by Eamon Mc Cann

It seems at the time of writing Bill Clinton won’t be coming to Derry in the course of his third (!) pre-Xmas pilgrimage to save peace in Ireland. What a pity. We might have given a shout against imperialism which would have been heard around the World.

A meeting in Sandino’s on November 26th voted by acclamation to ask local mayor Cathal Crumley to make a gesture of solidarity with the people of Palestine by refusing to meet Clinton if he came.

The meeting had just heard activist Zak Hania, from Gaza City, give a first-hand account of the pity and the terror of Palestine today. Asked from the floor what we here could do to help, Zak referred to the United States' role in arming Israel and providing it with diplomatic backing - to the extent of using its veto at the UN to stymie even a formal condemnation of the massacre of Palestine children.

If the mayor of even a middling-sized town like Derry announced an intention to shun Clinton for this reason, the story would be on the front pages of newspapers worldwide. It’s rarely given to a single individual to make a major impact on an issue of global importance. But Mayor Crumley could have done it. And would, we assume, have wanted to do it. Instinctively, absolutely, he’d surely be on the side of the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and against racist oppression.

But would he have done it?

It’s academic now, of course. But the underlying issue isn’t academic at all. The lurking conundrum has to do with whether any pro-Agreement party is in a position to take a stand against the US on anything.

The mainstream media have it that Clinton’s third visit here betokens a warm personal concern for Ireland. Every Belfast and Dublin newspaper operates on the assumption that his administration has been a positive force for justice here. If there has been a single leader-article focussing on the contrast between the role ascribed to Clinton in Ireland and the role he has filled elsewhere in the world, we’ve missed it in Derry.

Some of us set little store by UN resolutions. But they are ritually cited by the big powers to justify action in the international arena. It was the refusal of Saddam Hussein in 1991 to comply with a UN resolution requiring him to withdraw from Kuwait - to take a by no means random example - which provided the "justification" for Operation Desert Storm.

That resolution had exactly the same force and weight as UN Resolution 242 which requires the Israelis to withdraw from the territories forcibly occupied in 1967. When Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN, the Western powers, led by the US, assembled an army half a million strong to drive him out. But when Israel treats the UN with contempt, and, far from withdrawing behind its 1967 boundaries, proceeds to build settlements, and to use overwhelming fire-power to slaughter Palestinians who protest at being driven from their homes, the US, under Clinton, responds by replenishing the Israeli arsenals so that they can slaughter some more.

In the last two months, the Israelis, with full backing from Clinton and using weaponry supplied by Clinton, have visited a dozen Bloody Sundays upon Palestine. But there isn’t a word said about any of this as Clinton smiles and smiles on Irish politicians, particularly on Northern Nationalist politicians, and contrives a husky sincerity as he explains how moved he has been by tales of suffering from Belfast, Derry, Omagh.

Some Nationalist politicians don’t busy themselves about solidarity with the oppressed peoples of the world. Seamus Mallon we can imagine snorting with derision at any suggestion he should put himself out for Palestine. But whatever happened to the anti-imperialism of the Republican Movement when it comes to solidarity with Palestine.

Thing is, you won’t keep Clinton’s endorsement if you are equipped with a placard complaining at his backing for murder on the West Bank and in Gaza. So you don’t fetch out the placard when Clinton comes to town. Instead, you reach out your hand.

Thus pockets of anti-imperialism here and there in the world are neutralised. The notion of international solidarity is humanely, or anyway painlessly, killed off. And the world is a slightly safer place for the capitalist interests, which Clinton represents. Which is what it’s all about in the end, really.

As Leonard Cohen says and sings, "It’s come to this, It’s come to this, And isn’t is a long way down..."