Palestine And The Potato Famine

As I walked the streets of Dublin, enjoying the fresh sea air and the sound of seagulls squawking, I stumbled upon a group of people singing. The harmony was beautiful and drew me in to see what was happening.

The words they sung were:

“People are the power. Power for the people.”

It sounded like a choir singing and as I approached I saw a crowd, people were waving the flag of Palestine.

A protest. A protest against the war.

I joined the crowd as they began chanting, “Boycott. We will not stop, we will not rest. Boycott.”

The unity of the crowd and the support they were showing for those suffering brought me close to tears. Dubliners were loud and they would be heard. Police stood by, stopping cars passing through that particular road as the protest took place. Someone had a hand drum and was banging it loud.

“Boycott. We will not stop, we will not rest. Boycott.”

I had seen protests before but something about this one hit me right in the heart.

People stood up and spoke in between the chants. Election time is near in Europe and people were informing others to do their research on which companies the politicians supported, they were saying some people in power may be indirectly funding Israel. I hadn’t thought about this and it opened my eyes to new ways we little people could do our part in stopping the war — we have to put the research into who we are supporting, even the companies we invest in (if you’re into stocks), some companies could be funding Israel and by investing in those companies and supporting those Politicians, you too could be indirectly funding Israel.

June 7th is voting time here in Europe.

This protest was different to others that I had seen. The passion of the Dubliners could be felt through their unity, civility, and respect for one another. There were hugs and whispers of “You handled that really well” “I liked what you had to say” and more singing as the crowd departed at the end of the day.

It was one of the most heartfelt protests I had attended.

Everyone knows about the Irish Famine. Or at least, everyone in Ireland and New Zealand knows about the Potato famine. I grew up with stories from my grandmother about the famine. There were two — the Potato Famine and another famine of Maori children who were sent away to boarding school. Both instances were the British trying to kill indigenous people and take their land.

I didn’t know this growing up. My Grandmother kindly left those parts out, she decided to focus on the strength of the people who made it through these famines and because of those ancestors, I am where I am today.

I had a look through the exhibition and read up on the famine — I knew a lot of people starved and I knew England had something to do with it.

What I didn’t realise was England caused it.

In the 1800s, it was discovered that potatoes grew exceptionally well in Irish soil, so they began growing many, many, many potatoes—I guess similar to New Zealand Maori growing Kumara (sweet potato)—this was all well and dandy, and many of the potatoes were sold abroad. Guess where?

The English had taken over Ireland at this point and did not allow the Irish to own land, instead the English owned all the land and rented it out at very high prices — most landlords were still living in England.

So at this point, the Irish rented land to grow and farm potatoes. They rented land on their home soil, just like the Maori had to do.

In 1845 there was a disease detected in some potatoes abroad. England saw this and declared it a disease. Many potatoes in Ireland were ruined. Well, okay, all the potatoes in Ireland were ruined. Ireland’s trade and main export was potatoes. Now they had nothing, no way of generating income for the country or individual families. All the Irish were renting at this point and with no potatoes to export, they had no income, and with no income they couldn’t afford rent.

What happens when you can’t afford rent?

You go homeless.

Ireland was under British rule, so naturally, you’d think the Brits would swoop in and help their little darlings in trouble, right?

Wrong.

England didn’t care. Ireland informed them of this emergency, starving people and families without homes, but England stood by and watched.

Not only did they watch, but they destroyed the homes of people who still had them and made it illegal for neighbours to take them in.

The Brits were causing further homelessness during a time of national crisis.

Over the ocean in England, everyone was safe and sound. They were healthy, and as they didn’t grow potatoes, they were unaffected — apart from families not being able to have roast potatoes for dinner.

There was a cry for help from Ireland as more people starved. Men, Women and Children.

Back in England, they continued to refuse help; they even used propaganda to make little Brits think the Irish were foul human beings who deserved nothing from them.

They claimed Ireland was exaggerating — crops failed all the time, the people of Ireland were just lazy and didn’t want to work.

“The accounts received…” is an actual article where England finally admits there is a problem in Ireland.

Finally the British decide to step in and they introduce an income to those families struggling — 8 pence a day. In exchange for this income, families were forced into manual labour and work on creating and maintaining roads. “The Famine Road” I believe it is now called. Many people died because of the arduous labour and the little food.

England did help those who were not able to supply any kind of meal for their family. What terrible, horrible, sadistic people they would be if they didn’t. They sent corn to Ireland and charged the people of Ireland ‘a low cost’ for the corn. Corn was the main source of food at the time and was less nutrient-dense than potatoes, many people died of Scurvy because of the lack of Vitamin C in said corn.

In 1847 a soup kitchen was finally opened for those starving and homeless. Only two years after the crisis began.

Two years of homeless, starving people forced into labour. Forced to survive the harsh Irish winters with no shelter and no food.

Of course, a shelter did eventually open up. But it was so overcrowded disease spread quickly and killed many people.

Two years. Two years of being without a safe place to call home, without any food to eat, with the constant threat of losing loved ones to death.

Palestine is currently suffering. People are without a safe place to call home, they are starving, they are in constant threat of losing loved ones to death.

The British and the Dutch have colonised the world putting massive amounts of people in horrific situations. Starving and killing people for their land. Germany tried to do this as well.

And now Israel. There is no safe place in Gaza.

Has the world learnt nothing?

This time the colonizers will not be the winners.

This time the underdogs will win.

The Irish won.

The Maori are fighting back.

South Africa is fighting back.

The world won against Germany.

We will rise up and Palestine will be safe. Keep fighting.

“Boycott. We will not stop, we will not rest. Boycott.”

The main resource I used was from the exhibition I visited. Please feel free to do your own research and fill in any blanks I may have missed out or correct any information I may have misinterpreted.

“People are the power. Power for the people.”