As the first flush of the shooting down of Irish workers in the streets of Derry passes, the event with all its cold-blooded brutality will not be so unfamiliar. Its precedents can be found in the 1905 Russian Revolution, Peterloo in Britain, the Jallianwalla Bagh massacres in India in 1919, and more recently with Sharpville and the even more recent killings of Blacks in Rhodesia. When imperialism decides to answer the grievances of the people in this way, recover. This is the simple meaning of the massacre on Derry's Bloody Sunday.
Since August 9th last year, British imperialism has been under a constant attack mounted by the oppressed Irish minority in the Six-Counties, but this attack has existed on two fronts: first the military struggle and fronts, separated by the logistics of guerrilla warfare, secondly the mass rents and rate strikes. These two were not only aimed at the same enemy, but were also linked politically through the mass popular demonstrations, such as have been held over the last week culminating in the 20,000 strong march in Derry. The target of all these actions had become the smashing of Stormont, i.e., the statelet of Northern Ireland. From a purely military point of view British imperialism could not allow such a state of affairs to continue. The deployment of troops to contain mass demonstrations became increasingly difficult because it created a second front and distracted from the task of combatting the guerrillas.
The demonstrations, unarmed and presenting an easy target, were the obvious choice to attempt and break the tightening noose of resistance. The Army had failed completely to inflict a decisive blow against the IRA. The only way to defeat a rates and rents strike is by arresting thousands of householders. This was clearly impossible. The mass demonstrations provided the clearest target. Here lay the real hope of stemming the tide. Here one decisive blow could teach a terrible lesson to those who continued the resistance.
Derry was the "tough nut" which had to be cracked.
The Army decided to smash this den of iniquity and up till now had met with little success. The IRA showed its complete contempt for British security forces by lobbing CS gas grenades into the barrack's mess every time there was a CS attack on working class streets and homes.
The British Army desperately needed yesterday's massacre in Derry to try, and demoralise and terrorise the largest Catholic population concentrated in a single town in the Six=Counties. Because Derry provided the most durable resistance, because here the demonstrations were the largest and the most defiant; and because here a salient lesson could be taught to the whole Catholic population of Northern What is this but a war? On one side is British imperialism and the Orange Order and on the other the majority of the Irish working class, spearheaded by the minority in the Six-counties and represented militarily by the IRA.
For us as socialists and revolutionaries it is necessary to take sides in this war. The side of the Irish people and the IRA against our own bourgeoisie. As we have stated many times before, Ireland IS the acid test!
" Catholics in free Derry where no policeman has patrolled for two years, and no soldier except by force since internment, expect what they call the big push' soon.
NEW STATESMAN/ 21 Jan. 1972 assemblies. tives of the combat organisations.
struggle.
oppressed Irish people. other. capitalism.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE I'R.A.
Appropriatly enough the news of the Derry Massacre was preceded on the BBC World Service by that traditional non-partisan song: " The Loyal and True Protestant Boys." British imperialism, the inventor of total war, today carries it out in Ireland. This can only be successfully answered by mobilising the entire Irish working class, North and South, as well as calling for the support to anti-imperialist forces throughout the world. The aim of this mobilisation must be to defeat British imperialism in Ireland and weaken it even further within Britain itself.
In the North what is needed is a revolutionary united front to organise the armed struggle, the rent and rate strikes and the mass movement of civil disobedience on the streets. This could best take the form of a revolutionary government based on democratic mass popular In the South such a united front would have as its main task to bring down the Green Tory regime of Union Jack Lynch and his Blueshirt and fake left supporters. A government committed to the struggle against British imperialism would have to take its place. Such a government would be forced to break with capitalism and would be based on the Republican and socialist organisations, small farmers committees and representaThis united front would initially be separate, though its perspectives would be similar: the creation of a revolutionary government to lead the whole of Ireland in In Britain itself our struggle has a special character. We and ideology is strongest. All the more essential for us fight within the heartland, where imperialist institutions to be firm in our determination to oppose British imperialism and provide support for the embattled and To be more concrete: we have to support the armed vanguard of the struggle for Irish national self=determination, the IRA, who are harassing British imperialism in Ireland. Both Irish and British workers here have to unite in an organised struggle to destroy British imperialism's control over Ireland.
The miners out on strike should understand that the Irish fighters are struggling against the same enemy and a victory for one would provide useful support for the Internationally the mobilisation of solidarity with the Irish cause has to be similarly based on the demand for self-determination of the Irish people and solidarity with all those struggling in Ireland against British troops. Embassies and representatives of British imperialism should be beseiged. International solidarity action comparablec to that mounted to aid the Vietnamese struggle must be taken to expose imperialist butchery.
The massacre of Derry will be avenged. Sunday 30th January was a day in which centuries of oppression were embodies. Á defeat for imperialism in Ireland and the emergence of a Workers' Republic would make the Irish people masters of their own destiny. It will also be a useful lesson for the British working class and will help them in overthrowing this burden which they have had to bear for many decades: the burden of British SELF-DETERMINATION FOR IRELAND WITHDRAW ALL BRITISH TROOPS IMMEDIATLY "We were approached by the Government and given assurances that the civil rights march will be ПТАЯТЕЛОМИЯ halted-by force if necessary.
We are prepared to give the government a final opportunity." was cancelled). (Rev. James McClelland, Paisleyite The Observer leader on why their counter rally 30.1.72.
Mole
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it does so after careful calculations, hoping that they will inflict a blow from which the adversary will not be able to