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The death of the Irish resistance fighter 34 years ago today leaves behind a legacy of third world solidarity against European colonialism and imperialism.
From South Africa and Palestine to Cuba, the murder of Irish resistance fighter 34 years ago leaves behind a legacy of third world solidarity against European colonialism and imperialism.
Sand’s death was marked in commemorative events on May 5 in Ireland and more widely.
The commemoration of Bobby Sands today is a reminder of how different social justice struggles can be interconnected across the world. Sands and the irish struggle for freedom left a mark on Latin America
“In my opinion, Irish patriots are writing one of the most heroic chapters in human history. They have earned the respect and admiration of the world, and likewise they deserve its support,” then-Cuban President Fidel Castro said in a speech on September 15, 1981 of the events that saw ten Irish men .
“Ten of them have already died in the most moving gesture of sacrifice, selflessness and courage one could ever imagine (...) Let tyrants tremble before men who are capable of dying for their ideals, after 60 days on hunger strike!”
With these words Fidel Castro honored Sands and nine of his fellow comrades who died from a hunger strike after then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stood firm in refusing to make any concessions with the prisoners.
“Crime is crime is crime, it is not political” she said, dismissing the deaths as mere “suicide.”
The hunger strike drew prominent international attention when Bobby Sands got elected as a British member of Parliament while on hunger strike.
Today a memorial honoring the names of one hundred Irish hunger strikers can still be found in Havana, Cuba.
Sands' eventual death inspired Nelson Mandela to engage in a hunger strike of his own, bringing a new method of resistance against the Apartheid system. In India the death of the Irish fighter was honored with a minute of silence in Parliament and a number of marches and protests on the streets. In Iran, the street where the British Embassy is located was renamed Bobby Sands, forcing the embassy to change its entrance to avoid any explicit link with his martyrdom.
Palestinians prisoners also extended their solidarity with a letter that got smuggled to Belfast, stating: “We extend our salutes and solidarity with you in the confrontation against the oppressive terrorist rule enforced upon the Irish people by the British ruling elite. We salute the heroic struggle of Bobby Sands and his comrades, for they have sacrificed the most valuable possession of any human being. They gave their lives for freedom… The noble and just hunger strike is not in vain.”
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