WHAT IS NORAIDS MOTIVATION?
|
It is difficult to fathom the reasoning behind a group that would wish to sponsor terrorism and misery thousands of miles from its home. It may be argued that Noraid members are merely misinformed as to the reality of the situation in Ulster. The pictures below however would suggest at least some knowledge of the terror their ideology creates. |
The pictures above show the Chicago (left) and Pittsburg (right) chapters of Noraid. Clearly when in America, the 'Irish cause' is very much a social event, miles away from any conflict. The picture on the right shows Noraid members playing soldiers, armed with crosses and berets to honour suicide terrorists, this can be seen as a 'safe' way of freedom fighting.
The reality of conflict however is somewhat more frightening and whatever the intentions of individual Noraid members the pictures below show the impact of their actions. These pictures are taken from Noraid websites and clearly show that for many members the business of terror is paramount to any event.
Each of these pictures taken from Noraid Websites appear to glory in violence and try to portray terrorism as some sort of bravado action.
Equally these pictures of funerals of terrorists who had been killed while on missions to maim and to murder don't appear to shy away from death and devastation but in a warped fashion appear to revel in it.
Perhaps most disturbing of the Noraid pictures is the delight that appears to be shown in displaying this picture illustrating attempts to prevent Orangemen from practising their cultural traditions. Noraid campaigns for the banning of Orange Order culture just as it sponsors the murder of the Ulster-British people. Noraid would no doubt be pleased at the threat in the picture above, that required such a heavy police presence needed to protect Orangemen walking to church. It is not just the Orange members who are affected but the entire area, not to mention local people hindered by heavy policing.
The pictures above show Noraid members visiting the conflict area of South Armagh. The pictures depict a sense of bravado and celebration. For the local people who have to live under the shadow of the sniper, long after the Noraid vacation is over, there is no bravado nor celebration.
Many Noraid members are caught up in the social events and the philanthropy of supporting a cause. Whatever their intentions however the result of their actions are devastating. With displays of violent pictures, and anti-Protestant, anti-Ulster-British rhetoric, they appear to incite the basest hate elements of the human psyche, certainly members would seem to need a stomach for violence and violent images.
Involvement in the romantic bravado of a safe war miles from their home is the most potent explanation. This is a utopian belief in a perfect world. It is characterised by an oversimplified view of history that portrays Ireland as an island that has been ravaged by invaders but can be set right again by the removal of the invaders. This type of oversimplified and so-called romantic outlook has long been a problem for humanity. On the one hand these ideas seek the best of society and they have a clear vision of a perfect culture, but the logic of the argument is that there must be a reason why this perfect world does not exist i.e. there must be a people who are destroying the culture and they must be removed and destroyed. The worst case of this oversimplification is perhaps the Nazi explanation of the Jews as the destroyers of Aryan culture. For many in Noraid the 'anti-colonial war' mindset explains that the Ulster-British people are the destroyers of an imagined and idealised Irish culture. The logic follows that to create a perfect society is to remove or destroy the Ulster-British people. In this light it is not surprising that groups such as Noraid indulge in sectarian terrorism when it is backed by such a grandiose justification. Sadly however such an analysis and solution brings much misery far and away beyond any utopian hope of perfection and it is a complete antithesis to the ideal it asserts- it is completely destructive.