Ansar al-Sharia and Governance in Southern Yemen
Robin Simcox
Yemen is one of the most impoverished nations in the Middle East. It has also emerged as the most important front of the U.S.-led war against al-Qaeda (AQ) and its affiliates. Given that the Yemeni state’s inability to provide basic provisions and services is a key driver behind AQ’s growth, these two issues have become inextricably linked.
A war for territory between the Yemeni government and AQ’s Yemeni franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has escalated since the start of the “Arab Spring” in 2011. Throughout the upheaval, the AQAP made significant territorial gains, especially in the Abyan and Shabwa provinces. In March 2011, al-Qaeda’s insurgent wing Ansar al-Sharia (AAS) took control of the southern town of Ja’ar in Abyan.1 While the town’s fall to AQAP was significant, it was not a complete surprise. AQAP already had a strong base there; Ja’ar supplied the Afghan mujahideen with fighters in the 1980s, and remnants of the Aden Abyan Islamic Army already lived in the city. Two months later, AQAP took control of Zinjibar, Abyan’s capital. Shaqwa, in Shabwa province, was then captured in August 2011. The towns were subsequently declared Islamic “emirates.” Meanwhile, AQAP’s leadership remained entrenched in the mountainous territory of Azzan in Shabwa.
AAS did not have to win a series of set piece battles with the army to gain control of these towns. As Barbara Bodine, the former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, said: “there was simply “no-one there to stop them.”2 By the time the political crisis developed in Sana’a, state control in southern Yemen had essentially evaporated. Moreover, al-Qaeda’s tactics had evolved. It became evident that they were beginning to provide basic services to the people in the towns they controlled in an effort to harness popular support. Winning this support would, presumably, allow them to recruit in even greater numbers.
The Yemeni military only regained control of these towns in June 2012. After the government expelled AAS, the group stated in June 2012 that under their leadership:
The Sharia was implemented, security prevailed, people were safe on their properties, honors and blood, the virtue was established and the vice was removed, crime disappeared, and blackmail ended, also the aid reached to the villages of the people and the services reached to many villages and taxes were cancelled and even the fees for services like water, electricity, municipality and others were cancelled.3
These are significant claims; and, if AAS take these claims seriously, or even if they are trying to give the perception of such achievements, it is important to understand how much is fact and how much is propaganda. The manner in which AAS governed the areas it controlled over the last year provides insight into how AQ could resolve one of its most challenging dilemmas: how to gain local support for its global agenda. In some ways, AAS’s Abyan and Shabwa policy provides an outline of how the group may have to operate in the coming years to retain its relevance and potency. It also gives clues about how governments may be forced to respond.
The AQAP—AAS Nexus
AQAP’s creation was announced on January 20, 2009 following a merger of the Yemeni and Saudi wings of al-Qaeda. Soon thereafter, the group became especially notorious as it proved to be operationally capable of breaching Western security measures. In several instances, it nearly succeeded in carrying out terrorist plots that would have resulted in mass casualties.
On December 25, 2009, AQAP recruit Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted and failed to detonate a bomb concealed in his underwear on a flight headed to Detroit, Michigan. On October 29, 2010, AQAP bombs were discovered in U.S.-bound cargo planes during stopovers in the United Arab Emirates and the UK. In April 2012, the CIA thwarted an AQAP plan to use another underwear bomb on a flight headed to the U.S. after a Saudi agent infiltrated the group. These plots prompted John Brennan, assistant to President Obama on homeland security and counterterrorism, to call AQAP “the most operationally active node of the al-Qaeda network.”4 The perception of AQAP in the West as a group that specializes in spectacular, creative terrorist attacks designed to kill on a mass scale has, however, a limited bearing on how the group is regarded in Yemen. Much of this simply comes down to the work that AAS carries out at a local level.
On October 4, 2011, the State Department designated AAS as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as an extension of AQAP. It stated that “AAS is simply AQAP’s effort to rebrand itself, with the aim of manipulating people to join AQAP’s terrorist cause.”5 Those who have seen the group in action in Yemen have said the same.6 Both groups are headed by Nasir al-Wahishi, and both share supporters. Senior AQAP cleric Abu Zubayr Adel al-Abab, has said that “the name Ansar al-Shari’a is what we use to introduce ourselves in areas where we work, to tell people about our work and goals.”7 Mohammed al-Bashar, the Yemeni Embassy’s official spokesman in Washington, D.C., described AAS as “AQAP’s attempt to empower local jihadi-linked actors with ties to AQAP, and rebrand the movement under a global positive banner. After all, who would dare say no to Islamic law?”8
Within the organization, however, there are undoubtedly layers of loyalty, support, sympathy and membership. Yemenis concerned with local issues may consider themselves part of AAS but not a global jihadist movement such as al-Qaeda. Ambassador Bodine posits that even if key AQAP leaders were eliminated, AAS would still exist; moreover, even if AAS was eliminated, it may not destroy AQAP. The two groups “feed on each other. They support each other. They certainly are related, but they’re not identical.”9
However, the fact that AAS is a vital component of AQAP’s attempt to harness ground support for its agenda, and the fact AAS can and does promote sharia law without having to explicitly associate with al-Qaeda,10 are in and of themselves signs that the group is increasingly concerned about fighting its propaganda wars in a more effective manner. Therefore, an analysis of AAS’s interest in providing effective governance provides insights regarding AQAP’s priorities and how it may operate in the future.
A Change in Style
Al-Qaeda’s previous attempts at taking over, controlling and then governing significant pieces of territory have all been failures. This was most apparent in Iraq, where AQ found it impossible to maintain any level of support. This was not only because of its inability to govern, but because of inter-tribal fighting and high levels of civilian casualties. The growing disaffection of local Muslim populations culminated in the Anbar Awakening of late 2006. An AAS official interviewed in Azzan this year said that the group was keen to avoid the same confrontations that they faced in Iraq, and the biggest threat to his organization was not the U.S., but southern Yemen’s tribes.11
The group’s tactics have adapted accordingly. In Yemen, AAS has courted religious and tribal leaders with grievances. Muslim collateral damage has been reduced to focusing on government targets. Jalal Baleedi Al-Murqashi, al-Qaeda’s commander of the Abyan governorate, indicated a fundamental shift in political strategy when he stated that “we are doing our best to ensure that the vulnerable people, whom the military and its mercenaries are using as human shields, are not hurt.”12 Safa al-Ahmad, a film director who visited southern Yemen in 2012, said an AAS representative had told her that the group had “learned their lesson from Iraq,” and were focused on a “hearts and minds” campaign.13 To al-Bashar, it was “like they had read a US Army COIN manual.”14
Abu Zubayr Adel al-Abab promised that AAS would find “solutions” for the biggest problem facing Ja’ar: a “lack of public services such as sewage and water.”15 Taking this seemingly more conciliatory and “political” approach, AAS provided a host of important material services to needy populations that the central government in Sana’a had been incapable of providing for many years. At the same time, AAS began to introduce an alternative legal system, and, they attempted to implement their own standards on social and criminal behavior on those who lived in the towns they controlled.
There is a consensus that AAS provided food, gas, and fresh water to the populations under its control.16 However, the achievement AAS was especially proud of and keen to highlight was its ability to provide electricity. Several sources have corroborated this, including a host of Ja’ar residents interviewed between March and May 201217 and a documentary filmmaker who visited the region.18
An AAS propaganda video filmed in March 2012 and distributed through their Madad News Agency media wing shows AAS connecting electricity lines in Ja’ar suburbs and images of electric lights and fans operating correctly. The video goes on to ask several different villagers how many houses in their area are being powered by AAS electricity. The answers range from 50 to 300. All interviewed are fulsome in their praise for AAS. One al-Fateh villager is asked how the group treated the suburb: he responds “Oh, sweet. They were great!” A resident of Hajfoor notes “how many times have we asked for it and demanded it, electricity and water, no one gave us our request . . .God give them goodness, [AAS] didn’t fail us.” A resident in Seehan speaks about approximately 300 houses that now have electricity, stating “Even the children, look at the children, they are happy! We used to wish for this, our grandfathers used to wish for this.” Another interviewed in Saken Waees says that “Ansar Al-Sharia did what the generations before didn’t do.”19
These interviews regularly stress that AAS provided these public services for free and performed them quickly. These achievements are then explicitly contrasted with the fact that electricity had not been provided in these periods for, in some instances, decades. In the words of one resident of Ja’ar not featured in the propaganda video, “Ansar al-Sharia have solved many problems for us that the government hadn’t managed to do for 20 years.”20
Basic provisions, however, are not the limit of AAS’s goals. There is also evidence that they installed sewage pipes,21 provided teachers, ran the police force,22 collected trash, and connected phone lines.23 According to Nadwa al-Dawsari, the director of Partners Yemen, an NGO based in Sana’a, AAS even went so far as to stop the practice of cheating during school exams in Azzan.24 It is also believed that they hijacked Saudi aid drops containing items intended for Yemeni soldiers and distributed it to residents in towns they controlled.25 Other Ja’ar sources have said AAS’s population outreach efforts even involve providing basic healthcare to some, though not all, residents.26 Al-Razi hospital in Abyan, for example, was rumored to have only treated sick and injured members of AAS.27
Nadwa al-Dawsari believes that AAS in South Yemen were “genuinely trying to provide services in the areas that it controlled as a means of establishing support and legitimacy.”28 Safa al-Ahmad, having personally seen the group’s presence in these towns, confirms that “They were really into running [it].”29 AAS is also an ideological organization, however, and their efforts were not restricted solely to providing material aid and services. While referencing AAS’s sharia law courts, al-Dawsari says the group’s role was “not just collecting garbage or helping poor families but also providing justice.”30
An AAS judge interviewed in April 2012 stated the new courts system had resolved 42 cases in two weeks, and claimed that “People come to us from parts we don’t control and ask us to solve their problems. The sharia justice system is swift and incorruptible. Most of the cases we solve within the day.”31 Rulings were made almost instantly on backlogged cases left unresolved for over a decade.32 The courts even dealt with murder cases.33 According to al-Dawsari, these courts were “treat[ing] people as equal . . .regardless of their social status or tribal affiliation.”34
A particular incident in April 2012 supports al-Dawsari’s claim. A member of the Alja’adnah tribe in Abyan murdered a fellow tribe member.35 Tribes have generally tended to prefer their flexible, tribal law over an AAS brand of sharia. Yet as al-Dawsari notes, “such killing incidents risk dragging the whole tribe in revenge killing. The formal justice system is ineffective and the informal system has limitations when it comes to revenge killing issues.” Therefore, AAS offered their services to the community, and locals subsequently turned the murderer to AAS. This suggests that on some level, they trusted their justice system.36
To an extent, AQAP has been willing to compromise on the harshness of its brand of sharia in order to gain local support. An unemployed laborer in Ja’ar commented that the group “talked about religion in a friendly way untilpeople felt comfortable with them.” Moreover, the market for khat, the local narcotic, was moved to the outskirts of Ja’ar but not banned.37 An AAS soldier described both cigarettes and khat as “sinful” and “bad for society,” but claimed that they tried to “persuade people to give up their sins . . .[not] force them.”38
However, even if AAS made attempts to moderate its agenda and tactics for political gain, there should be no illusions about the harshness of the group’s implementation of sharia law or the totality of its overall agenda.39 One suspected spy was crucified, while others were publicly executed. In Ja’ar, a local shaykh who objected to AAS targeting Muslims and killing soldiers was imprisoned.40 AAS also flogged those who drank alcohol,41 and banned Arabic music. Anti-American sentiment remains virulent: AAS has installed loudspeakers in public places that denounce America and U.S allies such as Saudi Arabia. Many claim that Jews control the U.S.42
The group also reportedly assaulted those who did not attend mosque at the required times.43 This contrasts with AAS claims that their response to those who do not want to pray is to “just take them aside and advise them on the importance of prayer” and, if that does not work, to “lock them somewhere quiet and give them reading material until they realize how wrong they were.”44
AAS has also chopped off the hands of those accused of stealing. One of their online video shows members revelling in such incidents.45 AAS judges continue to say that such incidents are “not to punish the thief, it is to deter the rest of society.”46 Another member of AAS tried to stress the importance of “context,” saying “If you steal food from the market because you are hungry, we will not cut the hand. But . . .if you steal during prayer time, or ifyou steal more than something like $65, then we cut.”47 This contrasts with stories which have emerged from others living under AAS rule. For example, when the father of a youth whose hand was amputated asked the group why the punishment had taken place, he was told by an AAS fighter “mazaj“ —or, “we were in the mood.”48
Such actions are likely to have confirmed to most Yemenis the brutality with which AAS intended to govern. However, one Ja’ar resident said that “al-Qaeda members made us feel safe, they cut off the hands of thieves. This is part of sharia: those who steal should have their hands cut off.”49 Another resident, speaking in September 2012 after the army’s offensive against AAS, claimed that “When al-Qaeda was here, it was good. There were no robberies. People treated each other in a decent way. No one would try to make problems.”50 It is possible that these interviewees were simply AAS sympathizers. However, it is also possible that the punishments were not universally disapproved of.
