Hello again,
I will be reading at a night on 13 December to raise money for MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians). They’re a great charity doing vital work on the ground in Gaza right now. It would mean a lot to me if you bought a ticket and came to see us. We have Palestinian writers speaking too, and I think it’ll be a really nice evening.
Here is the link to buy tickets.
Palestine has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. That’s because I’m a Catholic from Belfast, and a lot of my family is from Derry. There was a civil rights struggle in the North of Ireland because Catholics were denied access to jobs, housing and the right to vote. This is usually known as the Troubles. This was brought to an official end around five years after I was born with the Good Friday Agreement.
Part of civil rights organising during the Troubles was drawing links between other civil rights struggles across the world, and working to build solidarity across oppressed groups. The idea was that, by highlighting commonalities between disparate oppressed groups, they would be encouraged to work together, to protest on behalf of each other and so on.
There was also an idea that some people may be more sympathetic to one oppressed group than another. Drawing links between disparate groups was a way to show people in general that this particular group for which they feel limited sympathy is not so different from the group which they, for arbitrary reasons, care deeply about.
I think there is enormous wisdom in this method of organising and thinking. I actually think it is such a powerful concept that there has been a huge initiative in mainstream politics to discredit this idea.
When we decide to care about each other, and about doing the right thing for each other, despite all the incentives not to, not for personal gain, not to look good, or to advance professionally, or for money, then I believe we have great power.
I may write more about this some time, but that’s all for now.
Hope to see you on the 13th December.
Till next time xxxxx