i want to talk about union and English people’s attitude towards it..

So especially on TikTok, anything to do with Scottish independence and Scottish patriotism i always seem to see English people shitting on it, being incredibly disrespectful, thinking they are “in charge” of us and I just think it’s not talked about enough.

see what i mean.. In every single video there are comments just PROVING the point that they think they’re so righteous and high and mighty. THE CELTS WERE LITERALLY HERE BEFORE THEM! It is supposed to be an “equal” union so why on earth so do why they literally think they “own us” or thst we would be screwed on our own when in reality we would be absolutely fine. Proves that they never really change, it has been taught and drilled into them since through generations and they wonder why we don’t particularly like them. They claim to know their history until it comes to people finding out what they did to Scotland, Ireland and wales and what they still do. They’re so entitled and ignorant and living in England has really showed me more of that.

Dissolve the union, it is not fair at all and it never has been.

Just to add, when i say English people I don’t mean all obviously i just mean a lot of them and honestly it’s easier to say all of them :)

my favourite thing is when americans say they love “british” accents, you just know they mean posh RP rich area of london accents and not glaswegian, sheffield, pembrokeshire accents, despite posh londoners having arguably the least attractive british accents

Meanwhile, over on Twitter...

...I have concerns.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity NetworkSamidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

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1981 Solidarity Message from Palestinian Prisoners to Irish Hunger Strikers

8 May 2012

GazaTVNews today reposted an important historical statement of support from Palestinian prisoners to the Irish Hunger Strikers in 1981:

During the Irish Hunger Strike in 1981 that was led by Bobby Sands, a statement was smuggled out of Nafha Prison from the Palestinian prisoners and sent to the families of the 10 men who died.

That support has never been forgotten, and while Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi were on Hunger Strike, several families of the 10 men who died, and former Hunger Strikers sent several messages of support to them and their families. They have also sent messages to the current Palestinian prisoners who are on Hunger Strike, and to their families.

Below is a copy of the message smuggled out of Nafha prison in 1981:

“TO THE FAMILIES OF THE MARTYRS OPPRESSED BY THE BRITISH RULING CLASS. TO THE FAMILIES OF BOBBY SANDS AND HIS MARTYRED COMRADES.

WE, REVOLUTIONARIES OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE WHO ARE UNDER THE TERRORIST RULE OF ZIONISM, WRITE YOU THIS LETTER FROM THE DESERT PRISON OF NAFHA.

WE EXTEND OUR SALUTES AND SOLIDARITY WITH YOU IN THE CONFRONTATION AGAINST THE OPPRESSIVE TERRORIST RULE ENFORCED UPON THE IRISH PEOPLE BY THE BRITISH RULING ELITE.

WE SALUTE THE HEROIC STRUGGLE OF BOBBY SANDS AND HIS COMRADES, FOR THEY HAVE SACRIFICED THE MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION OF ANY HUMAN BEING. THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM.

FROM HERE IN NAFHA PRISON, WHERE SAVAGE SNAKES AND DESERT SANDS PENETRATE OUR CELLS, FROM HERE UNDER THE YOKE OF ZIONIST OCCUPATION, WE STAND ALONGSIDE YOU. FROM BEHIND OUR CELL BARS, WE SUPPORT YOU, YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR REVOLUTIONARIES WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO CONFRONT DEATH.

SINCE THE ZIONIST OCCUPATION, OUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER THE WORST CONDITIONS. OUR MILITANTS WHO HAVE CHOSEN THE ROAD OF LIBERTY AND CHOSEN TO DEFEND OUR LAND, PEOPLE AND DIGNITY, HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FOR MANY YEARS.

IN THE PRISONS, WE ARE CONFRONTING ZIONIST OPPRESSION AND THEIR SYSTEMATIC APPLICATION OF TORTURE. SUNLIGHT DOES NOT ENTER OUR CELL. BASIC NECESSITIES ARE NOT PROVIDED. YET WE CONFRONT THE ZIONIST HANGMEN, THE ENEMIES OF LIFE.

