Saturday, July 02, 2011

Belfast



The day we visited Belfast, Northern Ireland, we went to the peace wall that separates the Catholics and Protestants. The wall was built so the different factions couldn't throw bombs at each other. It's high enough that the amount of effort needed to throw a lighted bomb over the wall will extinguish the flame before it reaches the top.


And thus: Peace Wall.


All over the wall are messages from people, both from Northern Ireland and from around the world, asking everyone to be peaceful and get along. But the morning we visited, there were other messages, too. John Cassidy, a local vigilante, had beaten his wife and child the night before and put them in the hospital. Locals were enraged at Cassidy's hypocrisy, and wrote notes to him, threats.


We left that day for Scotland only to find out that riots broke out hours after we were safe.


It's a crazy world where we still have such hatred. And yet, doesn't John Cassidy deserve what he gets?