MOHSIN ZULFIQAR
There were a lot of activities in support of the liberation movements, across from Ireland on one side, we are talking about at that time if you remember Zimbabwe, Azania, South Africa, Palestine, Eritrean struggle, so there would be a range of meetings
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TARIQ MEHMOOD
We saw the struggle in Ireland, the struggle in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Palestine, as different aspects of settler colonialism,
... by the time of AYM, we felt that Zionism truly was the enemy of the Jews, we felt that it had to be destroyed, that there was no compromise that could be made because we were anti-racists. We did not understand or accept how a Jew born somewhere
in the world had the right to return to a place he had no connection with or she had no connection with. Yet Palestinians who were born there had to live in refugee camps.
MUKHTAR DAR
Birmingham had a large Irish community, and Birmingham AYM members worked with those Irish comrades. Somewhere along the line some of them said well, you know, we’ll organise a delegation to Ireland, so Sheffield, London, Coventry and Birmingham, I think about three minibuses of us went to Northern Ireland,
... It was the first time we saw army on the streets, and murals, as an artist seeing murals there and people singing Republican songs and, you know, those connections were really useful, and also the discussions
... cos the inner cities had erupted in ’81 and in ’85, and so the Irish Republican youth were telling us about, you know, ‘you can’t have spontaneous riots, you have to be organised and you have to do this, you have to do that’, you know. So there was a lot a parallels.
TARIQ MEHMOOD
There was a meeting in Manchester, and we mobilized to come to the meeting, it was during the Lancaster House of Agreement. And Eddison Zvobgo spoke. Some white people had been killed in Zimbabwe, something like that had happened. And all that time, the Zimbabweans, particularly ZANU PF were projected as terrorists. Always referred to as terrorists.
... I remember he said, they called us terrorists. If fighting for my people’s liberation means I am a terrorist, so be it, I’m proud of it. And he listed a whole series of injustices that were taking place to Africa, and against Africans in Zimbabwe. About the denial of land, about the usurpation by white people of Zimbabwe and if trying to get those back through the use of arms meant he was being called a terrorist then he was proud of it. And I remember that the room was just electric every time he said I’m proud to be a terrorist because we were shouting we are all terrorists or whatever words we could think. But our ululation and our screaming and shouting really were the fact that, yes we were all proud to be terrorists. And isn’t it so strange today that you know, almost the same language is back.