MANY OF OUR MILITANT COMRADES HAVE BEEN MARTYRED UNDER TORTURE BY THE FASCISTS ALLOWING THEM TO BLEED TO DEATH. OTHERS HAVE BEEN MARTYRED BECAUSE ISRAELI PRISON ADMINISTRATORS DO NOT PROVIDE NEEDED MEDICAL CARE.

THE NOBLE AND JUST HUNGER STRIKE IS NOT IN VAIN. IN OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE OCCUPATION OF OUR HOMELAND, FOR FREEDOM FROM THE NEW NAZIS, IT STANDS AS A CLEAR SYMBOL OF THE HISTORICAL CHALLENGE AGAINST THE TERRORISTS.

OUR PEOPLE IN PALESTINE AND IN THE ZIONIST PRISONS ARE STRUGGLING AS YOUR PEOPLE ARE STRUGGLING AGAINST THE BRITISH MONOPOLIES AND WE WILL BOTH CONTINUE UNTIL VICTORY.

ON BEHALF OF THE PRISONERS OF NAFHA, WE SUPPORT YOUR STRUGGLE AND CAUSE OF FREEDOM AGAINST ENGLISH DOMINATION, AGAINST ZIONISM AND AGAINST FASCISM IN THE WORLD.”

The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 8, Issue-IV, August 2017 ISSN: 0976-8165

www.the-criterion.com

"Seamus Heaney’s Ireland and Mahmoud Darwish’s Palestine: A Concomitant Assertion of National Identity"

Ishfaq Yatoo

Doctoral Fellow

Department of English

Aligarh Muslim University

Aligarh, India (202002)

Article History: Submitted-03/08/2017, Revised-04/09/2017, Accepted-05/09/2017, Published-10/09/2017.

Okay, now that we had our fun with memes and proclamations of independence, can we finally acknowledge that Elizabeth was not what's wrong with British empire? That she was not the one forcing the monarchy on others and it's actually a big number of people who benefit from it? That English people like to feel like they are more and better than everyone else (a trait very common in citizens of all colonial powers) and that is why they never got rid of her, cos they like their knights and their earls and their dukes and whatnots? That it was the English, who didn't care about Andrew and his scandals that made it silent, not the Queen intervention. They didn't have a problem to threaten monarchy about Diana. They could have done the same about Andrew. But they didn't. Let's stop pretending Elizabeth was the one that stopped the independence of Scotland when it was people like JK Rowling persuading people to vote 'No' cos she has a castle in Scotland but is English. The reason for voting against the independence at that time for many Scottish people was that they wanted to remain in EU and two years later, English voted the country out of the EU (just look at the map of where 'Leave' won), and screwed all those in Scotland that needed EU help to keep their agriculture livelihood going for example. This is just the past decade. So can we please stop pretending that an old woman who couldn't even vote was responsible for all the evil English put out there? Can we finally acknowledge that the establishment was neither founded nor enforced by her but that there is a huge number of people who like it that way and benefit from it and that is why it is still in place? Can we stop shitting on a dead old woman and finally hold the English accountable?

Monarchists fighting for their lives on Instagram

#OTD in 1994 – Death of Irish patriot, Michael Flannery, in New York City.

The fight of the Irish against the British was the great theme of Mr. Flannery’s life. As a boy of 14 in Ireland, he joined the Irish Volunteers and learned to fire a machine gun behind a monastery cloister. In 1970, after 43 years in the United States, he was one of the founders of the Irish Northern Aid Committee, which says it is a charitable organisation for the children of British political…

