A large crowd gathered at the Spire in Dublin City Centre yesterday to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people in their Great March of Return, marking the 51st year of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
The demonstration, which was organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, heard from a number of speakers, including Chairperson of the IPSC, Fatin Al Tamimi.
Al Tamimi urged the crowd to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement by refusing to purchase Israeli goods, saying “we need more than condemnation, we need action.” She also asked people to support calls on the Irish government to expel the Israeli ambassador. These calls come following the murder of hundreds of Palestinians, as well as the wounding of thousands of others, since the beginning of the Great March of Return.
The Great March of Return is taking place in the Gaza Strip with protesters calling for the right to return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Those killed included at least ten children, two medical staff and and two journalists. One of the medical staff murdered by the Israeli Defense Forces was Razan Al-Najjar, a Palestinian paramedic tending to wounded protesters when she was shot dead by an Israeli sniper. Placards carrying her name and image were present at yesterday’s demonstration. Other placards called for an arms embargo to be placed on Israel in an effort to end the slaughter of Palestinians.
Other speakers at the event included Ronit Lentin of Academics for Palestine, Ahmed el Habbash from the Palestinian community in All Ireland, People Before Profit Councillor for Beaumont/Donaghmede John Lyons, and Asad Abu Shark from the Great March of Return.