If AAS wanted to use these punishments as a deterrent, then it worked. Shops were left open during times of prayer, and no stealing took place.51 A Ja’ar street vendor said that “People felt secure and safe (under al-Qaeda) . . .People would leave their shops open when they went to pray and when we came back our goods were untouched.”52 This was a respite for tradesmen, who had previously been forced to bribe local criminals in order to allow them to operate their business: a practice which returned as soon as AAS had been forced out of Ja’ar.
AAS eventually gained enough confidence to invite Western journalists to Ja’ar, albeit in a “highly controlled way.”53 Nonetheless, they were willing to allow Western observers to see their running of the town first hand.54 The material benefits such as greater access to food, electricity and water that AAS brought to parts of Abyan and Shabwa certainly made their policies popular to at least some of the population. However, the key to assessing AAS’s success overall is to study how receptive residents of these towns were to their ideological approach: whether the citizens of Abyan and Shabwa became more sympathetic to AAS while they were in power, and how they reacted to their departure. In this respect, AAS’s experiment in governance was not as successful.
On some level, it would not be surprising if some Yemenis in the south were receptive to the AAS message. The majority of the population there remains destitute and marginalized. Alternative governing models such as socialism and Sultanism have been tried and have largely failed in Yemen. The state has a reputation for illegitimacy and corruption from which it has never really recovered. In oil-rich governorates such as Shabwa and Mareb, there is a perception that wealth generated goes to the regime, while basic services in most areas are non-existent.55 For these, among other reasons, Jalal Baleedi Al-Murqashi, al-Qaeda’s commander of the Abyan governorate, claimed in May 2012 that:
Several people in Abyan, Shebwa, Baida’a and Hadramout governorates want us to be there, so that we apply the laws of Islamic Sharia and maintain security. People in those areas love us and now we have become a part of them. They realized that we are honest and fair.56
AAS certainly won some hearts and minds. After AAS’s rule collapsed, a disappointed Ja’ar resident was quoted as saying that, under AAS, “Everyone was comfortable, the young and old.”57 And yet, overall, it seems the most common reaction to the group’s departure was happiness and relief. A member of the Zinjibar local council said the “horrors” of AAS rule were “unthinkable,” and that she was “incredibly happy” at their departure.58 Another Zinjibar resident stated that it was “great” that AAS had gone.59 One woman interviewed in Abyan also expressed happiness at AAS leaving, saying “We can’t believe this, it’s a dream today! This dream came true today! We didn’t see something like today. It’s a priceless day . . .Thank God for this day that we are living in today!”60 A man from the same region claimed “they are not really Ansar Al-Sharia, they are Ansar of destruction.”61
A Ja’ar resident speaking out against the group said “Man, if they wanted to jihad and that crap, send them to Israel, not here. We are Muslims, all of us are Muslims. If there is really jihad, let it go to the people who we are truly against and are enemies of Allah. We are not enemies of Allah.”62 Even Ja’ar residents thankful for the services AAS was able to provide still stressed the need to expel them. Two such individuals interviewed said that “We have to get rid of al-Qaeda, and yes, we need help from anyone . . .including America,” and that “[AAS] have brought war. Civilians are dying now because of them.”63
The outbreak of war has provided another incentive for Yemenis to reject AAS. There is an awareness that the AAS presence has led and will continue to lead to a greater U.S. drone and Yemeni Air Force presence, more bombing and higher levels of violence. As it becomes increasingly clear that an AAS presence will lead to a forceful Western response, AAS could find it increasingly difficult to muster much support.
Even some of those who initially welcomed AAS’s presence came to change their opinion. One Ja’ar resident said that:
In the beginning when [AAS] came here, they were simple people and weak. We were one of those people who were harmed by the government, because the government stole from us, and we were without work. We aligned with them in the beginning. We found out, thank God, before we did anything with them, we found out that they are liars . . .they love blood, and they are terrorists.64
This type of statement, in which the respondent confirmed his initial involvement with the group was out of anger and frustration with the Sana’a government, helps confirm that while AAS is increasing in numbers, this is not always for ideological reasons. As one former recruit who eventually became disillusioned with the group commented: “I thought Ansar al-Sharia would improve our lives.”65
Furthermore, it is also known that tribal elders have recruited fighters for AAS in return for wells, irrigation systems and food for their tribes.66 Some join to fight what they regard as an illegitimate regime.67 Yet, these localized and short-term gains for the group do not necessarily translate into support for AQ’s global ambitions. Furthermore, it can only ultimately have limited traction in Yemen because, as Ambassador Bodine says, despite its best efforts, “al-Qaeda does not have a constructive program.”68 It has certainly not yet found one that appeals to the majority of Yemenites.
Despite this, it is important to remember the impoverishment of Yemeni society, and the social conditions working in AAS’s favor. There are still significant pools of disaffected and politically disenfranchised youths for AAS to recruit. It is estimated that 54 percent of the population lives in chronic poverty; unemployment is as high as 40 percent.69 The national average age is just 18.1 years old. Furthermore, 16 to 28 year olds make up two thirds of the local population in Abyan and Shabwa.70 A young, politically disenfranchised, impoverished and unemployed populace will not all gravitate to AAS—yet they are likely to distrust and dislike the government as much as many of their parents. A weak central government unable to command authority or gain popular support is likely to lead to greater opportunity for AAS to pursue its political agenda.
Aftermath of AAS Rule
It is encouraging that many Yemeni’s living under impoverished circumstances remain resistant to al-Qaeda’s ideology. Yet, despite AAS’s departure, there are still grave problems facing the towns that they formerly controlled. These problems are undoubtedly linked to the central government’s continued inability to provide basic services and justice.
For example, electricity and water shortages in Abyan are once again commonplace.71 Not only does this aggravate many Yemenis, but civilians in these areas do remember that AAS managed to provide such services just months ago. In a June 2012 interview, a Ja’ar resident indifferent to the ideology of AAS commented that “We haven’t had water or electricity since the day before yesterday. We have never had such disruptions under al Qaeda rule.”72 This remains a problem for the government. Their inability to perform basic services enables al-Qaeda to recruit more effectively than any they could do on their own.
Reconnecting basic services is not going to be easy. Towns that AAS formerly controlled suffered tremendously during the war.73 There has been more than $2.5 billion in damage to buildings in Abyan.74 Hundreds of thousands fled the fighting and many of the displaced remain in refugee camps in Aden. Meanwhile, looters have robbed abandoned houses.75
Furthermore, many residents do not want to return to their hometowns for fear of left behind AAS landmines and IEDs.76 Some of those who have returned have been killed or maimed by these weapons, as have the soldiers trying to de-mine the streets.77 The jubilation of those who have made it back to their hometowns can be short-lived. Al-Bashar described the “destruction” in Zinjibar as “unbelievable . . . I don’t know how they are going to rebuild the city.”78 Yemeni television has also showed the destruction of Zinjibar. A resident interviewed said that:
The magnitude of destruction is big. This area is entirely destroyed . . . They put the bombs in the streets so they can destroy and kill the people. You can’t live here . . . we asked the government to go ahead and fix the water Al-Qaeda destroyed and polluted. They need to be fast because we are homeless with no water, or food or electricity.79
A woman interview in Ja’ar said that:
Look at all the buildings and houses, all of them are destroyed. They say they all have mines. I am one of those people who were told to go back home because our houses are clear, and they are in good condition. But where do I go back to? Which house? Look at the destruction! I can’t settle down in my life in a place like this. Not like before.80
An Abyan citizen interviewed spelled out these problems, saying that:
After the army won, Hamdillah, we hoped life would come back, especially the necessary services: electricity, water, schools. If you passed by in Zinjibar, you’d see the reality. There are no services. We hope that the services come back, so people come back.81
At present, this remains unlikely. Given the significant degree to which Yemenis distrust their government, anger among the population will likely remain widespread. For example, an Abyan citizen interviewed in the wake of AAS’s expulsion blamed AAS, former President Saleh and the local government for their situation:
They are Ansar Al-Shar (evil), not Ansar Al-Sharia . . ..The infrastructure now needs rebuilding, needs time, needs cooperation of efforts, and all of this is because Ali Abdullah Saleh . . .[He] is the reason behind the destruction of Abyan and our homelessness, and the leaders of our area are the people who caused us to be homeless.82
The government’s agriculture department is now surveying the damage in the affected areas. Some electric generators have arrived in Abyan, some water pumps are working in Zinjibar and new electric generators have been installed in Adenin a bid to resolve water supply issues. Deliveries of water are also beginning to increase. Yet al-Bashar acknowledges that this is now a “key moment.” If the government does not rebuild and de-mine affected areas in Abyan and Shabwa, then significant problems lie ahead. He states it plainly himself: “What they are saying in Abyan is (1) landmines are killing me. (2) I need electricity. For (1) you can blame Ansar al-Sharia. For (2), you end up blaming the government.”83
Sana’a has established a fund to help rebuild Abyan; however, it will be impossible to rebuild the areas destroyed in enough time to prevent further humanitarian disaster. In Ambassador Bodine’s view, the entire experience of AAS running southern Yemen towns has just “underscored the need for government services in there,” and the need for them to be capable of appealing to and responding to the basic needs of the local population.84
Al-Bashar says that ultimately AAS’s provision of basic services amounted to a “few simple projects.” He tends to think that AAS’s propaganda was extremely effective, stating they were “really good in promoting the little things they’ve done.”85 To some extent, it is likely that AAS was overstating what services they were able to provide. There will remain some debate over the effectiveness of their governance.