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If u don’t want to agree to it being a colony then at least accept that they, along with the Irish and the Welsh were oppressed. If you don’t want to accept that then I don’t really know what to tell you becuase to me what im about to list right now seems an obvious example of oppression; trying to wipe out and I quote “ethnically cleanse” cultures, beating children for speaking Gaelic or Welsh right up until the late 20th century, after the battle of Culloden tartan and Gaelic was banned and if caught speaking Gaelic or wearing tartan, you were exiled, flogged or even executed, if you happened to have any ties with the Jacobites then you were literally rounded up and executed. Another example and a much more modern one is an account from my great grandma saying when she was at school you could be beat for speaking Gaelic and when my Nan was younger she was literally taught to “speak English” or more “proper”, meaning getting rid of the accent. Another example are the deep rooted stereotypes that still exist today about Scottish people, that all of them are “violent”, “angry”, “loud”, “drunk”, “savages”, “barbarians”, “not feminine” I could go on.. but these type of things are so common and they’ve been taught for so long that it is impossible not to think of the Scot’s like that and yes, some people may not be thinking of it as “not that deep” when in reality it is because they just aren’t funny and they make people look at us as if were some sort of joke, like our accents are always the butt of the joke or something. My mum has experienced things as simple as a dirty look whenever she gets a bit loud of says something in a strong accent and even on one occasion, an officer in the army telling my dad to “control his wife” after she refused to sing God save the King, as if she were “out of control” or something. All of these things are some sort of oppression and even though they aren’t as severe as they were before, they are still a thing.

I could go on about this topic for hours talking about other things like when talking about being Scottish, they always end up being the butt of the joke whether that be making fun of the accent, making fun of the bagpipes, the traditional dress. I live in England and I have a lot of friends who tend to do these things subconsciously and I wouldn’t hold it against them but I think it does need to be spoken about more and spoken about where it comes from and why it could be quite offensive. I’m so sorry to ramble on but a quick thing to point out is the fact that just becuase I want to spread the history of oppression of the Scot’s, it does not mean that I deny their involvement in the British colonialism of other countries and the involvement in the slave trade, i am aware it happened and are embarrassed and ashamed of the Scottish people who did that and I do consider them to be a “traitor” to Scotland but I just want to make my country’s history known and how they did suffer without people comparing or disregarding as something not that important or not as bad, yes some Scot’s did awful things and were involved willingly with British colonialism etc but it should not shrug off the suffering they went through as a country themselves.

I am sorry I couldn’t speak more for the Welsh or Irish but I didn’t want to then speak about their history and get it wrong. 🫶

SOON

I was promised Replicants in 2024. Where is Roy Batty and the Island of Misfit Toys?

Will we see a united Ireland this year?

Are you ready to hear the truth? We are no longer a United Kingdom.

We have shown our deep respect for a dignified old lady but the era ended with her last breath. Ostentatious mourning pageantry and tax payers money lavished on the Queen’s funeral are excessive and frankly offensive to many when 1 in 3 children in the UK are now in poverty and people working full time are using food banks. Many of our most vulnerable face the dilemma of heating or eating this winter. It serves only to highlight the social divide and injustice in our society.

Elizabeth’s son and the other royals do not command our loyalty. The displays of grandeur and superiority are designed to remind us how “Great” we are, but deep down we know that the royal family are no better than us, and we are no better than the rest of the world. The fairytale has ended, we’re left with an adulterous unprincipled man-child heir, an equally adulterous consort, a paedophile Prince, scandals, lies, corruption, bullying, elitism and racism. No different to the past perhaps, but in this modern age, no facade of pretence to hide it from the public.

Our final tie is severed. The last vestiges of the benevolent, virtuous face of Britannia gone. Wales is stirring and unfurling it’s wings, Northern Ireland is reaching an historic tipping point, waking up from the spell cast by Westminster. Divide, nurture hate, court and fund the opposition, infiltrate and incite until the hate is so strong that only time and a greater hate and desperation can heal the division. Which it will. United Ireland is on the near horizon. England itself is hearing growing cries for independence from the union and a confederation of regions rather than London rule. Because people KNOW that’s where the poison oozes from.

