTheLime@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 99-04-14 17:37:25 EDT, you write:
>
> << Anyone who thinks there is no way any of this
> could escalate to the point
> where bombs are actually dropped on American soil
> should think
> again....because it might....and if it doesn't...if
> it doesn't and you
> support destruction of the infrastructure of
> another country in part BECAUSE
> you're sure there will be no repercussions for you
> and yours than you are
> not really thinking like a responsible citizen of
> the planet >>
>
> There really weren't that many raining on Brad
> comparative to past postings -
> say on such world threatening topics as playwright
> royalties..but other than
> that, I do want so say once again...that when I'm
> feeling tired and don't
> have time to write something well thought out, I
> scan quickly to see if John
> has written...and he says what I'm thinking (for the
> most part). Thank you
> for that John. On the other hand, my instant
> response to Brad's letter was
> just like Lee..."now what good is that going to do
> except make Brad feel
> better?"
>
> So many sides of the story and there is NO BLACK AND
> WHITE! That is why we
> must define our art with blood and sweat, why we
> must dig in and seek the
> questions as well as the answers. I have no answer.
> I have lots of
> questions. I speak tonight in front of 60 other
> women of business (not art,
> but business) and I think "why theatre?" What can
> we do?
>
> Should we be part of this bombing? No. Not me.
> Personally. Nuh uh, no way
> sir. Forget it...
>
> O.K. Then. Should we do something? Oh yes.
> Definitely. Let's get in
> there....
>
> HOW? (lengthen that vowel with a sliding
> inflection). Uhm. Well we
> could...uhm.
>
> EXACTLY! That of course is the question NATO and
> our own government is
> asking - has been asking for far too long, actually
> - a delay which has
> allowed this situation to escalate to the present
> place.
>
> Wait, I've got it! Should we just have sent in a
> hitman to take out the
> "evil man?" Can we do it now? Hey, no! That's
> murder!
>
> Welll, do we want Hitler and mass anhialation of a
> culture to happen right
> where the whole world can see it? Do we want it to
> happen at all? NO. Of
> course not Aileen...don't be silly.
>
> So what then? What? A flippant "oh, well then we
> should be bombing
> them...how silly..." is EXACTLY the reason we are
> bombing them. Ho hm,
> nothing to do.(?) Is that the last resort?
>
> I debate over coffee. I yell at the radio. I
> scream in the back yard and
> scare the birds. I am weary with the onslaught of
> televised violence
> soundbites. I am weary with knowing that my letters
> do nothing to help. I
> am weary with knowing that my art could maybe might
> help for a second, a day,
> a week... if I was willing to GO THERE and stand and
> recite and perform till
> someone shoots me too...and I would come back in
> another life, or I would go
> to heaven where I could watch it all...or I would
> just meld atoms with
> worms... AND THAT WOULD OUTRAGE THE WORLD!!! But
> more than seeing children
> and fleeing refuges bombed by the "good guys?"
> BULLSHIT it would. No way.
>
> War is never a good thing, right? Well tell that to
> the Jews who were
> eventually released from Nazi concentration camps.
> Tell that to the slaves
> who were released from bondage in the USA (yes, I
> know that war wasn't really
> about slavery...but that was a bi-product of the
> civil war). Tell that to
> your ancestors who believed they saved the world for
> you by donning armor and
> marching into battle. Tell that to the Irish.
>
> Should we be walking in with waves of peaceful
> protest? Yes. Probably.
> Should we arm ourselves with love? Yes. Probably.
> Will I be giving up my
> stressful but comparatively blissful life on these
> shores to go over and do
> that and lay down in front of Albanians to save them
> - shouting "How about
> some Irish American Ethnic cleansing you war
> mongers!" Nope. Not this week.
> Maybe never. Maybe should I ever feel like
> committing suicide, so that I'll
> at least go out in a good way. But not today.
>
> Is Russia a bigger threat to me and my peaceful
> existence. YES! Oh
> SHIT...they still HAVE THE BOMB. As do way too many
> other people (some folks
> are still testing...). And writing letters doesn't
> change that. And it only
> takes one crazy day for one crazy little band of
> "resistence" for all of us
> to end up as floating atoms.
>
> So HOW do we tell that to people who are face to
> face with their bigotry and
> hatred (800 years old)...and actually have them
> listen? Shower them with
> leaflets or mimes? Guess what...NATO thought of
> that - and figured noone
> would pay attention to the mimes cause we never do.
> And they DID shower them
> with leaflets. They keep doing it. And then...they
> followed it up with
> bombs. I don't have a better answer. I sure wish I
> did. But unless the
> Albanians want to give up and get out and leave the
> country to the Serbs
> without a backward glance...there's going to be some
> fighting going on.
>
> And if someone drops a bomb on my house and I live,
> I'll be picking up a
> rifle pretty darn fast myself - and believe me, I'll
> be a bitch on wheels
> using Shakespeare speeches to rally my troupes.
> More than that, I'll turn to
> my friends in other places and say, "get your butts
> in here and help me."
> Shit, I only just forgave England for what they did
> to Ireland (I was trained
> to look at it that way...us/them) a few years ago
> when I took the time to
> research and analyze and GET OVER IT. I doubt I'd
> take it too well if
> someone killed my cat.
>
> So what can we do? Have children, and teach them
> that you can negotiate
> peacefully. Support funding for the arts so that WE
> can educate more than
> our own children. Tell President Clinton to get in
> and out FAST and hit hard
> if that is what we are actually doing. And most
> importantly, as individuals,
> FOCUS on what we CAN do rather than losing ourselves
> in the agony of all that
> we wish we could do. ANd, oh yes...take frequent
> naps...so we aren't quite
> so weary all the time.
>
> --Aileen
>
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