There is no doubt that AAS was more effective than Sana’a had been in a long time at addressing the lack of basic provisions. AAS understood what services were key and exploited them. They proved capable of organizing themselves into an increasingly formidable opponent militarily, but also, politically. Yemen was AQ’s most effective political campaign in the Middle East yet. In exploiting key issues in economically deprived, tribal areas, AAS displayed an ability to govern more effectively than AQ had in the past.
At the same time, AAS had many external factors to thank: a pre-existing distrust of central government, security and humanitarian concerns and widespread corruption. Yet despite these factors, support for the group was not widespread in the areas it controlled. Most citizens remained resistant to AQ ideology.
It is possible that AAS’s expulsion from the towns it controlled marks the end of their political agenda. Such is evident in that their fighters have dispersed and reverted to more traditional, hit and run style attacks against military targets. However, there is no guarantee that this will last. In September 2012, reports began to emerge of AAS offering a “Telephone for Help” service in which Abyan citizens suffering from “looting and robbery” at the hands of government forces who were taking the province back were encouraged to report their problems to AAS.86
As Ambassador Bodine says, “if we accept that AAS/AQ has learned the lesson of its own past, and is [giving] the perception of providing service and parallel government . . .then the Yemeni government needs to respond on that level.”87 Improvements in security will only be effective if the government’s stewardship of the economy and the justice system improves.
AAS’s strategy in Yemen also illustrates a critical aspect of their method: they only target areas where they already enjoy a certain amount of sympathy and political advantage.Ja’ar was a perfect target. Its historical involvement with the Afghan mujahideen and the Aden Abyan Islamic Army ensured that there were already veteran jihadis living in the area who were familiar with its history, culture, traditions, tribal characteristics and who held influence locally. The fact the population ultimately rejected AAS in these towns shows the limits of al-Qaeda’s ideological appeal. However, AAS is proof that al-Qaeda is attempting to develop and adapt as an organization. With instability in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sinai Peninsula, Syria, Mali and Nigeria, there are a growing number of opportunities for al-Qaeda to apply and improve its political strategy. As in Yemen, its ability to learn from past failures will help shape the group’s success in the future.
1 Iona Craig, “Resistance battles al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Yemen," USA Today, May 25, 2012. The idea of Ansar al-Sharia acting as al-Qaeda’s ‘insurgent wing’ was first referred to by British journalist Iona Craig The idea of Ansar al-Sharia acting as al-Qaeda’s ‘insurgent wing’ was first referred to by British journalist Iona Craig. ↝
2 Barbara Bodine, former US Ambassador to Yemen, Interview By the Author, May 21, 2012. ↝
3 ‘Valediction statement of Ansar Al-Sharia to the people of Waqar’, Ansar al-Mujahideen, June 14, 2012. ↝
4 Larry Shaughnessy, “U.S. official: Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than in Pakistan," CNN, December 17,2010. ↝
5 United States Department of State, “Terrorist Designations of Ansar al-Sharia as an Alias for Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," October 4,2012. ↝
6 Al-Qaeda in Yemen, directed by Safa al Ahmad (May 29, 2012, Frontline PBS,) Online Transcript, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a journalist who spent time with AAS in Ja’ar recently, found that the two groups operated as one, and saw ‘how clearly [AAS] referred to themselves as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.’ ↝
7 ’Online Question and Answer Session with Abu Zubayr Adel al-Abab, Shari`a Official for al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula’, April 18, 2012, available at http://icsr.info/news/attachments/1306407042ICSR_Abab__Translation.pdf ↝
8 Mohammed al-Bashar, Yemen Embassy Spokesman, Interview by the Author, Washington, D.C., 3 July 2012. ↝
9 .Understanding Yemen’s Al Qaeda Threat, directed by Azmat Kahn (May 29th, 2012, Frontline PBS,) Online transcript. ↝
10 Gregory Johnsen, “Frontline: Al-Qaeda in Yemen," The Big Think Blog, entry posted on May 30, 2012." ↝
11 ‘Al-Qaeda in Yemen’, Frontline, May 29, 2012 ↝
12 Abdulrazaq Al-Jaml, “Interview with Ansar Al-Sharia Leader in Abyan, Jalal Baleedi Al-Murqashi," Yemen Times, May 17, 2012. ↝
13 Marco Werman, “Frontline: Inside Al-Qaeda’s Stronghold in Yemen," The World, May 29, 2012. ↝
14 Mohammed al-Bashar, Interview by the Author, July 3, 2012. ↝
15 ‘Online Question and Answer Session with Abu Zubayr Adel al-Abab’, April 18, 2012. ↝
16 Yemeni official, Tribal Dynamics in Yemen: United States Special Operations Command conference, April 2012. ↝
17 Integrated Regional Information Networks, “Analysis: Battle for Hearts and Minds as Yemen Crisis Deepens," May 30, 2012, and Iona Craig, “Toll climbs in Yemen’s fight against al-Qaeda," USA Today, May 18, 2012. ↝
18 Marco Werman, “Frontline: Inside Al-Qaeda’s Stronghold in Yemen," The World, May 29 2012. ↝
19 ‘Madad News Agency presents a new video message from Anṣār al-Sharī’ah in Yemen: “Eyes on the Event #10’, Jihadology, April 22, 2012. ↝
20 Iona Craig, “Toll climbs in Yemen’s fight against al-Qaeda," USA Today, May 18, 2012. ↝
21 Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, “Al-Qaida's wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds," Guardian, April 30, 2012. ↝
22 Dina Temple Raston, “Al-Qaida: Now Vying For Hearts, Minds And Land," NPR, July 13, 2012. ↝
24 Nadwa al-Dawsari, Director of Partners Yemen, Interview by the Author, July 9, 2012. ↝
25 Mohammed al-Bashar, Interview by the Author, 3 July 2012. ↝
26 Integrated Regional Information Networks, “Yemen: Behind militia lines in Jaar," March 27, 2012. ↝
27 Ansar Al-Shari’a planted landmines to kill Abyan citizens’, Yemen TV, June 22, 2012. ↝
28 Nadwa al-Dawsari, Interview by the Author, July 9, 2012. ↝
30 Interview with Nadwa al-Dawsari, July 9, 2012. ↝
31 Ghaith Abdul-Ahad ‘Al-Qaida's wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds’, Guardian, April 30, 2012. ↝
32 Marco Werman, “Frontline: Inside Al-Qaeda’s Stronghold in Yemen," The World, May 29, 2012 or Integrated Regional Information Networks, “Analysis: Battle for Hearts and Minds as Yemen Crisis Deepens, May 30, 2012. ↝
33 ‘Ja’ar experience in living under the rule of Ansar Alshari’a’, Al-Jazeera, June 22, 2012, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7b8M-_0ejQ ↝
35 “As they are confident about the integrity of “Al-Shari’a" justice system – Al-Ja’adneh tribe in Abyan hands over one ofits members to be tried by “Al-Shari’a" courts’, Marib Press News, April 4, 2012. ↝
37 Sudarsan Raghavan, “In Yemen, tribal militias in a fierce battle with al-Qaeda wing," Washington Post, September 11, 2012. ↝
38 Casey L Coombs, “Land of the Black Flag," Foreign Policy, March 9, 2012. ↝
39 For an overview of Ansar al-Sharia human rights abuses in Abyan, see ‘Conflict in Yemen: Abyan’s Darkest Hour’, Amnesty International (December 2012). ↝
40 Al-Jazeera, 22 June 2012, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7b8M-_0ejQ ↝
41 Fuad Mused, “Military Plan to Attack Abyan, Returnees Flee Again," Yemen Times, March 1, 2012. ↝
42 Suadarsan Raghavan, “In Yemen, tribal militias in a fierce battle with al-Qaeda wing," Washington Post, September 11, 2012. ↝
43 Integrated Regional Information Networks, “Yemen: Behind militia lines in Jaar",March 27, 2012. ↝
45 >. 24 June 2012, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUHpTDLmzMA. ↝
46 Ghaith Abdul-Ahad “Al-Qaida's wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds," Guardian, April 30,2012. ↝
47 Casey L Coombs, “Land of the Black Flag," Foreign Policy, 9 March 2012. ↝
48 ‘Conflict in Yemen: Abyan’s Darkest Hour’, Amnesty International (December 2012). ↝
49 Khaled Abdallah and Mohammed Mukhashaf “Yemenis say al Qaeda gave town security, at a cost," Reuters, June 18, 2012. ↝
50 Sudarsan Raghavan “In Yemen, tribal militias in a fierce battle with al-Qaeda wing’, Washington Post, September 11, 2012. ↝
51 "Al-Qaeda in Yemen," Frontline, 29 May 2012. ↝
53 Marco Werman, “Frontline: Inside Al-Qaeda’s Stronghold in Yemen" The World, 29 May 2012. ↝
56 Abdulrazaq Al-Jaml "Interview with Ansar Al-Sharia Leader in Abyan, Jalal Baleedi Al-Murqashi," Yemen Times, May 17, 2012. ↝
57 ‘Ja’ar experience in living under the rule of Ansar Alshari’a’, Al-Jazeera, June 22, 2012. ↝
58 Adam Baron, “Yemen’s defense minister visits Zinjibar, Jaar – freed from al Qaida-linked militants’ control," McClatchy, June 13, 2012. ↝
59 Adam Baron, "A Hollow Victory," Foreign Policy, July 2, 2012. ↝
60 ‘Tears of happiness for Abyan citizens as they defeat Ansar “Evil"’, Yemen TV, 12 June 2012. ↝
61 'Abyan after Victory', Suhail TV, June 23, 2012. ↝
62 ‘Ansar Al-Shari’a planted landmines to kill Abyan citizens’, Yemen TV, June 22, 2012. ↝
64 ‘Jaar after the withdrawal of Ansar al-Sharia’, Sky News Arabia, June 29 2012. ↝
65 Sudarsan Raghavan ‘In Yemen, tribal militias in a fierce battle with al-Qaeda wing’, Washington Post, September 11, 2012. ↝
66 Christopher Swift, “Arc of Convergence: AQAP, Ansar al-Shari’a and the Struggle for Yemen, CTC Sentinel," June 21, 2012. ↝
68 Ambassador Bodine, Interview by the author, May 21, 2012. ↝
69 John Brennan, “U.S. Policy Toward Yemen," Council on Foreign Relations, August 8, 2012. ↝
70 Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, "Yemen." ↝
71 "Abyan after Victory," Suhail TV, June 23, 2012. ↝
72 Khaled Abdallah and Mohammed Mukhashaf, “Yemenis say al Qaeda gave town security, at a cost," Reuters, June 18, 2012. ↝
73 For example, see 'Abyan after Victory', Suhail TV, 23 June 2012, “Air strike against Ansar Al-Shari’a-Abyan images," Yemen TV, June 21, 2012; "Third report on infrastructure," July 7, 2012; "Al-Qaeda taking control of Yemen," 3 June 2012; Khaled Abdallah and Mohammed Mukhashaf, “Yemenis say al Qaeda gave town security, at a cost," Reuters, 18 June 2012; Bobby Ghosh, “Where Terrorists Have Tanks: A Ride Through al-Qaeda Country," Time, 25 July 2012; or “Thousands flee Abyan due to battles," Sky News Arabia, 26 June 2012. ↝
74 Adam Baron, “Yemen’s defense minister visits Zinjibar, Jaar – freed from al Qaida-linked militants’ control," McClatchy, 13 June 2012. ↝
75 “Suffering of displaced Yemenis in Aden," Al-Jazeera, 26 June 2012. ↝
76 Mohammed al-Bashar, Interview by the Author, 19 July 2012. ↝
77 Bobby Ghosh, “Where Terrorists Have Tanks: A Ride Through al-Qaeda Country," Time, 25 July 2012; or Thousands flee Abyan due to battles’, Sky News Arabia, 26 June 2012; or ‘Suffering of displaced Yemenis in Aden’, Al-Jazeera, 26 June 2012. ↝
79 “Air strike against Ansar Al-Shari’a – Abyan images," Yemen TV, 21 June 2012. ↝
80 “Ansar Al-Shari’a planted landmines to kill Abyan citizens," Yemen TV, 22 June 2012. ↝
81 ]. “Abyan is a disaster – citizens discuss their demands," Yemen TV, 23 June 2012. ↝
82 "Abyan after Victory," Suhail TV, 23 June 2012. ↝
84 Ambassador Bodine, Interview by the author, 21 May 2012. ↝
86 “Al-Qaeda starts helpline in Abyan," National Yemen, 10 September 2012. ↝
Terrorism and National Security Analyst, The Heritage Foundation
The Syria Effect: Al-Qaeda Fractures
Charles Lister
In late 2010 and into 2011, as the so-called “Arab Spring” swept across North Africa and the Middle East, a consensus emerged in the West that the unp...
