Like the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Sinn Fein has made known their support for the campaign to free Mumia Abu Jamal from death row and has recognized his status as a political prisoner. We in the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America applaud this progressive stance and show of solidarity by Sinn Fein.

We are unable, however, to reconcile this with the public statements made by the leading member of Irish Northern Aid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania regarding Mumia's struggle for justice.

In a December 15th message posted to a leading internet news group for items related to Ireland and to another list maintained specifically for Sinn Fein supporters, Joe Joyce of Irish Northern Aid referred to Mumia as "that cop killing scum bag Mumia Abu Jamal" in the course of an introduction to an article from a Philadelphia newspaper written against Mumia.

Referring to the member of the racist Philadelphia police force -- infamous for their incendiary assault on MOVE years ago -- for whose death Mumia was sentenced to death row, Joe Joyce concluded: "May Danny Faulkner's soul rest in peace, may Jamal burn in Hell."

Certainly members of various Irish activist organisations in the US can be expected to hold a variety of opinions of subjects not related to the primary focus of the organisation which unites them, and were this a matter of purely personal concern, Mr. Joyce's opinions would be of interest to himself alone. In this case, however, the subject was the struggle of one of the US's best known political prisoners for justice -- a struggle endorsed by the likes of Bernadette McAliskey, but more importantly, a struggle supported by Sinn Fein itself.

We question, therefore, what does it say about Irish Northern Aid, and by extension Sinn Fein, that the person who made these statements is the same person that INA's weekly newspaper lists as their primary contact in Virginia? Moreover, what does it say about Irish Northern Aid, and again, by extension, the movement they support, that despite a number of their leading members being participants on the news list in question, none of them replied to Mr. Joyce's statements in a manner designed to distance the organisation from the reactionary opinions expressed? Only Irish Northern Aid is in a position to say.

The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America therefore call upon the leadership of Irish Northern Aid to publically distance themselves from the statements of Mr. Joyce in regard to this matter, and make plain that, though he is a spokesperson of their organisation, his statements in this case are not shared by Irish Northern Aid.

We would further invite Irish Northern Aid to join us in demonstrating their solidarity with the struggle of Mumia Abu Jamal -- as we have done many times throughout the country at demonstrations and rallies and through letters of support. We invite them, through such an expression of support for the struggle to save Mumia's life and free him from prison, to demonstrate that they have learned, like ourselves, through the experience of the oppressed Nationalist community of the six county statelet in Ireland, that revolutionaries from marginalised and oppressed sectors of society can expect no justice.

If these public statements by a member of Irish Northern Aid, who is named as their representative in their national newspaper each week, are not repudiated by INA, we would then ask them to explain their failure to do so to the African American community, the Latino community, the Native American movement, and the socialist, labour, and progressive community in general who have joined together in supporting Mumia.

Is mise,

Peter Urban

North American Coordinator
Irish Republican Socialist Committees