“The Whole World, Joxer, is in a State of Chassis.” by Donal Kennedy

Never, in The Globe or any Theatre in the Galaxy, were  truer words spoken than those of Cap’n Boyle on the Stage of Dublin’s Abbey.

In recent BLOGS I’ve quoted from reports in THE TIMES reprinted from 100 years ago, on the establishment, by the victors of the Great War, of the League of Nations.

The first item on its agenda, raised by France’s Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, nicknamed “The Tiger”was the trial and punishment of the Kaiser, and the fatal mauling of Germany, a course which  had the eager support of the British Government and THE TIMES. “Hang the Kaiser” had been an election slogan in Britain. There was talk of an International Court with competence to deal with such matters.

All members of the League bound themselves to its Covenant to come to the aid of any of them who were attacked.

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The powers with Permanent membership of the League’s Council of Ministers, flouted its Covenant. Japan by its aggression in China, Italy by her Rape of Abyssinia, the United Kingdom by its giving, not quite free, but toll-paid passage to the Italian rapists, complete with their equipment,   through the British- owned and controlled  Suez Canal, and France, which assumed the right to gift most of Abyssinia to Italy.

All of Africa  (Abyssinia excepted),  its peoples,  land, territorial seas, immense mineral and other wealth,  by 1900 had been expropriated, abused and tyrannically exploited by Europeans by the end of the 19th Century and its liberation was not on the League  of Nations’ agenda.

. In 1932, Ireland’s delegate to the League’s General Assembly, Eamon de Valera , demanded that the League members honour the Covenant. In 1936 as a delegate to the League’s Council of Ministers he repeated the demand and offered Irish troops to support the League in defence of attacked members. Again the League refused to hang together, and some were to hang separately   in the following decade.

When Nazi Germany was defeated, mainly by the Soviet Union, and Japan defeated by the United States, the victors founded the United Nations.

But the State of Chassis continued, as Britain, France and the Netherlands grabbed back their Imperial possessions, Belgium continued the rape of the Congo, the United States remained supreme in the Americas, and overthrew the legitimate government in Iran, launched murderous assaults on Vietnam and its Asian neighbours. Behaviour unsanctioned by the laws of God or man, or licenced by International Covenant.

The United Nations was founded, established a Charter, but no Covenant to rival the honourable but dishonoured Covenant of the League of Nations.

Ireland, which had held fast to the old Covenant, was not invited to join the new body .Apparently, because, like the Soviet Union, the United States, and most European States Ireland had stayed out of the war, until war was waged against her, Ireland was in bad odour amongst the self-righteous.

Some countries, such as Argentina declared War on Germany a week or so before its collapse, and so became founder members of the UN.

In September 1949 the United Nations adopted a Geneva Convention, to which 196 Nations are now signed up to. Part of the Convention governs the  responsibilities of Occupied Territories to the peoples of those territories, their lives and properties and also to the rights of those peoples.

The State of Israel was established in 1949 and adopted the polices that made Britain, America, France,Italy, Japan and other aggressors grate on their unfortunate neighbours. To paraphrase Thomas Drummond, States have Duties as well as Rights.

Last week, in accordance with the Geneva Convention, Dail  Eireann  passed a Bill, previously passed in Seanad Eireann, to make the Convention binding in Irish Law. Irish Law now prohibits the import into Ireland or sale therein of goods from the illegally Occupied  Territories.

Ireland is apparently again in bad odour amongst the self-righteous states.

And the world remains in a State of Chassis.

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