Deploying Social Media to Empower Iranian Women: An Interview with Masih Alinejad
Lela Gilbert & Masih Alinejad
Masih Alinejad is recognized by millions of global admirers for inspiring protests against the Iranian regime’s enforced mandatory hijab...


Formula One Management / Sky Sports F1
Looking at whether F1 teams will benefit as a result of the exclusive Sky UK deal
March 25, 2016 March 26, 2016 David Nelson7 Comments
This past Wednesday, it was announced that Sky Sports would be covering Formula 1 exclusively in the United Kingdom from the 2019 season. Their new contract will last from 2019 through to 2024.
A definitive figure of how much the rights cost has not yet been released, however, it is understood that the rights will cost Sky around £1 billion for the six seasons. Barring some change between now and 2019, Formula 1 will lose a significant portion of viewers in the UK once this new deal kicks in. Sky have splashed out on the rights to prevent BT Sport from grabbing the F1 contract.
This post is based on some assumptions, but I wanted to understand (for myself) how much teams may benefit financially between 2018 and 2019 as a result of this contract. I’ve made a few scribbles in Excel, and I thought it made sense to publish them on here for others to see and analyse. I’m not saying “this is correct”, it is merely an indicator of how teams may benefit from the new deal. Readers of this site can judge for themselves whether the financial benefit for teams will offset the loss in viewers.
Assumption 1 = Sky’s UK F1 contract from 2019 to 2024 is £1 billion.
I should note that if we find out that their contract is less than £1 billion (let’s say £900 million for sake of argument), it does not invalidate the calculations below. As we will see, the figures at the foot of this article are quite small, meaning that a difference up top will not make a huge difference further down.
We have this figure that we need to split over the six years. Normally, we could do a straight ‘divide by six’ to present a figure per year. In broadcasting terms, contracts normally work with an escalator, meaning that they can increase in value by either 5 or 10 percent per year. This means that the cost can be back loaded through the contract as opposed to the majority of it upfront. I would expect the same to happen with Sky’s F1 contract. It is rare for the cost to be frontloaded, especially if broadcasters are in financial turmoil (see: ITV Digital and Setanta historically).
The predicted cost of Sky’s Formula 1 television rights within the UK from 2019 to 2024.
Above, there are four choices: your flat option along with three escalators. Option three on the escalator I think is a non-starter because it would result in the final year of Sky’s contract breaching the £200 million mark. Instead, I think option two is a more viable approach: the contract would start with £138 million in 2019, increasing to £198 million in 2024. You could flip a coin between option one and two, but even then there is £9 million difference for 2019 when you compare the two options.
Assumption 2 = Sky will pay Formula One Management (FOM) around £138 million in 2019.
I wrote a piece in 2014 looking at the rising cost of Formula 1’s television rights. In it, I placed the 2018 season roughly around £60 million. James Allen says that this is now £70 million, because Channel 4’s deal is £24 million per season instead of the £15 million that the BBC were previously paying.
To work out how much Formula 1 will benefit in 2019, we need to deduct the 2018 contract value (Channel 4 and Sky) from the 2019 total. The reason we deduct both Channel 4 and Sky is because there will not be a Channel 4 replacement in 2019. As of writing, the deal is Sky exclusive with no room for a second broadcaster to enter the fray. There is a “free-to-air” provision with relation to the British Grand Prix, but as mentioned before, this is where I anticipate Sky Sports Mix coming into play.
Based on the maths above, the difference between 2018 and 2019 is £68 million. That is the amount of money FOM will get extra as a result of the new deal. Probably the biggest assumption of the whole post is that every single penny of the £68 million will, in some shape, go back to the teams as part of their prize money.
Assumption 3 = Every penny of Sky’s Formula 1 deal will go back into the sport, and contribute to the financial health of every team.
This relies on those running the sport not taking 10 or 20 percent off Sky’s contribution. The £68 million difference can be divided multiple ways. Either, an equal split between the 11 teams, or a split whereby the larger teams get a bigger proportion of funding. The escalators below take an approach, whereby, for example with option one, Ferrari get 85 percent of Mercedes, Williams get 85 percent of Ferrari and so on and so forth.
Based on the calculations presented in this post, the possible gains that teams could make financially between the 2018 and 2019 Formula One seasons.
The calculations in this article show that a team such as Force India or Renault could gain around £6 million between 2018 and 2019 as a result of Sky’s exclusive UK deal. A front running team, such as Mercedes would gain between £8 million and £12 million, whereas the likes of Haas and Manor will gain between £2 million and £4 million between 2018 and 2019. Each team would then gain a further £1 million each year until the end of 2024 as Sky’s escalator kicks in (see the first figure in this post).
Alternatively, the increase from Formula 1’s UK rights could be split equally for 2019, thereby meaning that every team would gain around £6.2 million of prize money. A third alternative is that the inverse could occur, whereby the smaller teams gain as a result of this deal, with FOM choosing to distribute more money to them than the bigger teams, resulting in a healthier Formula 1 for all concerned.
Like I said at the top of the post: I’m not saying the above is correct, or will happen. However, hopefully the above helps to show how Formula 1 teams may benefit financially as a result of Sky’s new UK deal with FOM.
Formula One Management, Sky Sports F1
Scheduling: The 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix
MotoGP opener drops slightly year-on-year
7 thoughts on “Looking at whether F1 teams will benefit as a result of the exclusive Sky UK deal”
I find it hard to believe that Sky have paid anywhere near £1 Billion, they allowed C4 in when they didn’t have to, so presumably that gave them some bargaining power.They have also been cutting back on resource and the F1 Show, which had been awful in the recent studio form, so it seems odd that they would then splash out a billion.
According to Kevin Eason, CVC take £4 out of every £10 of income, so the teams will be lucky if they get anything.
David, have you heard anymore on what the FTA option will be? I read Sky’s Press Release differently to you. Sky Sports Mix will have at least two other live races, so I can’t see how that will be the FTA option.
The £1 billion is because BT Sport pushed the price up. When you consider the total cost was previously £70m a year, Sky would have gone a fair bit higher to get exclusively. Add in BT competition and you can see why we are at the position we are currently in. I’d say it is just shy of £1 billion, but until we see exact figures, its difficult to say.
I haven’t heard anything about the FTA option I’m afraid. Will be interesting if we hear more detail next week in Bahrain.
Looking at the numbers JA on F1 is quoting. the BBC were paying £39m for their exclusive deal up to the end of 2011, and Sky are currently paying £45m. So to almost quadruple it when it’s a niche sport seems odd, even if it is competing against BT.
I agree that we will never really know because the details won’t be published, and I take JA on F1’s numbers with a pinch of salt. I say that because when the BBC approached Sky in 2011, it was reported that the BBC would save £150m, and that included extending their coverage to 2018. If you look at JA’s numbers, the BBC didn’t save hardly anything.
Assumption 3 has me confused. Why wouldn’t a large percentage just end up in CVC’s pockets? Surely, that is exactly what will happen?
We already know, from experience, that FOM will take their slice and the rest is divided up amongst the teams based upon the agreements that were made unilaterally after the last Concorde agreement expired.
There is no way in hell that the teams are going to see 100% of this £1 billion (or similar) figure.
I agree completely with you Samantha. You could argue that the figures posted are most generous (hence why I’ve done a step by step post as opposed to jumping to the final figure).
It is extremely alarming if the majority of Sky’s cash goes to CVC and not back into the sport as it means the teams will not benefit at all. If you were to say that 50% goes to CVC, then teams at the back of the grid will only gain around ~£1m in 2018 compared with 2019.
PCK says:
I struggle to see what’s in it for the mainstream motor car manufacturers Mercedes, Honda and Renault, they don’t really need the Pay TV income, they do need the massive exposure of winning on free-to-air TV. Same argument goes for brands like Red Bull. For them F1 involvement is just a marketing strategy. Why would they blow their marketing budgets on expensive racing cars for a massively reduced TV audience?