You, yourself, are seeing the mask slip now. Scotland saw the ugly face beneath long ago. Not because we think we’re cleverer or more astute, but because there was little attempt to hide it from us. We were downtrodden, conquered and insignificant. Our shame. In 2014 we were fooled, showered with love and empty promises. Confident, superior voices warning us “for our own good” of what we would lose. That made us doubt what we never really wanted to believe was true in the first place. We took the blue pill. Then we lost all of it and more anyway, and we deserved to. We weren’t strong enough to stand alone. So easily convinced, subconsciously wanting to believe that they’d admitted their mistakes, would change *this time* and it would never happen again. We were reeled in and discarded once more, in the confidence that we’d been suppressed for at least another decade or so.

The death of the Queen is so poignant for everyone in the UK, because we are not just grieving the lady herself, but the imaginary kingdom we allowed ourselves to believe she represented. The apprehension being felt is the recognition that the wind of change is blowing our way, for good or ill. Many may not want to face the upheaval of setting out into the unknown, but much like the death throes of a dysfunctional marriage, it’s inevitable and denial won’t stop the wheels coming off. We’ve dragged it out to the almost the bitter end “just in case” something miraculously changes. It’s so much easier just to stick with what we know. Until it isn’t. But maybe a new PM? Red on the outside, blue on the inside. A plant. The illusion of choice, of free will and democracy. We become accustomed to the horrors, they seem normal. It’s all become too big, too much, too insurmountable.

We don’t know how to begin to fix it, there are too many holes to plug, too many fires to fight. We hope someone else will sort it all out for us. But only with collective will can it be fixed. And it can’t really BE fixed per se. A reshuffle in parliament won’t cut it. Plastering over the cracks isn’t going to solve the root cause. We have to start again. It’s do or die. We revolt or we allow everything to be taken from us and from future generations. The government is broken. They are now just clinging to power long enough to plunder the UK and funnel as much of our wealth and resources offshore as they can.

Underfunding the NHS to the point where private health is the only option left to us, then selling it off at a loss to be bought by U.S. conglomerates to sell back to us, for profit, a pale imitation of what we once took for granted. Lawless, unregulated Charter Cities with boundaries encompassing our national parks, rich with gas and lithium deposits - once the ink is dry, they’re all but untouchable by future governments. A perpetual equity release scheme taken out on our property, undercutting industry in the rest of the UK and to which the only defence is to make MORE charter cities. Until the whole country is made up of charter cities with just wasteland in between. Fracking licenses to smash and grab the gas no matter the devastation done to our environment. Drilling licenses to squeeze every last drop of oil and gas from our waters, regardless of the climate damage. Raw sewage in our rivers and on our beaches. Money disappeared into pockets for contracts that were never going to be fulfilled. Uncapping banker bonuses to speed the drain of wealth from our economy, hand outs to foreign owned energy companies with UK government shareholders, clawing back workers rights, paid holidays, sick leave, state pensions. Removing any avenues of legal recourse for their actions and even the right to protest about them. Abolishing the unions, taking away the power of our collective voice. Cutting us off from higher international authorities who could intervene. Monopoly and suppression of the media to cover up what’s happening and frenzied attempts to distract us with scandals, gossip, refugees, faraway wars, the “enemy” who’s against us this week, to avoid scrutiny of the government here at home.

The liquidators have moved in, stripping anything of value before walking away from the shell left behind, safe in the knowledge that their fortunes are safe in numbered accounts in tax havens. Reducing the working class, the free thinkers and the rebels to poverty and apathy as we’re too anxious about how our families will manage to get by to actually DO anything. Finances too precarious to take any risks. Surreptitiously destroying us from the inside whilst we’re in manufactured mass hysteria about Harry and Meghan holding hands, immigrants stealing our jobs, energy prices and the cost of Lurpak.

Meanwhile, the UK is dying. Scotland is not England’s enemy. Wales is not England’s enemy, Ireland is not England’s enemy, Europe is not England’s enemy. The British state is everyone’s enemy. It has no power of it’s own, only the power we, the separate nations of the UK, give to it. So let’s just stop. Let’s break the chains. Let’s reimagine our collective future and the legacy we leave to future generations.

