National March for Palestine to take place in Dublin, TOMORROW, Saturday 9th November Ahead of General Election, protesters will send a message to candidates that the Irish public demands sanctions on the genocidal apartheid state

 TOMORROW, Saturday 9th November the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by more than 150 Irish civil society groups, is holding a National Demonstration for Palestine – to send a message to election candidates and the next government that the Irish public want sanctions on the racist, apartheid, genocidal Israeli regime NOW! The march will call for an end to Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza, for states to stop arming Israel, an end to the use of Irish airspace for transporting weapons, and for the Irish government to take action to hold Israel accountable.

It will be the eleventh such national mobilisation since October 2023 - all of which have seen tens of thousands flood Dublin's streets in opposition to Israel's slaughter in Gaza that has seen more than 43,000 people killed, as well as almost 1,00 in the West Bank, and more than 3,000 in Lebanon.

Protestors will assemble at 1pm at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square, and will march from there to Leinster House for a rally outside the Dáil.

Speaking ahead of the protest, IPSC Chairperson Zoë Lawlor said, "For over a year now, Gaza has known only death, destruction and displacement. More than 43,000 Palestinians have been murdered in Israel’s genocide. This includes more than 17,000 children. 10,000 more are missing, their fates unknown. Around 100,000 people have been injured in Israeli attacks. Famine and disease stalk the land, while the healthcare system has been eviscerated. Almost 2 million people have been displaced, made homeless, and living precariously knowing that at any moment the worst may happen to them or their loved ones.

"And all the while, Western governments have allowed this to happen – whether by actively facilitating Apartheid Israel’s brutal onslaught, or by doing nothing to stop it. This has to end! As a general election looms, we need to let the politicians that we want meaningful sanctions on Apartheid Israel, and we want them now! Bring your friends and family! Bring noise and hope! Let’s make our voices heard and demands unignorable!"

Speakers at the rally will include Gazan activist Mazen Abughali, Palestinian activist and videographer Abdaal Salim, Palestinian photojournalist Eman Mohammed from Gaza, Richard Boyd Barrett TD, UpLift campaigns director Brian Cuthbert, and IPSC Chairperson Zoë Lawlor.

There will also be musical performances by Palestinian rapper Talha Alali (Wise Wolf) who will perform alongside Irish singer-songwriter Sive and Irish rapper Blue Niall. Palestinian musicians Mohammad Kahla and Abed Alqam from the West Bank will also perform. Claire O'Neill, Chairperson of the IPSC's Dublin branch, will MC the event.

There will be a disability access point at the intersection of D'Olier St and College Green. The Trade Union assembly point is outside Mandate Head Office on Cavendish Row, and Community Groups will be assembling outside the Hugh Lane Gallery. There will also be Healthcare Workers and Queer blocs.

If parents don’t fight to protect children from Covid in schools, nobody else will

Today's Indo piece👇 Probably the most important article I've ever written. The battle to protect children from forced, repeated SARS2 (level 3 biohazard) infections in school feels like the fight of my life. They can't consent to this harm. They rely on their parents to withdraw consent on their behalf.

A child (Cara) re-lived her trauma in the hope that parents & "people in power" would read her story & take steps to clean indoor air in classrooms & make schools safe for all children to access their right to education without foregoing their right to health, safety, life & that of their family. 

Special thanks to Cara (an alias of her choosing), to Dr Ciara Steele & Sinéad O'Brien for founding a vital clean air in schools campaign. Huge thanks also to Tom Coogan & The Independent for handling Cara's story with the utmost integrity🙏

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/tess-finch-lees-if-parents-dont-fight-to-protect-children-from-covid-in-schools-nobody-else-will/a1357930715.html

Extract:

"The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child requires states to “recognise the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” and to fully implement this right. Children’s rights to education include a safe environment not harmful to their health.

Cara and her parents fought for these rights. They were denied, with devastating consequences. Irish schools are legally obliged to clean indoor air and prevent the spread of airborne diseases. Prevention plan? Three Hail Marys.