Somewhere on a laptop in Osterley, this Sky deal makes perfect sense. I don’t think it’s in any way a loss leader. Has Formula One coverage been reduced to being an incentive in their subscriber retention strategy?
Golly says:
I think you’re dead right – manufacturers and the likes of Red Bull want lots of people watching and following. Exclusive Pay TV deals cut that in a stroke. By having to subscribe, at an ever increasing cost, fans are being asked more and more to finance the obscenely expensive world of F1 and line the pockets of CVC. Traditional sponsors are gradually walking away, leaving TV deals as the main cash stream.


Bonobos founder Andy Dunn to leave Walmart in 2020
Sarah Perez	@sarahintampa / 1 month
Andy Dunn, the founder of menswear site Bonobos which sold to Walmart in 2017 for $310 million, is now parting ways with the retail giant. The executive, who joined Walmart as SVP of digital consumer brands at the time of the acquisition, officially announced his departure in a LinkedIn post titled “A Love Letter to Walmart.”
In it, Dunn praises the time he spent with the company and the knowledge he gained while working there. Specifically, he references several of Walmart’s bigger initiatives, including its transformation into an omnichannel retail company serving customers online and offline, without distinction.
This is an area of Walmart’s business that’s been under pressure as the battle with Amazon heats up. A recent report by Bloomberg, for example, highlighted the internal corporate culture clash underway as Walmart’s e-commerce investments impacted stores and thinned margins.
Dunn also referenced Walmart’s growing grocery business, now helping to fuel its online sales, and the development of new Walmart brands like Allswell.
“I learned a lot more about retail transformation in the digital age at the world’s biggest company. I watched our strategy evolve as we uncorked our unique advantages on a new omni playing field – and began to identify where we aren’t just catching up, but where we are winning. The momentum with online grocery pickup opened my eyes: our thousands of supercenters are an asset nobody else has, so let’s use them,” wrote Dunn. “In our digital brands group, that led to development of a strategy built on omni, as we married our talent with the power of Walmart distribution to build brands like Allswell. With my departure, that incubator will now be plugged directly into the Walmart mothership,” he said.
Bonobos is one of several online brands that Walmart has now acquired to fill out its virtual shelves, along with Moosejaw ($51 million), ShoeBuy, Jet.com ($3 billion) and Hayneedle, in addition to Bonobos ($310 million) and ModCloth ($75 million). Dunn’s letter noted the more recent deal to buy plus-sized clothing brand ELOQUII ($100 million) — an example of Walmart’s desire to deliver a better life for its core customers.
Walmart’s acquisition streak has since slowed. It also sold off Modcloth just two years after buying it, to stem the losses from its e-commerce business. Bonobos saw layoffs in 2019, and Walmart’s biggest acquisition, Jet.com, has been folded into the rest of Walmart’s e-commerce operations.
Dunn’s letter also spoke to Walmart’s more controversial decision to fully exit the handgun and handgun ammunition businesses, and ban open-carry in its stores, following the mass shooting in its El Paso store.
“It’s a testament to what kind of company Walmart is that I entered thinking mostly about what I could offer, and ended up being the one who received so much,” said Dunn. “When it comes to making the world a better place, the world’s largest company is, 57 years later, just getting started. It’s a credit to the remarkable teamwork of 2.4 million of the hardest working people on planet Earth, all working together. As Sam said, the fact that we’re all in this together is the secret. At Walmart, it’s hidden in plain sight,” he concluded.
Vox previously reported on Dunn’s departure, citing a source, ahead of the official announcement.
Dunn’s departure will take place in 2020.
Walmart shared the news with its team in an internal memo yesterday. An except from this memo said:
“After more than two years innovating new, incubated brands and bringing on important acquired brands, as an entrepreneur at heart, Andy Dunn has decided now is the right time to take the next steps in his career. During the last two and a half years, Andy’s contributions to the organization have been invaluable. He’s been instrumental in building out and growing Walmart’s proprietary brand portfolio. The DNA of the incubated and acquired brands is now a key part of our strategy, and provides us a brand engine we can plug directly into the enterprise. Andy will remain onboard through January and will work closely with Merchandising and brand leadership to ensure a smooth and successful transition.”


IICM O Instituto
IICM
Mateus DOC
Ana Teresa Tavares-Lehmann
Ana Teresa T. Lehmann is Associate Professor of Economics at the School of Economics, University of Porto, researcher at CEF.UP, University of Porto, and Head of International Business at EGP-U.Porto Business School. She has M.Sc., PhD (both from the University of Reading, UK) and postdoctoral studies (U. Strathclyde) focusing on Internationalization/Foreign Direct Investment. She has also been a Visiting Professor and Visiting Research Fellow at several European and American Universities.
Ana Teresa T. Lehmann has served in several executive and policy-making roles, having been recently (2008-2012) Vice-President of Portugal’s North Regional Development Authority, in charge of strategies to promote internationalization, innovation, cluster policy and international cooperation. She is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor (for Strategic Planning and Enterprise Relations) of the University of Porto. She has served on the boards of various companies and foundations, and has been also an entrepreneur/owner of a consulting firm.
In the last 18 years, she has been a consultant to several institutions in Europe, Africa and the Americas such as the OECD, UNCTAD, European Commission, national and regional governments, the Portuguese Investment Agency, among others, in the fields of foreign direct investment, multinational enterprises, competitiveness, public policies, and regional development. She is the past President of the European International Business Academy (2009-2010), and currently a member of its Board and Executive Committee.
She has published widely, mainly on the themes of multinational subsidiary strategies and evolution, public policies related to FDI attraction and impact of multinational enterprise activities, either in books – for instance, Multinationals, Clusters and Innovation: Does Public Policy Matter? (Palgrave, 2006), Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm (Emerald, 2012) and in scientific journals such as International Business Review, Regional Studies, Transnational Corporations, International Journal of the Economics of Business, Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Economía Industrial, Managerial Finance, and Journal of Global Business. She is also a regular speaker at top-level conferences and expert meetings in Internationalization and Foreign Direct investment Strategies and Policy, and on Competitiveness, Clusters and Innovation, and serves as editor for international journals on strategy and international business.
She has received several awards for scientific merit and for executive career recognition.


Funeral Preparations - Community Mortuary
While there is a lot to think about in planning a service for a loved one, it's good to know that your Funeral Director will take care of all the details involved in bringing your plans to reality. In this section we have practical information about writing an obituary and delivering a eulogy. We've also included tips on funeral etiquette - those essential social graces that make such an occasion bearable. Our FAQ section may have the exact answers you're looking for - but if not, we invite you to call us.
An obituary serves as notification that an individual has died and provides service details. But it can be for more than that. Our guidelines will help you in writing a well-crafted obituary.
Writing and delivering a eulogy is a way of paying tribute to a loved one’s memory. But it can be a challenge to write and to deliver. Our tips can help.
Unless you’ve been to many funerals, we’re sure you have questions about what you should wear, say, or do while there. We’ve got the experience, and can give you the right information.
Do you have questions? We’ve listed the most common ones we’ve heard here, and provided honest answers to each. If yours isn’t listed here, we invite you to call us.


The truth about that ‘first ever marijuana overdose death’
Sensationalized coverage of a child’s sudden death resulted in massive misinformation about an alleged “fatal marijuana overdose”.
Written by Steve Elliott
Photo by Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Remember last month when what was supposedly the world’s “first marijuana overdose” took place? Sensationalistic media stories and public panic notwithstanding, it seems that a couple of poison control doctors had their quotes taken out of context. When media outlets started reporting on the “first marijuana overdose” of an 11-month-old as if it had actually taken place, lots of folks didn’t know any better to believe them.
The infant in question died in 2015 after he was admitted to a hospital in Colorado. He was unresponsive, with no gag reflex, following a seizure. The baby had been “irritable” and “lethargic” in the days before, and after the seizure eventually went into a cardiac arrest.
After a predictable controversy arose — after all, why would cannabis have waited at least 12,000 years to kill someone? — the doctors involved stepped up to clarify that they never said a child overdosed on marijuana.
Both doctors who worked on the case report in question, Thomas M. Nappe, DO, and Christopher O. Hoyte, MD, work at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver.
According to the first two lines of their report, “since marijuana legalization, pediatric exposures to cannabis have increased. To date, pediatric deaths from cannabis exposure have not been reported.”
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. – August 05: Janéa Cox director of the Flowering H.O.P.E. Foundation, with her daughter Haleigh’s, who was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, looks at the plants that make Haleigh’s Hope, a cannabis oil high in cannabidiol, or CBD, that is helping control her seizures. August 05, 2014 Colorado Springs (Photo By Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Now, to a careful reader, you’d think that would be enough to establish that kids have ever died from weed. But a little bit of ambiguous language a little later in the report is what created the confusion:
“As of this writing, this is the first pediatric death associated with cannabis exposure.”
All the breathless, downright misleading headlines associated with that story appear to have had their genesis in that unfortunate line. But the key word is “associated.” To a medical doctor, that doesn’t mean “caused.” It just means that when the child died, due to myocarditis, mind you, not cannabis, there was marijuana in his system.
There’s absolutely no evidence that one had anything at all to do with the other, or, beyond that, that an “overdose” ever occurred.
“The only thing that we found was marijuana. High concentrations of marijuana in his blood. And that’s the only thing we found (out of the ordinary),” Dr. Hoyte said.
The official cause of death was declared to be due to heart muscle damage.
“We are absolutely not saying that marijuana killed that child,” Dr. Nappe, who is director of medical toxicology at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s St. Luke’s University Health Network, told The Washington Post.
Due to the confusing choice of words in the report, people (and journalists) took things way out of context.
According to Dr. Nappe, he and Dr. Hoyte were simply making observations as they struggled to make sense of the case. He said they were looking into a “possible” connection between cannabis exposure and the child’s death.
Hoyte also addressed the stories in a tweet:
“News story totally sensationalized. Kid had myocarditis after marijuana exposure. We just said more study is needed. Not that marijuana was the cause of the death. News story totally overblown”
Photo by BSIP/UIG/Getty Images
Even the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, have to admit that marijuana has never caused a fatal overdose. Since both doctors involved in the case say that’s not what happened here, that’s the way it will stay.
The doctors’ state reports Vice, that “there exists a plausible relationship” between marijuana and the child’s death that “justifies further research.” But “plausible relationships,” of course, doesn’t even come close to meaning causation.
Dr. William Checkley, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said that the Colorado doctors need to decisively demonstrate any link between myocarditis and marijuana. It’s possible that the two were unrelated in this case, Checkley said.
“There has to be more information to show that this link is real,” Dr. Checkley said.
Paul Armentano, deputy director at NORML, agreed.
