The Eleventh and the Twelfth: Leave Palestine out of Northern Ireland hate bonfires and Marches

Every year, sectarian bonfires are lit on the 11th of July, the night of 'The Twelfth’ bank holiday in Northern Ireland, but in recent times, Palestine flags have been added to the hateful pyres, alongside flags of the Republic of Ireland and effigies of Irish figures and leaders. Last night was no different.

But while authorities claim these are acts by a minority, the truth is much darker: Such acts are not an anomaly but at the heart of what is a colonial holiday arguably comparable to Israeli settlers' hateful Flag March on Jerusalem Day.

July 12th, commonly referred to as ‘the Twelfth’ across the North of Ireland, is usually associated with unionist marching bands playing provocative sectarian songs.

July 12th is supposed to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, which took place in Ireland in 1690, where King William III defeated King James II. Today this historical event is reflected on through a sectarian lens, seen as a Protestant king defeating a Catholic king. A reflection that does not consider the fact that the Protestant King William III was Dutch and Catholic King James II was Scottish and ignores how the backdrop of this battle took place within 800 years of brutal British colonisation and occupation of Ireland.

The bonfires on the 11th July are meanwhile meant to symbolise the bonfires lit to guide King William III to the North of Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne took place in Drogheda. But in 1690 these bonfires were lit by settlers from Britain, actively colonising Ireland, and today it is their descendants still lighting them.

Far from being a harmless ritual, these bonfires see the burning of Ireland flags, the pictures of Irish politicians, effigies of Irish hunger strikers such as Bobby Sands, and more disturbingly stolen parts of Matt Wallace’s memorial, a Catholic priest referred to as the ‘people’s priest’, who committed suicide, all set ablaze.

The bonfires often also involve burning wood pellets, tyres and using petrol to ignite them, spewing carbon monoxide with fire engines deployed to cool homes down near these bonfires. There are little to no regulations on the construction or lighting of these bonfires, despite the injuries and deaths they have caused in recent years.

There is very little logic to this being part of Protestant and Unionist culture, though given their settler roots in Ireland, it may make sense for them to be burning anything related to native Irish culture.

Enter Palestine

Last July, Belfast City Council spent £72,000 on these bonfires, and it is reported from 2019-2021 there was over £809,000+ spent on cleaning up after the 12th July alone. Now in spite of the detriment to the environment, the huge amount of public funds spent which could be better spent on other pressing issues.

The day of the 12th itself usually consists of the Orange Order, a Unionist fraternity of which only Protestants can be members, leading marching bands who play provocative, sectarian anti-Irish songs, through predominantly Catholic Irish areas.

Since October 7, Israeli flags have been erected beside almost every Union Jack in unionist areas of the North, while Palestine flags have been burned beside Ireland flags, including last night. This is because Unionists see themselves having such an affinity to another settler entity, like Israel, because the existence of both settler colonial states are dependent on the subjugation of another population: its natives.

But perhaps the most stark comparison to July 12th, is Jerusalem Day, marked on May 25th after the Israeli forcible occupation of Jerusalem. The day celebrates the start of the Israeli occupation of Palestine’s capital, Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem Day often consists of Israeli settlers, draped in Israeli flags, parading through native Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s Old City, vandalising and looting Palestinian businesses, harassing & attacking any Palestinian they come across all whilst chanting ‘death to Arabs’. A chant similar to one expressed on July 12th, Kill all T****’, an extremely offensive term referring to those of Irish heritage. 

Both nationwide ‘holidays’ are inherently exclusionary, exist to only glorify racial and sectarian supremacy, those taking part make that abundantly clear with calls of death to those they deem lesser. The scenes of Unionist marching and Israeli settlers marching are starkly parallel. Both are marking what they deem to be their territory, with state forces, protecting them doing so. Onlookers on the outside may see them as somewhat ‘non-violent’ or not as violent as they could be, but they are inherently violent to the psyche of native peoples. Which is exactly the intention of both these days.

Days like these remind native peoples from Ireland to Palestine how their colonisation and genocide is normalised and how their oppressors only seek to embolden their dark pasts instead of attempting to put them right.

‘Northern Ireland’ and ‘Israel’ will forever protect self-proclaimed ‘holidays’ such as July 12th and ‘Jerusalem Day’, because both settler entities feel so threatened by the continued resilience of native peoples that such holidays that entrench deep notions of settler supremacy, are of the utmost importance to continue. 

July 12th and Jerusalem Day are both outdated grotesque displays of protecting the settler colonial status quo. They normalise colonialism, celebrate ethnic cleansing, and make no attempt to understand or try to repair their damaging pasts.

Neither of these days should be celebrated.

Farrah Koutteineh is founder of KEY48 - a voluntary collective calling for the immediate right of return of over 7.4 million Palestinian refugees. Koutteineh is also a political activist focusing on intersectional activism including, the Decolonise Palestine movement, indigenous people's rights, anti-establishment movement, women's rights and climate justice.

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @key48return

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.