Bob Doyle On The Weapons Of Victory
In August of this year West Belfast hosted the Anti-Racism World Cup as part of the internationally renowned Féile an Phobail.
The annual soccer event brought teams from the Congo, the Basque Country, Palestine, Italy, England, Catalonia, Kurdistan and Germany together with their Irish counterparts in a display of international solidarity in opposition to fascism and bigotry.
In a fitting tribute to one of the most inspiring examples of international solidarity in human history, Bob Doyle, an Irish veteran of the International Brigades who fought in defence of the Spanish Republic in the 1930s, gave the following oration during the World Cup.
“Hello everyone.
I'm an ex-member of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA.
I was born in 1916, in Dublin's north side inner city but when I was five I was put into an orphanage with my sister, and I spent the next eight years in county Wicklow, working on farms and getting a very limited education from nuns. They were my first experience of real oppression.
As a teenager I joined the IRA and was trained by Kit Conway, a veteran of the War of Independence and the Civil War. In 1934 with Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and Kit, I and many other volunteers left to set up the Republican Congress.
We knew the time had come when the struggle was no longer simply about nationalism but had to become one for the people in the Free State who were facing oppression and injustice. We were still republicans but now we became social revolutionaries also.
The tactics we developed were organising in support of strikes for union recognition, fighting the evictions of slum tenants, as well as against the Blueshirts on the streets, and against the growth of extreme right-wing policies during the economic crisis of the 1930s.
These struggles meant that we had to form broad coalitions with other groups, who might have differed from us in the past, but who now shared our aims – the fight against the rising tide of fascism, and for social justice in our country.
Had we stayed on in the IRA as it then was, we would have had to remain merely nationalists, like many of the landlords and employers we were now opposing. Our politics were now those of the unemployed, the workers, the small farmers being driven off the land, and the families facing evictions.
In 1936 we realised that the fight was being fought outside Ireland also, sometimes even more brutally and with greater consequences, above all in Spain. This is what led me and my ex-IRA comrades to the International Brigades.
We joined volunteers from 53 countries who also saw that it was the same fight in Spain. One of our slogans was "Bombs on Madrid mean Bombs on London" and this was later proved to be all too true, even in Belfast and Dublin.
After the betrayal of the Spanish Republic by Britain's Tory Government, with their French and American allies, Franco, Hitler and Mussolini won in Spain. The war which we had fought in Spain to prevent – World War Two – began. This was when the bombs began to fall on cities everywhere.
We had gone to fight for a vision of the future, for a world where all could live in brotherhood, and in harmony with our environment, and not in one based on oppression and exploitation, which are essential for capitalism.
Looking at the world today, I have to ask: Did my comrades sacrifice their lives in vain? Today Spain may have a democratic government but it came after 40 years of Franco dictatorship.
Since the Civil War ended in 1939, the world has seen mass murder in Europe, in Latin America and in Asia. It now sees imperialism in Iraq and genocide in Sudan, while ever more powerful weapons are being developed.
Our rights and freedoms are attacked and controlled from above more than ever, while the system of justice is undermined by kidnapping without trial, for torture by democracies, all done in our name.
Franco and Hitler may be dead, but has fascism been defeated?
Instead of uniforms they now wear suits, instead of striking symbols they use public relations and spin doctors, instead of racist speeches they speak the language of democracy and religion.
Let us not fool ourselves: Fascism is thriving today in the institutions of power, so I ask again: Did my comrades die in vain?
The great crisis of today's environmental catastrophe cannot be solved by capitalism because capitalism is now its cause. Big business hopes that tinkering with the system will allow them to hold onto their wealth and power. The vision of a world where we all live in brotherhood and in harmony with our environment seems as far away as ever, while globalisation flourishes.
Globalisation is the world-wide triumph of money over unionised workers, and over the limited protections which have been won in our democracies. As always, fascism means the rich using the poorest to destroy the organised working class.
If you, the next generation, do nothing, then fascism – raw capitalism – will triumph, and humanity will face disaster, and then my comrades will have died in vain. It is up to you to fight for a different world, but never forget that you are fighting for an idea.
Though we must at times defend ourselves with guns, guns cannot impose an idea. The four weapons of victory today are – education, organisation, civil disobedience and unity.
The unity of all who share a hatred of fascism and a passion for a better world is essential for success. If we have to move forward at the pace of the slowest, then let us be patient. But let us move together. The future of all of us is at stake. These are the lessons which I have learnt, to pass on to you from my lifetime of struggle.
Take up the fight for the noblest of causes, the liberation of mankind. Then our comrades will not have died in vain but will be our inspiration. Together we fight on.
Viva La Republica!”