I believe there is some striking political similarity to British behaviour between what happened in Palestine and what is happening in the north of Ireland. Britain was granted a mandate to rule Palestine. Palestine was made up of two nationalist movements, Zionists and Arabs, both wanting the same thing, both wanting Palestine. Britain tried to impose a Jewish national home on the Arabs. But this would have implied the use of force and would not be viable over the long term. They had no desire to have a second Irish insurgency. Over time the situation in Palestine deteriorated. From the British perspective the whole mandate saga had proved a disaster. Their involvement in Palestine threatened to undermine its relations with the independent Arab states, and the decision to withdraw from Palestine was therefore taken in the hope that this would secure Britain’s position in the rest of the Middle East. If you could coin a paraphrase, ‘when Pilate saw he could prevail nothing, but rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude’. Britain divested itself of the mandate and withdrew from Palestine in an inexcusable abrupt and reckless fashion, leaving the protagonists to fight it out
Brexit is now Britain’s Palestine, and is posing a constitutional problem for them. At the heart of it all is the NI ‘backstop’ agreement. Britain has always plans to protect its self-interests. Boris Johnson is now Britain’s new PM and is viewed as not genuine, untrustworthy and a political rogue.
Boris became PM because he is seen by Conservatives as the best prospect of getting them re-elected and nothing to do with the advancement of Brexit. The backstop is a trade issue and Boris is citing as an ace card, GATT 24, a loophole against no-deal Brexit tariffs. This will fail. Any decision on a potential suspension of parliament to force Brexit through parliament will also fail. No, no, no will reverberate through the EU should any British attempt to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement. An embattled BJ has been outspoken in the past with his opposition to the GF Agreement. The chances are if he goes through with a no-deal Brexit, it is going to be the end of the NI union with the UK with serious consequences. In fact it may also have serious consequences for the Act of Union1801. The backstop will not be necessary should Britain do what they did in Palestine and divest itself from its union with NI, withdraw and enjoy their dream of prosperity, freedom and greatness.
JAMES G BARRY
Dublin 6
It wasn’t the innocent Open golfers who disregarded ‘God’s day’
Wallace Thompson of the Evangelical Protestant Society writes (July 24) that the sanctity of the Lord’s Day was breached by the Open golf tournament in Portrush. By this I take it we are to conclude that he means Sunday which he further reinforces by describing it as “His day”. Where has he found this from in Scripture?
Sunday is the first working day throughout the Bible. Even God worked on it at Creation. The only rest day or day sanctified by God is the Sabbath day according to the Ten Commandments, which He asked us to ‘remember,’ not to ‘forget’. It falls on the last or seventh day of the week, the logical time to need a rest after six day’s work, not to rest before you work at all, which would be the case with resting on the first day.
The term ‘Lord’s Day’ is only found once in the entire Bible, when John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, writes concerning the Apocalypse on the Isle of Patmos, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” It does not specify that it was Sunday, or any other day. The only specific day linked to the Lord is the commanded Sabbath of the Lord. Sunday, or the first day of the week as it is described in Holy Writ as it would be repugnant to name a day that God created after any of the heavenly bodies which He made, ie ‘Sun’-day. It is never called the ‘Lord’s Day’ or even the ‘Sabbath’ anywhere.
The Roman Emperor Constantine enforced the ‘venerable day of the sun’ by edict in the fourth century in honour of pagan sun worship and also helped ratify the new Roman ‘Easter’ named after a pagan deity to replace the Passover of the Lord. I have yet to see the commandment for keeping Sunday holy convincingly proved from Scripture. It is the true Sabbath on Saturday that was observed by pre-Roman Christians across Ireland for centuries that the institutionalised churches today breach themselves every week by keeping the man-made Sunday. It is they who disregard ‘God’s day,’ not the innocent golfers in Portrush.
COLIN NEVIN
Bangor, Co Down
What is world coming to?
According to Mr Wallace Thompson in his letter ‘Another breach of the Lord’s day’ (July 24) the people who watched, played and those who had a fantastic time at the British Open on Sunday disregarded God and His day. I suppose he includes all those millions who watched it on TV. Although some of those countries are eight hours behind GMT so technically they watched it on Saturday so God must not count them.
Does Mr Thompson really believe that God is up in heaven looking at these people having a great time and saying ‘tut, tut look at those families enjoying themselves. What is the world coming to. Don’t they know they should be in church bowing to Me and praying and most definitely not smiling or enjoying themselves? I wonder should I send a plague of locusts down on them. No better not I’ll just give them Boris Johnson as prime minister. That will shut them up.’
TONY CARROLL
Newry, Co Down
Chance to rebuild empire
Now that Boris Johnson finally achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming yet another old Etonian prime minister of the UK, I would ask him to consider the only real solution to your Brexit puzzle and that is to give the people of Ireland a vote on the future of the British border on the island of Ireland. I believe the majority of people both north and south want a united Ireland within the EU. The bonus for him would be that he would go down in Irish history as the PM who helped end 800 years of hurt and suffering that his government past and present has inflicted on the people of Ireland.
Given that post Brexit, Britain will need to renegotiate approx 150 new trade deals to even get back to where they stand now as a member of the EU, I would imagine that Boris will have enough problems without having to worry about the British border in Ireland.
With a no-deal Brexit firmly on the horizon, I would suggest that a reunified Ireland would open the door for him to have the Brexit he always dreamt about – Britain standing alone in the world and him as its supreme leader rebuilding the Empire all the way from Cornwall right up to and slightly beyond Hadrian’s Wall.
Cllr SHEAMUS GREENE
Sinn Féin, Fermanagh & Omagh District Council
