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Peace for Belfast!
2010.11.15
This is the only "normal" murales in the protestant part (Shankill). Children play on the wall that splits the city in two parts.
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Stevie Topgun McKeag, is considered a terrorist from the catholics and a hero from the protestants.
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Every morning, when children go to school, they pass in front of this.
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Murales in the catholic half of the city
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This is the most seriuos part of the trip and the most shocking one! Of course I already had heard about the fights in Northern Ireland between Catholic and the Protestant people but i knew also that the made peace 10 years ago, so I was pretty shocked to discover that after a so long period of time things are still not ok.
Catholic and Protestant (but this division is pure smoke, the real fight is for the identity of Northern Ireland, Irish or British) live in different parts of the city, like a ghetto. The two parts of the city are divided by a high wall with automatic dorrs that can be closed in case of emergency.
The atmosphere seems the same as in Berlin during the Cold War, with the only difference that in Berlin the population from both the parts wanted to stay togheter, here the population voted for the wall to stay for some other years, because they still don't trust each other.
They go to work togheter but their social life is totally separated, no common pub, ect... Only the city centre is 'neutral zone', but if you want to avoid trouble never leave the main road!
Both the parts of the city are covered by murales with propaganda for one of the faction. Children who go to school pass in front of an army terrorist painted on a wall every single day. Of course schools are segregated, no mix between them. The tour that showed us the two parts of the city was really great, but left me a really sad feeling for all the hate there is still in that city.
I hope for them a paceful future, and I hope they will realize that they are all man, no matter their religion or citizenship, War is a solution for nothing.
PEACE FOR BELFAST!
if u are intersted in knowing more about belfast history, here are some good links:
Wiki
infoplease
wiki again
Catholic and Protestant (but this division is pure smoke, the real fight is for the identity of Northern Ireland, Irish or British) live in different parts of the city, like a ghetto. The two parts of the city are divided by a high wall with automatic dorrs that can be closed in case of emergency.
The atmosphere seems the same as in Berlin during the Cold War, with the only difference that in Berlin the population from both the parts wanted to stay togheter, here the population voted for the wall to stay for some other years, because they still don't trust each other.
They go to work togheter but their social life is totally separated, no common pub, ect... Only the city centre is 'neutral zone', but if you want to avoid trouble never leave the main road!
Both the parts of the city are covered by murales with propaganda for one of the faction. Children who go to school pass in front of an army terrorist painted on a wall every single day. Of course schools are segregated, no mix between them. The tour that showed us the two parts of the city was really great, but left me a really sad feeling for all the hate there is still in that city.
I hope for them a paceful future, and I hope they will realize that they are all man, no matter their religion or citizenship, War is a solution for nothing.
PEACE FOR BELFAST!
if u are intersted in knowing more about belfast history, here are some good links:
Wiki
infoplease
wiki again
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I wouldn't like having to see this conflict played out on walls every day... good reportage post.
DancingDolphin · 2010-11-15: 18:29
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Yes, impressing and very sad... Thank you for this reportage, Lori.
????? · 2010-11-15: 18:54
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Peace in Belfast will be a long time coming. It has taken hundreds of years for it to fester to what it is now - it will take an equally long length of time to fix. Beautifully captured images though - moving
Pinkie · 2010-12-07: 15:43
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