How? Give Scotland your support for our independence, wherever you live in the UK. We’ll forge the way and take the initial risk. Because it’s no risk at all, no matter what they’d have you believe. Speak out for Scottish independence, sign online petitions to the government demanding a referendum for Scotland. Share tweets on independence. England, join an English Independence Party/movement. Others will do the same, it’s the next logical step as the rest of the UK contemplates it’s future without Scotland. After a quick scroll through their profile, ‪@EnglishUDI look pretty sane. (*Do your own research disclaimer). I also had a look at the Breakthrough Party manifesto @BThroughParty which alongside many excellent socialist policies, also supports the rights of the separate nations to choose independence. Have a look for yourself and join if their policies align with your political values. Remember that even if you don’t agree with the manifesto 100%, joining a party in its stage of growth gives you a louder voice to help shape the party. Lobby your MPs. Build momentum and Scotland will back you to the hilt. England can finally demand a government of it’s own and decentralise power from London by having a confederation of regions. Make it much harder for fascism to get a foothold again by spreading the power out so it’s no longer hoarded in Westminster. Rebuild your regional industries, breathe life back into the neglected towns and cities. Fund your local schools, hospital, councils. Regions run by the people who live there, for the people who live there. Let’s all give Wales the support to follow when they’re ready. By this time, Ireland will be united, get behind them too. Between us, this is achievable. Working together as partners, not pawns in an imperialist game. Take the red pill.

i woke up to 237 notifications today to see that my post/rant about prince charles took off so that's cool I guess

challenge: americans and british people who don’t know anything about northern irish politics, stfu

i just. yes, the recent election results were historic. but there’s probably going to be another election in like three months because the dup refuse to form government until the ni protocol is destroyed. the good friday agreement requires that the largest unionist and nationalist parties form a joint government, which after the election results are the dup and sinn fein respectively. as that isn’t happening anytime soon, it’ll either go to another election or stormont will be defunct again for another few years (preferably the election, yknow, but god knows the dup loves digging their feet in).

that’s not even getting into the ridiculousness of “supporting independence is what all leftists should do” - no, you idiot, supporting the democratic will of the people of northern ireland should be what leftists do. unionists still have a larger chunk of the vote in northern ireland than nationalists (41% to 39%). stormont doesn’t run on first past the post, it uses a form of proportional representation to reduce the risk of sectarian violence killing people. the good friday agreement regulates all of this, and sets out the guidelines for how a united ireland should come to pass, and while it is now more plausible, it’s still really fucking complicated! if you don’t understand this much, you’re wildly unqualified to even comment on northern irish politics.

hell, i don’t know enough to properly comment on northern irish politics (which is why i’m not going into detail on the parties), i know enough to know when people should stfu about an incredibly delicate situation which has, can, and will kill people if it’s dealt with wrongly. it took over twenty years for the good friday agreement to come to fruition and over 3,000 people were killed in the meantime.

and if you don’t know what any, or all, of these terms meant, you sure as hell don’t know enough to comment on northern ireland.

that’s not even getting into the logistical issues of a united ireland - first off, the republic of ireland would need to vote in a referendum to agree to this, and all the polls over the last few years have shown that the people of the republic don’t want a united ireland. most ppl agree it’d be nice to see one day in the far future, but whenever they’re asked about in the immediate future? they nope the fuck out - understandably, given my next few points.

second off, the republic and northern ireland have wildly different healthcare systems (especially regarding dentistry) to the extent that people in the republic frequently go over the border to ni for dental care because it’s ridiculously cheaper. dentists in ni will lose subsidies if they just join the republic as-is, and that’s not getting into the logistical nightmare that is joining together the rest of the healthcare services.

third off, 30% of ni is part of the civil service, which raises massive fucking questions about what happens in a united ireland situation.

fourth off, northern ireland receives a fuckton of funding from the uk, and there’s a lot of questions about whether the republic could even afford to give northern ireland that level of support (which ties into 1).

this is all just off the top of my head, and again - i sure as fuck don’t know enough to actually comment on northern irish politics. if any of this is news to you, then you definitely don’t.