In 1912 The Suffragettes broke every single window down the length of Oxford Street and Regent Street. Every single one.
That is passion. That is the depth of commitment and that is the courage these women had.
I told someone this today and they said "that's like terrorism. Didn't they used to put acid in post boxes and stuff too?"
My response was yes they did. "But I wouldn't call it terrorism." I said. "I think they were freedom fighters."
The person snorted. "You wouldn't call the people that crashed the planes on 9/11 freedom fighters, would you?"
Fair point, I thought. "No. I wouldn't. But I don't think the people who flew into the twin towers were in the same position as the Suffragettes. The difference is is that the Suffragettes were actually fighting for their freedom, they were actually being persecuted by a social injustice and they were actually being denied a basic human right."
And do you know what? I'll stand on my soap box and stick up for a 'terrorist' who has been pushed so far into a corner the only thing that they can do is fight for basic human rights any day.
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Let’s suppose for a moment that the people responsible for 9/11 really were Muslim terrorists. It doesn’t take much of an honest reading of history to see that the Muslim world has been cheated, lied to, looted, controlled, used and abused by the rich and powerful west for the last nine hundred years. And something similar might be said of the Irish in connection with the IRA question. It’s easy to call the IRA ‘murderers’ whilst conveniently forgetting that British Army officers ordered the Black and Tans to lock the gates of Croke Park during a hurling final and walk around shooting innocent members of the crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe last sentence says it all, and I’m glad you said it. People don’t become terrorists for the sake of having a new hobby. They do it because all ‘civilised’ attempts to right wrongs have been unsuccessful, usually crushed to serve the interests of the powerful oppressors.
I happen to be a big fan of the suffragettes, by the way.