The following article by W. Owl was first published in Unity, the weekly paper of the Irish Communist Party.
IN 1938 a young Jewish man assassinated a German diplomat. This led to what is now known as Kristallnacht when Jewish businesses were attacked and thousands of Jewish men were arrested throughout Germany on the night of November 9-10th. Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Geobbels orchestrated the whole thing. Up to one hundred German Jews were killed by members of the SA-Brownshirts. It was said that German Jews were the most assimilated considering themselves German first and Jewish second. However, that did not stop the pogrom. Fast forward to Belfast 2026 when a local man is attacked by a person originally from Sudan. What has taken place is far from the scale of Kristallnacht but has disturbing similarities. Replace Jews with Muslims and any non-white person and there you have it. Are those who have instigated the attacks on people and businesses any different from the Brownshirts?
David Adams who hails from the Loyalist community wrote a very welcome piece in the Irish News (18th June 2026). He started with the comment, as dust settles on, yet another round of violence here let's consider the "legitimate concerns" of those who took to the streets. We are told that our culture is under threat from immigrants of a non-white skin colour. He adds -our population is 97% white so which part of our culture would that be then? To that he answers, the predominant one- indeed, what Northern Ireland is most (in) famous for is religious bigotry and the division, irrational hatred, threats, and violence that flows form it. To this he adds surely, if immigrants can help change that, we should be welcoming them with open arms. He then moved on to another topic, violence against women and girls pointing out that we have topped a Europe wide league table with more than thirty women being killed since 2020. Without exception, the perpetrators were white skinned locally born men. He refers to research which showed that 98% of women and girls in Northern Ireland haves suffered violence or abuse at some point in their lifetime. He makes the point that this violence is another part if our culture that needs changed. Despite these appalling statistics our local variants on Tommy Robinson will declare, without the slightest hint of a red face, that immigrants from some countries do not respect women and girls but as he writes they are, of course, referring to our Muslim citizens-a particular target of bigots. They also like to imply that all Muslims support child marriage.
He accepts this is disgracefully true of some Muslim countries and some Christian nations, such as the United States where child marriage is legal in 33 states. He writes that between 2000 and 2018 300,000 children, -including girls as young as 10 were legally married in the US. Deplorable statistics. Yet there is no issue with Americans coming here. Indeed, some of our elected representatives will grab any opportunity to visit the US, ever eager to glad-hand and have their picture took with, of all people, Donald Trump. To those who suggest that the likes of ISIS are somehow representative of Muslims in general he argues that is as ludicrous as claiming our home-grown terrorists were representative of Christianity.
As someone who has worked for extended periods in various Muslim majority countries, he writes that the integrity, decency, and courage of the Muslim people he lived amongst was exceptional. He goes on to single out the "wonderful" work of the Muslim Sisters of Eire (MSOE) who spend every Friday night, in all weather, handing out hot meals, clothes, sleeping bags, blankets etc to homeless people in Dublin.
On the issue that they are "taking our jobs" he argues that it is a case that some people are unqualified or unwilling to do most of the jobs that immigrants are doing. As regards those having difficulty getting a house, he advises them to form a disorderly queue outside the office of their local elected representative because that is where the blame squarely lies. None of the problems that exist are the fault of immigrant people and as he concludes: "they're the latest victims of the deflection that politicians have employed for decades to avoid accountability. They'll point a finger, fan the flames, stand well back, then condemn the violence while emphasising "legitimate concerns. "We wonder which ones he is referring to!