{"id":46661,"date":"2024-03-18T06:39:30","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T14:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=46661"},"modified":"2024-03-18T06:39:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T14:39:30","slug":"their-time-will-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/18\/their-time-will-come\/","title":{"rendered":"Their Time Will Come"},"content":{"rendered":"

I gave a Saint Patrick\u2019s Day speech at a rally for Palestine yesterday. Last year, I spent Saint Patrick\u2019s Day standing in a bar with a fellow Marine veteran. In 2010, he had been a mortar man with Third Battalion, Fifth Marines<\/a>, in Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. In a few months, more than one in five of those Marines and sailors were casualties. Thirteen years later, he still didn\u2019t know what it was for.<\/p>\n

We stood there and medicated and punished ourselves with beer and whiskey. At some point, our ire and anger over the wars turned to ire and anger over the band in the bar. It was Saint Patrick\u2019s Day, and we were in an Irish bar, with the band playing pop songs rather than Irish music. There certainly was none of the Irish rebel music we wanted, and at some point, we sang it ourselves. I remember us spending quite a while on Grace<\/a><\/em>; it was one of those nights.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We were quite aware that we were on the wrong side of those songs in our wars. That we were to the Afghans and Iraqis what the British were to our Irish ancestors.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t in a bar this Saint Patrick\u2019s Day but at a rally supporting the Palestinian people. Next year, perhaps there will be no more collective punishment, no more ethnic cleansing, and no more genocide in the Holy Land, and I can spend Saint Patrick\u2019s Day in a bar with beer and whiskey, upset at the band. Today, however, was spent doing what little I could to be on the right side this time.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the video of my speech. A transcript, edited for clarity, is pasted below.<\/p>\n

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Why Irish-Americans Support Palestine<\/p>\n

My Saint Patrick\u2019s Day speech at a rally for Palestine today.<\/p>\n

My family, 100 years ago, fought against the same units and men of the British Army, including the Black and Tans, that the Palestinians did.#IrelandForever<\/a> #VivaPalestina<\/a>\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Fr5gtgCYQ2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matthew Hoh (@MatthewPHoh) March 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n