December 05, 2017 — Last Updated August 20, 2019


« Dublin Community Television is forced to close.
Dublin’s Oldest Barbers: Doran’s of Castlewood Avenue »
Jewish community during the Revolutionary period (1916-23)
November 7, 2013 by Sam
[A sequel to this article can be read here]
In the early half of the twentieth century, there were roughly 3,700 Jews living in Ireland. This represented about 0.12% of the total population. Though their numbers were minuscule, members of the the Jewish community were disproportionately active in the fight for Irish independence. Melisande Zlotover in his 1966 memoir ‘Zlotover story: A Dublin story with a difference’ assessed the overall situation by writing that Dublin’s Jews “were most sympathetic [to the fight for Independence] and many helped in the cause”.
These included:
Michael Noyk (1884–1966) was born in Lithuanian town of Telšiai and moved to Dublin with his parents at the age of one. An Irish Republican activist and lawyer, he most famously defended republican prisoners during the War of Independence and afterwards. In the 1917 Clare East by-election he was a prominent worker for Eamon de Valera and in the 1918 general election was election agent for Countess Markievicz and Seán T. O’Kelly. He was later involved in renting houses and offices for all the ministries established under the first Dáil. During the War of Independence he regularly met Michael Collins in Devlin’s pub on Parnell Square and helped to run the republican courts. In 1921 he was to the fore in defending many leading members of the IRA, including Gen. Seán Mac Eoin and Capt. Patrick Moran, the latter of which was executed for complicity in the shooting of British intelligence officers.
While Arthur Griffith’s early anti-Semitic comments (c.1904) are frequently recalled, it should be noted that he was an extremely close friend of Noyk’s from 1910 onwards and he remained Griffith’s solicitor until his death in 1922. So close did Griffith’s relationship with Noyk become that his own daughter would act as a flower girl at Noyk’s wedding as Manus O’Riordan reminded us in an excellent 2008 article.
In later years, Noyk became a founder-member of the Association of Old Dublin Brigade (IRA) and a member of the Kilmainham Jail Restoration Committee. Keenly interested in sport, he played soccer in his youth for a team based around Adelaide Road and was for many years the solicitor to Shamrock Rovers. He died on 23 October 1966 at Lewisham Hospital in London. A huge crowd, including the then taoiseach, Seán Lemass, attended his funeral and the surviving members of the Dublin Brigade rendered full IRA military honours at his graveside. He is buried in Dolphin’s Barn cemetery.
Noyk is honoured with portrait. The Irish Times, 06 Apr 1960.
Robert Emmet Briscoe (1894–1969) was a Jewish Dublin-born republican and businessman who most famously ran guns for the IRA during the War of Independence. Named after revolutionary leader Robert Emmet, his father, a steadfast Parnellite called another son Wolfe Tone Briscoe. Politicised after the Easter Rising, Robert attended meetings of Clan na Gael in the United States, meeting Liam Mellows, who influenced his return to Ireland (August 1917) to join the headquarters staff of Na Fianna Éireann. The clothing factory that Robert Briscoe opened at 9 Aston Quay, and a subsequent second workshop in Coppinger’s Row, both served as headquarters for clandestine Fianna and IRA activities before and during the War of Independence. Unknown to government authorities owing to his lack of prior political involvement, Briscoe engaged in arms-and-ammunition procurement and transport, and gathering of intelligence. Transferred to IRA headquarters staff (February 1920), he was dispatched by Michael Collins to Germany, where, with his knowledge of the language and country, he established and oversaw a network of arms purchase and transport. He maintained a steady flow of matériel after the July 1921 truce, and from 1922 to the anti-treaty IRA, with which he maintained links for some years after the civil war. Returning to Ireland after the 1924 general amnesty, he managed the Dublin operations of Briscoe Importing, a firm already established by two of his brothers.
During the summer of 1926 the IRA raided the offices and homes of moneylenders in both Dublin and Limerick. Manus O’Riordan wrote that:
Those who were raided were indeed predominantly Jewish, but the IRA explicitly stated that their attack was on moneylending itself, “not on Jewry”.
Historian Brian Hanley summed up the situation well when he said that the IRA:
…were supported in their claims by the prominent Jewish politician in Ireland, Robert Briscoe of de Valera’s Fianna Fáil Party. He argued that he did not see the raids as anti-Semitic, and wished it to be known that he and ‘many other members of the Jewish community’ abhorred moneylending and expressed his admiration for the IRA’s attempts to end ‘this rotten trade’.
A founding member of Fianna Fáil (1926), he served on its first executive committee, and worked on constructing the party’s national constituency organisation, transporting party workers countrywide in his recently purchased motor car. Defeated in the June 1927 general election and in an August 1927 by-election occasioned by the death of Constance Markievicz, in the September 1927 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann, becoming the first Jewish TD, and commencing an unbroken tenure of thirty-eight years, representing Dublin South (1927–48) and Dublin South-West (1948–65). Twice lord mayor of Dublin (1956–7, 1961–2), he made a spectacularly successful whistle-stop tour of the USA (1957) – the first of several official visits, trade missions, and speaking tours – lauded by Irish- and Jewish-Americans as Dublin’s first Jewish lord mayor.
JFK meeting with IRA veteran Robert Briscoe, Lord Mayor of Dublin. 26 March 1962. Credit – jfklibrary.org.
Estella Solomons (1882–1968), who “hailed from one of the longest established Jewish families in Dublin”, was a distinguished artist active with the Rathmines branch of Cumann na mBan (Wynn, 2012, p. 60). One of her first jobs was distributing arms and ammunition which she kept hidden under the vegetable patch at the family home on Waterloo Road. (Wynn, 2012, p.60) When her sister visited from London with her British Army husband,, Estella stole his uniform and passed it onto the IRA. Solomons sheltered IRA fugitives in her studio during the War of Independence, and concealed weapons under the pretence of gardening. Estella’s IRA contact was a milk delivery man, who acted as a perfect cover for moving arms and gathering information. She persuaded him to teach her to shoot, in exchange she painted a portrait of his wife. Taking the anti-Treaty side and sheltering Republicans during the Civil War, her studio was often raided by Free State troops.
Solomons was elected an associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) in July 1925, but it was not until 1966 that Solomons was elected an honorary member. Her work was included in the Academy’s annual members’ exhibition every year for sixty years. As her parents were opposed to her marrying outside her faith, it was not until August 1925, when she was 43 and her husband 46, that she married Seumas O’Sullivan, the editor and founder of the influential literary publication Dublin Magazine.
Estelle Sollomons, self-portrait, 1926. Credit – mutualart.com.
Gerald Yael Goldberg (1912–2003), Cork-born solicitor, politician and writer, retained vivid childhood memories of the War of Independence and Civil War period, including the burning of central Cork by crown forces (during which his family had to leave their home temporarily). He attended the lyings‐in‐state of Tomàs MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney both of whom he always revered. In later life he commissioned portraits of MacCurtain and MacSwiney for the City Hall while he was Lord Mayor. Goldberg also acquired a long-lasting respect for fellow Corkman Michael Collins after hearing him speak at a public meeting.
The Goldbergs moved to Cork after the anti‐Semitic Limerick riots, and subsequent boycott, of 1904, in which Gerald’s father Louis was assaulted. In secondary school, he and his brother got into trouble after they applied to be excused from Armistice Day (as a German pupil was excused) because the British had murdered MacCurtain and MacSwiney. In the 1930s Goldberg established a committee in Cork to help Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution; in later life he spoke bitterly of the refusal of the state to admit such refugees, and recalled how a German Jew who deserted a ship at Cobh was sent back to the concentration camps despite the Cork community’s willingness to assist him. A successful solicitor, he was elected president of the Cork Hebrew Congregation in 1943, and remained the public face of Cork Jewry until his death.
Goldberg was elected to Cork corporation as an independent alderman for the north‐west ward in 1967 but joined Fianna Fáil in 1970, stating that it was impossible for an isolated councillor to achieve anything on the corporation. In 1977, he was elected lord mayor of Cork, the first Jew to hold this office. During his term he researched the history of the civic regalia, including the mayoral chain (he published a pamphlet on its connection with Terence MacSwiney) and the mace (leading him to make a public appeal for the British Museum to return to Cork several former Cork maces it had acquired over the years). In 1982 he openly considered leaving Ireland after he received death threats and after a fire‐bomb attack on the Cork synagogue, which were linked to hostile relations between Irish peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon and Israeli and Israeli‐backed forces. He retired from Cork corporation in 1985. He died, at the age of 91, in Cork, on 31 December 2003, and received a civic funeral on 4 January 2004 to the Cork Jewish graveyard at Curraghkippane. Cork corporation members wore skullcaps in his honour.
Francis Rebecca ‘Fanny’ Goldberg (1893-?) and Molly Goldberg (1896-), sisters of Gerald, were active with Cuman na mBan. Dermot Keogh in his book ‘Jews In Twentieth Century Ireland’ (1998) mentions this fact but unfortunately no further information seems to be available about their activities.
Leon Spiro, who moved to Dublin from Lithuania at the age of two was manager of the Pearl Printing Company in Drury Street. The IRA newspaper An t-Olgach was printer by Spiro during the early 1920s and he employed Oscar Traynor (Commanding Officer of the Dublin I.R.A.) as a compositor. Natalie Wynn in her essay ‘Jews, Antisemitism and Irish Politics : A Tale of Two Narrative’ (2012) suggests that the paper was indeed printed by Leon Spiro but only after he had been “forcibly detained” in his office. This information was gleaned from a unpublished memoir written by Leon’s daughter Jessie Spiro Bloom.
Cohen brothers
George White, member of ‘C’ Company 3rd Battalion Dublin Brigade IRA from 1917 and later Quartermaster Active Service Unit from 1921, recalled in his Witness Statement (no. 956) that a Jewish man by the name of Max Cohen lived in a house that was being used an arms dump at 3 Swifts Row beside Ormond Quay in Dublin city centre. Max “knew all about the dump but said nothing about it” to the authorities. His brother Abraham, who ran an antique shop at 20 Ormond Quay, told White and another IRA member that they could use his shop anytime “as a means of escape”.
M. Cohen & Sons antiques shop. Perhaps the one mentioned in the Witness Statement. Photograph taken by Tom Kennedy. Scanned from ‘A Sense of Ireland’ programme.
Unidentified Jew who sheltered Dan Breen
In the Witness Statement (no. 723) of Dr. Alice Barry, a close friend of many IRA leaders, she mentions that Dan Breen was taken in by a Jewish person while on the run in Fernside, Drumcondra, North Dublin*. In October 1920, Breen, who had badly cut his legs while escaping from the Black and Tans, “wandered round looking for refuge” until he eventually found it in the home of a unnamed Jewish person who also “provided him with dry clothing”. (Unfortunately and somewhat ironically, Breen took a very strong pro-Axis side and had a portrait of Adolf Hitler hanging in his study until as late as 1948.)
