Far-right ‘patriots’ celebrate Palestinian saint without realising it

It’s St George’s day. Thousands of far-right racists are using this as an excuse for ranting about foreigners and the sanctity of ‘patriotism’. A few might attend pro-Israel demos — not that they like Jews, of course. However, they like the way Israel discriminates. And, of course, rags like the Daily Express are railing on about the “ST GEORGE’S DAY FURY” of patriotic Englishmen at the very idea they might be racist:

Hijacked Saint

Wonder how many of them would be mortified to find out that England’s patron saint was a Palestinian martyred by the Romans for his faith. He was buried in Palestine and his veneration first began there.

They might also hate that his martyrdom was another example of the brutality of occupiers. Rather than executing him, the Romans subjected him to twenty forms of torture over seven years to make him recant. He was then brutally beheaded by a Roman occupation eager to make an example of him. This was intended to deter resistance. Sound familiar? It should, we’ve been watching it play out in Israel’s Gaza genocide and its war on its innocent neighbours for years.

They would presumably not appreciate that, rather than suppressing resistance, Rome’s martyrdom of Saint George drove tens of thousands into the very Christianity it was trying to stamp out. There is a lesson there for the ‘friends of genocide’ lobby, no doubt.

Who’s the patriot?

And the same folk might not realise or appreciate that, while right-wing politicians from Farage to Keir Starmer like to exploit the ‘English’ saint for racist-pandering, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outdoes them. Starmer can’t resist a bit of flag-shagging as he tries to out-Reform by boasting about how many people he’s deported.

He also boasts about his ‘hostile environment‘ for immigrants. But only Corbyn said he’d make it a national holiday. This may actually do ordinary people (and flag-wavers) a bit of good.

Who’s the ‘patriot’ again?

Featured image via the Canary