wfn.org | The Omagh bombing: A turn to peace?

[Beth Hawn]

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To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-08-26 15:03
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Message ID: B6B4541AE23CD211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: The Omagh bombing: A turn to peace?

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August 26, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

First Person: The Omagh bombing:  Will we at last turn to peace?

EDITOR'S NOTE: On the afternoon of Aug. 15, while shoppers jammed the   
busy
streets of Omagh, Northern Ireland, officials tried to decipher a garbled
 bomb threat over the phone.  While they scrambled to clear the area,   
they made
one fatal mistake:  They directed the hordes directly to a location where   
the
500-lb. car bomb exploded.  At least 27 people were killed and more than   
200
were wounded.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (GCMC/MBM/MCC) - The past few days in Northern
Ireland since the Omagh bombing have moved at the hazy, unreal pace only   
shock
 and grief can bring.  This tragedy, the largest loss of life in a single   
bombing
since the troubles began, has left Northern Ireland reeling.

Today, 16 of the 28 killed will be buried - many of them just children.

Over the past few days I have been drawn to a poem written by Sharon   
Moyna, one
of the youth from our center on the peace line, the Forthspring Community   

Centre.  It seems fitting to share her poem with you as we grieve and   
reflect on
the events of the past few days.

"QUESTIONS????"
Why do you bomb, and kill, and maim?
Who started it all?  Who is to Blame?
Was it the Irish?  The British?  The Taigs?, or the Prods?
Or has it always been in the hands of the gods?

Why do I suffer for the sins of the past?
Do you not realize my pain is so vast?
For the pain of the victims, both young and old,
Did they know why they died?  Were they ever told?

Did they die quickly?  Or did they suffer much pain?
Can you not see, their suffering was in vain?
Somebody's mum, dad, daughter, or son.
Do you ever look back, and wonder what you've done?

Do you have a family that you care for?
Or are they dispensable in this ugly war?
Could you stand by the side of your child's grave?
Or is that a life you would like to save?

How long must it go on?  The suffering and pain.
What is the reasoning?  Who will ever gain?
Why must I pay, for the sins of yesterday?
When will you listen to what I have to say?
                - Sharon Moyna, age 15  (Catholic)

Tragedy tears at us because it evokes so many mixed feelings.  I think   
everyone
across Northern Ireland has had mixed feelings the past few days:   
grieving
 for the dead, feeling revulsion at the killing of children, being   
sickened by
the horrific injuries others have sustained, yet at the same time being
grateful for their own safety and the safety of their family members.   
 There is
a cold reality to the indiscriminate nature of the bomb.  That car could   
have
been driven to any town, anywhere in Northern Ireland - there was no   
special
significance to Omagh.  It just happened to be an easy place to park a   
car bomb.

But it is the victims themselves who dominate the news and are in our   
hearts and
minds today.  Yesterday (Aug. 18), thousands converged on the city center   
of
Belfast for a time of reflection.  The names of the 28 people killed were   
read
out and then there was a moment's silence.  This Saturday afternoon (Aug.   
22)
all the main churches across Northern Ireland will hold special services,   

culminating in a moment's silence at 3:10 p.m., the time the bomb went   
off.

This hellish act has highlighted the moral bankruptcy of the Republic
movement's "long war of attrition" against the British in Ireland as the   
way
to gain their political aspirations.  There was a lot of speculation   
right
after the bombing that the "Real IRA," a small splinter group of around   
70
terrorists from the Provisional IRA opposed to the cease-fire and the   
peace
process, had deliberately led the civilians into a trap by reporting the   
bomb
to be at the other end of the street near the courthouse.  Today they   
denied this
issued a very lame apology, and said they were "suspending" their   
violence to
re-evaluate the way forward.  Their apology has offended many, their
suspension of violence has come too late, and their clear unwillingness   
to
promise they won't resume violence in some fashion in the future all   
leaves a
sour taste in people's mouths when so many of their victims are being   
buried
today.

The public revulsion toward this atrocity has also caused the political   
wing
of the INLA, another extreme Republican group that has opposed the peace
process and has never declared a cease-fire, to encourage the INLA   
publicly
to consider a cease-fire.

While this bomb was clearly not an attack on Protestants alone or   
affecting
Protestants alone, but an attack on the peace process and society at   
large, it
certainly caused anger among Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries.  They
held private meetings the day before yesterday to determine if they would   

continue with their present cease-fires.  Thankfully, these cease-fires
seem to be holding even among the most extreme Loyalist paramilitaries   
like
 the LVF (Loyalist Volunteer Force).

Who knows what will happen in the aftermath of this bomb?  Who knows how   
it will
affect the peace process over the next year?  About half the victims were   

Catholics and half were Protestants.  Will this be the last horrible   
atrocity
in Northern Ireland and a turning point toward new unity and deep peace
born of deep pain?

There is a profound sense of shame over this violent act in the name of
Republican ideals.  Is this a potential turning point, a moment for
repentance from evil and violence?  Will Northern Ireland remember the   
Omagh
bomb victims and turn with renewed energy to the difficult task of   
building
peace?

I hope and pray we all find peace.
* * *
David Moser, a joint worker with the Commission on Overseas Mission of   
the
General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Board of Missions of   
the
Mennonite Church, is assistant pastor of the Springfield Road Methodist
Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  His work includes ministry with   
youth
at the Forthspring Community Centre, a community reconciliation center
serving Catholics and Protestants.