Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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The brouhaha in Northern Ireland
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
SO... this is 2017 is it? I can’t say I’m impressed so far. Ok there were some pretty fireworks and Auld Lang Syning, accompanied by the usual fake bonhomie and professions of not entirely sincere optimism.
Self-deluding resolutions were made, adherence to which is about as likely in most cases as Israel’s to those of the UN variety seeking to prevent its rapacious settlement building in the Occupied Territories and oppression of the Palestinian people.
So to Stormont. Is there any other body on the planet which so brilliantly encapsulates the spirit of democratic decorum, letting bygones be bygones and the setting aside of old grievances than those august men and women of the Northern Ireland Assembly?
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