Caoimhe Butterly
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Caoimhe Butterly is an Irish
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
campaigner, educator, film-maker and therapist who has spent over twenty years working in
humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...
and
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
contexts in Haiti, Guatemala, Mexico, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and with refugee communities in Europe. She is a
peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...
who has worked with people with AIDS in Zimbabwe, the
homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
in New York, and with Zapatistas in Mexico as well as more recently in the Middle East and Haiti. In 2002, during an
Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
attack in Jenin, she was shot by an Israeli soldier. She spent 16 days inside the compound where
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
was besieged in Ramallah. She was named by ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine as one of their Europeans of the Year in 2003 and in 2016 won the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Human Rights Film award for her coverage of the refugee crisis. Butterly is a
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...
and a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), an organisation that seeks
non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
alternatives to armed intifada by mobilising international civil society.


Early life

Caoimhe Butterly was born in Dublin to a family therapist. Her father's work as a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
moved the family from Ireland to Zimbabwe when she was a young child. She grew up in Canada, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe due to her father's work with the United Nations. She spent time working in the New York
Catholic Worker Movement The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ". One of its guiding prin ...
, then moved to Latin America where she spent three years living with
indigenous communities There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
in Guatemala and in Chiapas, Mexico. She also lived in Jenin
refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...
on the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
for a year. She has visited Iraq on numerous occasions, she visited Lebanon, where she protested
British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
's visit to the country after he allowed US bomb shipments to be sent to Israel via Britain during the
2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
. Butterly was brought up in a culture of liberation theology, which, she says, "deeply inspired" her to engage in human rights work She spent time working as a volunteer in AIDS hospices in Zimbabwe as a teenager. At a very young age, she says, she developed a deep sense of duty. "I've always felt the need to almost a painful degree of needing to stand up against injustices in whatever contexts they lie." She left school at 18, wanting to travel, and Then after high school headed to New York, where she spent a year working in the city's Catholic Worker house, which was founded by
Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...
and Peter Maurin in 1933.


Humanitarian work and Activism

After New York, in 1998, she moved to Latin America where she spent three years living with indigenous and Zapatista communities in Guatemala and in Chipas, Mexico. She later worked with refugees and internally displaced communities in the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq and Lebanon, which included work as a volunteer EMT with ambulance services. In 2001 she spent 10 days fasting in front of the offices of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, in protest at the
Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...
's decision to allow US
warplane A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on support roles: * Combat aircraft, ...
s to refuel at
Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...
on their way to Afghanistan. She was arrested while trying to block the runway.


Siege of the Arafat compound

In April 2002, she spent 16 days with other volunteers inside the besieged Muqaata compound in
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
, in solidarity with the
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
and to protest the Israeli military presence in the area. She was later wounded during a military incursion into Jenin refugee camp.


Jenin incident

On 22 November 2002, during an Israeli military operation in Jenin, Butterly, then 24 years old, was shot by an Israeli soldier and suffered a thigh injury. She had been trying to lead a group of Palestinian children to safety. In an interview in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', journalist Katie Barlow reported being inspired to meet Butterly by the footage of her blocking
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
tanks as they fired over her head, and stories of her standing in the line of fire between soldiers and Palestinian children, as the IDF threatened to "make her a hero". In the report, Barlow described how Butterly ran straight, despite the continuing fire, toward a disabled Palestinian boy who was shot by an Israeli sniper. Later a
Red Crescent The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human ...
ambulance arrived at the scene and amid continuing gunfire, the paramedics got the boy into the vehicle, the snipers managed to shoot through the ambulance window, shattering glass all over the boy, and nearly killing the local cameraman who was filming a report. The boy would survive, but was paralysed from the waist down. After being shot, Butterly, who had by then spent more than a year standing in the path of Israeli tanks and troops, refused to leave: "I'm going nowhere. I am staying until this occupation ends. I have the right to be here, a responsibility to be here. So does anyone who knows what is going on here."


Iraq War

Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Butterly campaigned against the Irish government's decision to allow the United States military to use
Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...
. She was initially a signatory to the Pitstop Ploughshares action that disabled a US warplane at Shannon in February 2003, but decided ultimately not to participate out of a desire to travel to Iraq in solidarity with civilians there. At a 2003 Belfast summit between US President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Butterly was arrested and dragged away by her hair for smearing red jam on the riot shields of two policemen. "There is no such thing as a benign occupation" she says. "It's time to focus again on what is happening in Baghdad."


Stay in Beirut

After the 2006 war in Lebanon, British Prime Minister Tony Blair went on a political trip to the Middle East for meetings with leaders of the region. A feeling of anger against the British Prime Minister was mounting in Lebanon, in relation to his stance during the war, his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire and his aligning of his policies with those of America President George W. Bush in support of the Israeli military operation. Butterly interrupted Blair's press conference with the Lebanese Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora Fouad Siniora (; born 19 July 1943) is a Lebanese politician. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 2005 to 2009. He served as minister of Finance from 2000 to 2004. Early career In the 1970s, Sanioura ...
, accusing Blair of complicity in the recent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. "This visit is an insult", "Shame on you Tony Blair" Butterly shouted as Siniora and Blair spoke at Siniora's office complex. She held a banner saying "Boycott Israeli apartheid" in front of live TV cameras, until security guards holding her by arms and legs carried her out. Blair and Siniora stood quietly as she shouted.


Iain Hook incident

In 2005, she gave written
eyewitness testimony Eyewitness testimony is the account a bystander or victim gives in the courtroom, describing what that person observed that occurred during the specific incident under investigation. Ideally this recollection of events is detailed; however, this is ...
in the
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...
into the killing of
UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...
relief works project manager
Iain Hook Iain John Hook (1948 – 22 November 2002) was a British aid worker and military officer who worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as project manager in the rebuilding of Jeni ...
by an
Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, an ...
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
. Butterly was also shot in the foot during this incident.


Gaza flotilla raid

Butterly was aboard a flotilla bringing relief supplies to Gaza during the
Gaza flotilla raid Ships of Gaza flotilla raid, Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty woun ...
on 31 May 2010. In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, she worked with mobile phone healthcare clinics and psycho-social projects there. She later returned to third level education in her early 30s, completing Masters in Development Studies and in Systemic Pschotherapy.


Current work

Following 15 years working with humanitarian and rights projects in the Middle East, Butterly returned to Ireland. She is based in Dublin, though continues to work with trauma-informed psycho-social support programmes and Search and Rescue response with refugees in Greece, Calais, Italy, Lebanon and the Central Mediterranean. She also lectures and works in critical Development Education and writes for various refugee-related publications.


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated Diplomacy, diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usua ...


References


External links


Front line life of an Irish peace crusader
*Interview with Caoimhe Butterl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterly, Caoimhe Catholic Workers Date of birth missing (living people) Irish expatriates in Canada Irish expatriates in Guatemala Irish expatriates in Haiti Irish expatriates in the United States Irish expatriates in Zimbabwe Irish pacifists Irish women activists Living people Second Intifada casualties Women human rights activists Year of birth missing (living people) Irish activists for Palestinian solidarity