*Thanks to Politics.ie posters for bringing my attention to the fact that the incident happened in Fernside, Drumcondra not Fernside, Killiney.
Unidentified Jewish families who supported Sinn Fein and the IRA
Mrs. Sean Beaumont, a member of executive of Cumann na mBan, recalled in her Witness Statement (no. 385) that trained nurses within the organisation set up a bureau at 6 Harcourt Street in October 1918 to help the general public during the flu pandemic. Among those nursed “were many” Jewish families who showed their gratitude by providing financial support for the Republican movement and voting for Sinn Fein candidates in the years ahead.
There are several other more general references to the Jewish community in the recently digitised witness statements.
After taking part in the Easter Rising, Captain Sean Kavananagh (WS 1670) mentions that the soldier who told him that were about to be deported to England was a “Dublin Jew” called Lieutenant Barron.
Thomas Pugh of the Irish Volunteers recalled in his Witness Statement (397) that after taking part in the Easter Rising, he was brought to Portobello Barracks where the person in charge of taking personal belongings from the prisoners was:
a Jew whom I knew very well. He was one of the Barrons, the furniture people. I am sure he knew me well, because I saved him once from a beating in the football grounds in Inchicore.
Further afield, a Jewish cinema owner in New York apologised to local Irish Republicans after his cinema inadvertently showed a British propaganda film called ‘Whom the gods would destroy’ (1916). Sidney Czira (Secretary of Cumman na mBan, New York) wrote in her Witness Statement (no. 909) that the film portrayed Irish volunteers like they were of “half-ape type”. As a result, a group of Republicans visited the cinema and explained the situation to the Jewish owner. Czira wrote that he was “quite unaware of its significance … apologised … and withdrew it at once”.
Another side note is that the badly damaged Hotel Metropole on O’Connell Street was bought after the Rising by Jewish cinema owner Maurice Elliman who turned it into the successful Metropole cinema.
In the summer of 1919, a successful raid took place on the Rotunda which was being used at the time as the temporary General Post Office. A number of IRA men were involved in the action in which “very valuable and confidential documents” destined for Dublin Castle were seized. Afterwards, a number of sympathetic postman overheard a colleague say to someone that “I know the fella in charge of this raid”. He was referring to Oscar Traynor who he knew through playing football. The postman in question was described by Traynor (WS 340) as an “English Jew” who lived on the North Circular Road . This “cockney Jew” was visited by a number of IRA men and was told to keep his mouth shut or else. As a result of being threatened, he decided to move back to London.
That same year, a group of Tipperary IRA men seized a gun from a Jewish businessman who ran a skin and hide business at the back of Connolly Street in Nenagh. Volunteer Edward John Ryan (WS 1392) was approached by a comrade who was employed in the business. In the raid, both the volunteer (to make not look like an inside job) and his Jewish employer were tied up. No-one was harmed in the robbery.
In the statement of Mary Flannery Woods (no. 624) of Cumann na mBan, she mentions that she bought a safe house for Michael Collins on Harcourt Terrace in 1920 that was owned by a Jew called Mr. Cantor. Seamus O’Connor and not Michael Noyk was the solicitor involved. In this house, a special hidden cupboard was built for arms and ammunition.
Dr. Josephine Clarke (no. 699), member of Cumann na mBan, wrote that her and her husband Liam moved into an “unfurnished flat in a Jew’s house in Sydenham Road” in roughly the same period.
In July 1920 the IRA shot dead Unionist landowner Frank Brooke, the Chairman of the Dublin South Eastern Railways, inside his office at Westland Row train station. Brooke was a secret member of the British Military Advisory Council and was signaled out specifically by Michael Collin’s Squad. Laurence Nugent (Lieutenant ‘K’ Company, 3rd Battalion Dublin Brigade IRA) remarked in his Witness Statement (no. 907) that they had planned to shoot another director of the Railways but spared him after a Jewish woman ‘Miss Zigmen’ asked the IRA to spare his life. Zigmen, who lived on Upper Baggot Street, was a private cigarette manufacturer and the unnamed director was a customer of hers. (Note: ‘Zigman’ may have been incorrectly transcribed as ‘Zigmen’).
In November of that year, Lieutenant Peter Ashmun Ames and Captain George Bennett were shot dead by the IRA in their rooms at 38 Upper Mount Street. Jewish solicitor Michael Noyk (WS 707) took up the defence of two volunteers including Patrick Moran from Roscommon who were arrested in the aftermath. Moran strongly protested his innocence and had a solid alibi since he was at Mass in Blackrock at the time and was seen there by several people including a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Among the witnesses that Noyk called in to help Moran’s case was Joseph Mirrelson, a Jewish Turf Accountant from Dun Laoghaire. He had seen Moran on a tram on the morning of the shooting. Mirrelson knew Moran well as he used to frequent a pub in Dun Laoghaire called Lynch & O’Brien’s pub that Moran used to work in. Despite the evidence laid out that proved Moran and another Volunteer Thomas Whelan were not in the area of the shooting, both were hanged in Mountjoy Jail in March 1921.
Joe Mirrelson, Turf Accountant, Ranelagh, 1979. I assume the business was taken over by a son or relation of Joseph. Credit – dublincitypubliclibraries.com
Negative references
As this was a time when both ignorant and deep-rooted anti-Semitism was more prevalent, this seeps through in a couple of Witness Statements.
Seamus MacManus, one of the founders of the National Council (pre Sinn Fein), said that most French newspapers in 1890s “were under the thumb of the Jews financially” in his Witness Statement (no. 283).
Richard Walsh talked about a pub down by the London docks that was run by a English Jew and his Irish catholic wife. A strong Irish republican, the wife would act as a messenger for the IRA and her herself and her husband allowed the pub to be used for preparing arms packages for shipment. Walsh makes an anti-Semitic off-the-cuff mark in his Witness Statement (no. 136) describing this publican as a “Jew … (that) like all his race was cute and well able to conceal his feelings”.
Not forgetting the disgusting anti-Semitic remarks from John Devoy (called De Valera “a half-breed Jew”), J. J. O’Kelly, W. J. Brennan-Whitmore and a small number of Irish republicans in this time period.
In a February 1944 heated Dail debate about pensions for veterans of the Easter Rising and War of Independence, the toxic, anti-Semitic TD Oliver J. Flanagan proclaimed:
We had not got the rancher, the capitalist, the financier or the Jew in the Old I.R.A. We had the plain, poor, honest people.
Flanagan had obviously overlooked (or decided to forget) the roles that Robert Briscoe, Michael Noyk, Estella Solomon, the Goldbergs and (possibly) Abraham Spiro played in the War of Independence. It is only coming to light now the small but important day-to-day roles that ordinary Jews played by sheltering volunteers like Dan Breen or offering their premises as a means of escape like the Cohen brothers.
Sadly the Jewish community has a whole were targeted in 1923 by two Republican veterans of the War of the Independence who launched their own personal indiscriminate anti-Semitic crusade – shooting four, killing two.
Manchester-born Jewish jeweller and father-of-four Bernard Goldberg (42) was shot dead in the early hours of October 31st 1923 outside his home at 95 St. Stephen’s Green after being questioned by three men. His brother Samuel had a narrow escape. He was hit on the head but managed to run towards Cuffe Street, later discovering three bullet holes in his overcoat.
Two weeks later, a Dublin-born Jew Emmanuel ‘Ernest’ Kahn (24) of 36 Lennox Street who worked as a clerk at the Department of Agriculture, was gunned down on Stamer Street in Portobello on the evening of November 14th. His friend David Miller (21), who lived at 25 Victoria Street, was shot in the shoulder but survived.
First hand account of the second murder. The Irish Times, 16 Nov 1923.
The principal instigators of these two murders were Free State Army officers – James Patrick Conroy and Fred Laffan – who held an anti-Semitic vendetta after a “lady friend” of Conroy’s was allegedly assaulted by a Jewish dentist. Laffan’s brother Ralph, a taxi driver, was also implicated in the murders. James ‘Jimmy/Jim’ Conroy had a distinguished IRA career and was a member of Michael Collin’s squad.
The two Laffan brothers fled to Mexico while Conroy evaded justice (I believe he emigrated to the United States but returned to Ireland in the early 1930s). During a tetchy Dáil debate in February 1934, Sean MacEntee (Fianna Fáil Minister for Finance) accused Fine Gael TDs of knowing who killed Kahn and Goldberg saying “The man who committed these crimes, as I have already stated tonight, is a member of the Blue Shirt organisation at the present moment. He was allowed to go free even though those charged with the administration of the law at that time were well aware of the crimes he had committed”.
Other Irish Jews became active in Irish left-wing and republican politics in the 1930s most notably Maurice Levitas and Harry Kernoff.
Communist ‘Morry’ Levitas who was born 8 Warren Street, Portobello, Dublin fought against Mosley’s Blackshirts during the Battle of Cable Street in London in 1936 and the following year joined the British battalion of the XV (International) Brigade to fight against Franco in Spain. First seeing action in the final days of the unsuccessful defence of Teruel, he was among the troops forced to retreat from Belchite on the second day of the massive fascist Aragon offensive (March 1938). After three weeks of costly engagements and repeated withdrawals, he was in a company (which also included IRA veteran Frank Ryan) that was captured by a Italian fascist unit at Calaceite (March 1938). His excellent entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography describes his following 11 months of hell:
Imprisoned at San Pedro de Cardeña, near Burgos (April 1938–January 1939), in addition to interrogations, arbitrary beatings, and mock executions, he was subjected to the indignity of pseudo-scientific measurements by visiting German Gestapo agents testing Nazi theories regarding the physiognomy of Jews and ‘social deviants’. Transferred to San Sebastian prison (January–February 1939), he was among sixty-seven republicans released in a prisoner exchange sought by Mussolini. Soon after returning home to London, he visited Dublin to address a public meeting calling for the release of Ryan (27 February).
He later served in India and Burma with the Royal Army Medical Corps and then worked as a plumber, teacher and lecturer. In his later years Levitas renewed ties with his native Dublin, attending functions honouring the Irish who served in Sapin, and the unveiling of the statue of James Connolly in Beresford Place in 1996. He died 14 February 2001 in London. His brother Max Levitas, born in Dublin in 1915, was a Communist councillor in London borough of Stepney for seventeen years and continues to be engaged in anti-Fascist activity.
