Michael Davitt Quotes
They have done their worst, and continued to deny me even the privileges accorded to the common herd . . . but I am sustained by the consciousness of my imputed 'crime' being an honourable one
Davitt, Michael. Letter from prison. Quoted in Davitt and Irish Revolution 1846-82, by T. W. Moody, Clarendon Press, 1981.
At the time the Arabs, anticipating an English pullout of Palestine, were engaged in constant acts of terror to drive the Jews out with the British. The Jews however wanted to create a Jewish state within Palestine but had few men and weapons, needing to depend on the British for protection which was spotty at best. Wingate persuaded his superior to allow him to set up and train a Jewish Defense Force which was the origin of the Israeli Army.
This is an important historical quotation because it suggests some of the thinking, irrational though it may have been, that led many post war Germans onto an irrational and self defeating course of action. Emotional factors such as dignity, fairness, and honor can be significant drivers of irrational and self destructive action. Nazi Germany was a classic example. Many leading Germans thought the Treaty of Versailles that was imposed on them at the end of the First World War was too harsh and unfair. Many from the countries victimized by the German military aggression also thought the treaty unfair as it did not treat Germany harsh enough.
Michael Davitt was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family emigrated to England. He began his career as an organiser of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, which resisted British rule in Ireland with violence. Convicted of treason felony for arms trafficking in 1870, he served seven years in prison. Upon his release, Davitt pioneered the New Departure strategy of cooperation between the physical-force and constitutional wings of Irish nationalism on the issue of land reform. With Charles Stewart Parnell, he co-founded the Irish National Land League in 1879, in which capacity he enjoyed the peak of his influence before being jailed again in 1881.
