Spring Break
Learning from Bloody Sunday
Deirdre Quinn
Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Opinion
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On Jan. 30, 1972 British paratroopers opened fire on peaceful civil rights demonstrators, killing 14 Irish Catholics in Derry, Northern Ireland. That day would forever be known as "Bloody Sunday."
What followed was a complete miscarriage of justice. An inquiry performed by the British government alleged that some protesters were armed, which has now been proven to be a complete falsehood. Influenced largely by the American civil rights movement, the protesters were innocent civilians, sick of being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.
In fact, Tony Blair, British prime minister, called for a new inquiry to begin in 1998. Since then, the tribunal, run by Lord Saville of Newdigate, has interviewed over 900 witnesses who were there when the paratroopers killed 14 innocents.
Saturday, the theater of the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago was full for a screening of "An Unreliable Witness," a film documenting the story of one of those witnesses. David Tereshchuk, a British journalist covering the civil rights march, recalls being fired upon by his own country's army and the horror of watching people die all around him. Not one person, he said, was armed, except for the military, possessing "well-honed killing instincts."
In the film, he meets with victims' family members, revisits the sight of the massacre and finally testifies before the tribunal.
The film highlighted an important fact. Although the British military massacred innocent protesters, and an immense cover-up ensued - the families of the victims might finally have justice.
A question-and-answer session followed the film. Those present included Tereshchuk, family members of the victims and the film's directors. Several audience members spoke to the panel, expressing their exasperation and anger over the fact that Britain is still an occupying force on Irish land.
The British, which ruled the entire island of Ireland for over 200 years, acting as violent landlords and cruel tyrants, still somehow have held onto a large section of Irish land, i.e., Northern Ireland.
What followed was a complete miscarriage of justice. An inquiry performed by the British government alleged that some protesters were armed, which has now been proven to be a complete falsehood. Influenced largely by the American civil rights movement, the protesters were innocent civilians, sick of being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.
In fact, Tony Blair, British prime minister, called for a new inquiry to begin in 1998. Since then, the tribunal, run by Lord Saville of Newdigate, has interviewed over 900 witnesses who were there when the paratroopers killed 14 innocents.
Saturday, the theater of the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago was full for a screening of "An Unreliable Witness," a film documenting the story of one of those witnesses. David Tereshchuk, a British journalist covering the civil rights march, recalls being fired upon by his own country's army and the horror of watching people die all around him. Not one person, he said, was armed, except for the military, possessing "well-honed killing instincts."
In the film, he meets with victims' family members, revisits the sight of the massacre and finally testifies before the tribunal.
The film highlighted an important fact. Although the British military massacred innocent protesters, and an immense cover-up ensued - the families of the victims might finally have justice.
A question-and-answer session followed the film. Those present included Tereshchuk, family members of the victims and the film's directors. Several audience members spoke to the panel, expressing their exasperation and anger over the fact that Britain is still an occupying force on Irish land.
The British, which ruled the entire island of Ireland for over 200 years, acting as violent landlords and cruel tyrants, still somehow have held onto a large section of Irish land, i.e., Northern Ireland.
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