Harry Kernoff, born in London in 1900, moved to Dublin at the age of 14. After winning the Taylor scholarship in 1923 he became a full-time day student, encouraged by established painters such as Seán Keating and Patrick Tuohy . He showed a particular interest in drawing Dublin, and was one of the few artists at work in the city whose work demonstrated a social conscience and awareness of the plight of the unemployed, as revealed in such paintings as ‘Dublin kitchen’ (1923). Strongly left-wing, he was a member of the Friends of Soviet Russia and his woodcuts were often used in republican and labour newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s. He designed the masthead of the communist weekly the Irish Workers’ Voice, was part of a delegation to visit Leningrad and Moscow (1930) and was involved in anti-fascist campaigns in Dublin. One of his most famous woodcuts is the (below) 1936 one of James Connolly. Thirty-four years previously Connolly had issued an election leaflet written in the Yiddish language to the Jewish voters of Dublin’s ‘Little Jerusalem’. Kernoff lived at 1 Stamer Street, Portobello, in the heart of this area, for the last 40 years of his life. He passed away in 1974.
Harry Kernoff signed woodcut of James Connolly (1936). Credit – .icollector.com
References: Dictionary of Irish Biography (Noyk/Briscoe/Solomons/Levitas/Kernoff); Bureau of Military Witness Statements; Saorise Feb 2003 (Solomons); Natalie Wynn, ‘Jews, Antisemitism and Irish Politics : A Tale of Two Narrative’ (2012); Dermot Keogh ‘Jews In Twentieth Century Ireland (1998)’.
on November 7, 2013 at 9:33 am | Reply John Gibney
Very interesting. The politics of many Irish Jews (at least in Dublin) wasn;t automatically republican. Cormac O’Grada dug up a reference to the inaugural meeting of the ‘Judeo-Irish Home Rule Association’ in the Mansion House in Sept 1908, which was viewed with hostility by many Dublin Jews who broke up the meeting with (as the Freeman’s Journal put it), ‘several interruptions and free fight’. Many of the Litvaks who formed the major wave of Jewish immigration in the late 19th c were quite loyalist in their allegiance. Jews in Cork were more nationalistic; and some of those who founded the ‘Judeo-Irish Home Rule Association’ were originally from Cork.
on November 7, 2013 at 10:04 am | Reply Póló
Full marks Sam. A brilliant and timely post. Lest we forget.
on November 8, 2013 at 2:53 am | Reply AK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Levitas
Max is alive and kicking still fighting fascism in this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yo7CSSU6Mk
on November 8, 2013 at 8:57 am | Reply dubshotimage
Thats a great piece, Sam. It could have been very easy for the Jewish community to not rock the boat in these revolutionary times and its great to see so many of their community stepping up and joining the struggle for independance.
on November 8, 2013 at 1:24 pm | Reply Séamas Ó Sionnaigh (An Sionnach Fionn)
Worth noting another name, Sarah Medali, a Russian-born Jewish mother of three murdered by the British Forces in December 1920 in a raid that heralded the burning of Cork.city-centre.
on November 8, 2013 at 1:57 pm | Reply Ireland’s Jewish Revolutionaries | An Sionnach Fionn
[…] blog Come Here To Me has another excellent article on the capital’s recent past, this time an overview of the most prominent members of the city’s Jewish community who fought in or supporte…. Included in the list is Michael Noyk, the leading Sinn Féin lawyer of the period, and Bob Briscoe […]
on November 8, 2013 at 7:07 pm | Reply Ken Mc Cue
Well done on this article. When I was a kid I delivered newspapers like Moscow News and the Manchester Guardian to members of the Jewish Community in Capel St and North King St. Most of my customers were quite old and radically left wing.
I learned a lot about socialism and communism from them.
Ken Mc Cue
on November 8, 2013 at 7:09 pm | Reply dubshotimage
Irish International footballer Louis Boookman played for Belfast Celtic.
His real name was Buckhaulter, a Lithuanian Jew, played for Ireland in football and cricket.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bookman
on November 9, 2013 at 8:53 pm | Reply Irish Jews in the Revolutionary Period
on November 11, 2013 at 5:37 pm | Reply David Sankey
Max Levitas (brother of Maurice) has indeed remained remarkably active – particularly in the struggle against the racist EDL. He has extended a warm hand of friendship to the young majority Muslim population of Whitechapel and Stepney. Here’s a video of him at work http://youtu.be/ba1WyTUWk8c
on November 17, 2013 at 8:44 am | Reply FERGUS O'ROURKE
I am not sure that the reference to Maurice Elliman is quite correct. My grand-uncle Aubrey V. O’Rourke designed the (then) new Metropole erected beside the GPO circa 1920. Family lore suggests that he and his brothers, including my grandfather, owned the business, though it may have been in conjunction with Mr Elliman and/or others for all I know. There is no doubt that Mr Elliman was a successful businessman in that area of activity: he owned the Gaiety Theatre at one stage, for example.
Any information throwing light on the above would eb welcome
on November 18, 2013 at 9:28 am | Reply Sam
Thanks for the comment Fergus. Got the following info from Maurice’s entry in the ‘Dictionary of the Irish Biography’:
“The Easter rising of 1916 devastated Dublin city centre and from its ashes Maurice purchased the site of the Hotel Metropole on Lower O’Connell St. He built the landmark Metropole cinema and restaurant, designed by Aubrey O’Rourke (1921), incorporating one of Ireland’s finest ballrooms. Maurice was managing director and Abe general manager”.
So I think we’re both right. 🙂
on November 22, 2013 at 12:36 pm FERGUS O'ROURKE
🙂 I wasn’t suggesting that you were wrong, Sam ! My wording was clumsy, but I didn’t doubt the accuracy of your original information.
What I was suggesting was that Elliman may either have had commercial partners in the development of the new building or in the operations of the business established in it, or may have disposed of his interest therein wholly or partially to my grand-uncles, possibly with others, at some later stage. I really do not know the truth, but there was some connection which was not limited to Aubrey’s design work.
Aubrey died in 1927, and an older brother Frank in 1935. (Incidentally, their widows were sisters, daughters of a Louth man. I would welcome any information on what happened to them – there were no children of either union.) However, the eldest brother Horace and my grandfather Alphonsus lived until about 1960. By then, The Rank Organisation owned the Metropole, but references in family documents prior to that (as well as oral family tradition) strongly imply an element of proprietorship. This is slightly mysterious, as their source of capital is not obvious.
on November 27, 2013 at 8:26 am FERGUS O'ROURKE
I omitted the name of the (originally) Louth family into which Aubrey & Frank O’Rourke married: it was that of Charles McGuinness 1855-1900 (I think that he was a bookmaker). Aubrey married Elsie; Frank married Rita. They had a brother Charles, I believe.
on September 8, 2016 at 2:09 am | Reply Lynn Gallagher
Fergus O’Rourke: I imagine that you are familiar with the silver serving piece that was presented to your grand-uncle Aubrey O’Rourke. It is in the silver collection at the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History. At least it seems that it must be the same Aubrey O’Rourke as the Metropole is mentioned in the engraving.
on November 19, 2013 at 8:06 am | Reply Jewish links to Irish Republican and Socialist politics (1901-1960s) | Come here to me!
[…] the publication of our article ‘Jewish community during the Revolutionary period (1916-23)‘, a number of people have left comments, emailed me directly or posted on external sites […]
on October 18, 2014 at 2:55 pm | Reply Donal Carr
The Jewish community always were and are a blessing to this country, it is sad and unfortunate that more could not have been done for those seeking refuge during the holocost in Europe. Today is the day Israel needs our support and have given safe passage and saved to 130 Irish Troops on the Golan heights recently.
on December 3, 2014 at 9:14 pm | Reply Rob Prince
great piece …who would have thunk it!!
on September 29, 2015 at 7:14 pm | Reply valincal
Very interesting article. Thanks for posting. Shalom Ireland is a documentary film about Ireland’s remarkable, yet little known Jewish community. Robert Briscoe is featured in the film. http://www.ShalomIreland.com
on October 19, 2015 at 6:13 am | Reply A few interesting things from inside the Mansion House. | Come here to me!
[…] becoming the first Jewish Lord Mayor in the history of the city. The Briscoe family were examined in a CHTM article on the Jewish community during the Irish revolutionary […]
on October 29, 2015 at 8:18 pm | Reply michelleclarke2015
Reblogged this on canisgallicus and commented:
Ben Briscoe and Michael Comyn KC Senator Judge engaged in Gold mining in Avoca, Co. Wicklow
Ben Briscoe was a good friend of my grandfather Michael Comyn KC, Senator, Prospector, and later Judge.
Gold in the Wicklow hills led them into a joint venture together. Elaine Byrne has written about their venture in her book about Political corruption in Ireland. I don’t have the details but Ireland was a new Republic and why not search for Gold? In fact, some still are.
on November 15, 2015 at 6:59 pm | Reply Jewish community during the Revolutionary period (1916-23) | canisgallicus
[…] Source: Jewish community during the Revolutionary period (1916-23) […]
on December 11, 2015 at 10:34 am | Reply Brendano
A great piece: I was interested to read about the incident in Nenagh, where I grew up. There was an abattoir off Connolly Street (Ball Alley Lane) in the 1970s: possibly where the skin and hide business was located in 1919?
on March 25, 2016 at 1:43 pm | Reply Stacy selsdon
Thank you for sharing you have educated me
on March 31, 2016 at 6:08 pm | Reply Patricia Tolkin Eppel, PhD
You can also reference EPPELS FILMS LTD who produced ‘The Great Spectacular Film Of The War in Ireland’. It was recently reformatted. The EPPEL family are members of the Irish Jewish Community.
on April 4, 2016 at 1:28 pm | Reply Richard Barrett
While writing a short book on Irish views of the Dreyfus affair, I found very few references to the political leanings of the Jewish community, other than that they were occasionally mentioned as leaning towards unionism. Belfast had a Jewish unionist mayor around that time.
on April 8, 2016 at 2:40 pm | Reply Louis Elzas
I personally knew Robert Briscoe and saw him often as he lived at No. 12 Herbert Park, only six houses away from our family. A remarkable individual.
on March 27, 2018 at 9:45 pm | Reply Philosopherforlife
Just a minor correction: Michael Noyk was born in Lithuania, in the town of Telšiai and his parents brought him to Dublin when he was 1 year old.
on April 2, 2018 at 4:33 pm | Reply Sam
thanks for correction!
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Reniqua Allen is a field producer for Okapi Productions as well as a freelance writer and fellow at the public policy think tank Demos. She writes and produces on issues surrounding race, class, social mobility and popular culture, with a particular focus on the black middle class. She was an archival producer on two Sundance nominated films Hot Coffee (HBO) and We’re Not Broke. Prior to that was an associate producer for Bill Moyers on several productions including Moyers & Company, Moyers on America and On Faith & Reason. She has also produced and written for outlets such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, Quartz, Congressional Quarterly, Politico, PBS, MSNBC, and Fox News.
Reniqua has completed coursework for a PhD in American Studies from Rutgers University and is working on a dissertation that will explore the “Post-Cosby” representations of the black middle class on television. She has a BA in journalism and an MA in political science from American University.


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