In year five of an airborne pandemic, parents, Dr Ciara Steele and Sinéad O’Brien set up Clean Air Advocacy Ireland.

Dr Steele said: “Children are vulnerable, they rely on adults to advocate on their behalf. They have a fundamental right to breathe clean, pathogen-free air in schools. That means CO2 monitors, Hepa filters and ventilation in every classroom.”

A recent study in Finland found air purifiers in day-cares led to a 30pc reduction in children’s illnesses. In March 2022, Italy’s Marche region installed mechanical ventilation in some schools, reducing Covid infections in classrooms by 82pc"

And👇

"Early in the pandemic, some children showed negligible Covid symptoms, only to later develop organ failure.

Researchers found the children’s immune systems had latched on to a part of the coronavirus that closely resembles a protein found in the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and GI tract and launched a catastrophic attack on their own tissues. “Experts” who claimed asymptomatic paediatric Sars2 infections equals mild were catastrophically wrong".

And👇

"Education Minister Norma Foley previously committed €62m for Hepa filters in Irish schools. Where are they?

WHO advice is clear – protect yourself and loved ones from Covid. Stay home if sick, test, get boosted, ventilate, wear a mask when around others. Unless parents are prepared to say “We do not consent to repeatedly exposing our children to biohazardous Sars2 in schools”, our consent will be presumed tacit".

Thanks to Dr Ziyad Al-Aly & so many covid aware advocates for amplifying Cara's story🙏

Today: Dublin Protest Rally - 'End US Support for Israel’s Genocide'

Photo/Video Opportunity: Demonstators will line street with 30m of red banners, symbolising US President Biden’s non-existent “red line” for Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza.

Press Release, Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friday August 23rd

TOMORROW, SATURDAY, 24^th August, between 1pm and 2.30pm, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) will hold a demonstration at Barnardo Square on Dame Street (beside City Hall) in Dublin. 

Campaigners will assemble at 1.00pm at Barnardo Sq and will line the street with at least 30 metres of red banners in a highly visual protest that will appeal to photographers and videographers alike, to symbolise the non-existent “red line” that US President Biden promised would be crossed if the Israeli state attacked the tent encampments of Rafah where hundreds of thousands of refugees sought shelter.  Weeks later, Israel has crossed Biden’s red lines on numerous occasions without any action from the White House.

The IPSC will be:

– calling for an end to Apartheid Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza;

– calling for the US government to end their funding and facilitation of the ongoing genocide;

– calling for US multinational companies to end their complicity and profiteering from the genocide;

– calling for the Irish government to take concrete action at national, EU and UN levels to hold Israel accountable;

– and calling for an inspection regime to ensure that weapons or military tech are not being transported to Apartheid Israel via Irish airspace

Speakers at the rally will include former RTÉ producer Betty Purcell, Conall Ó Dufaigh of Teachers for Palestine, Harry Browne of Academics for Palestine, and Palestinian visual journalist Eman Mohammed. Music will be provided by rapper and artist Blue Niall and beatboxer and DJ Abood Aladham.

IPSC National Chairperson Zoë Lawlor said: “In March, US President Biden warned of a ‘red line’ if Israel attacked the refugee camps of Rafah. Israel proceeded to bomb the refugee camps, burning dozens of Palestinians alive, and destroyed hospitals and murdered medical staff. Millions face famine, and there are sickening reports of widespread torture in Israeli prisons. It is clear that there never was a ‘red line’.

"The US government continues to fund and facilitate a livestreamed genocide, and US multinational corporations continue to profit from it.  Despite Israel crossing many of Biden’s ‘red lines’, the US government continues its support for genocide by providing Israel with the arms and armaments with which they are slaughtering the Palestinian people - and we now know that Irish airspace is being used to transport these materials of death and destruction. 

"The US government also engages in farcical political theatre pretending that it wants a ceasefire in Gaza.  If the US government really wanted a ceasefire, it could enforce one tomorrow by ending its arming of, and economic and diplomatic support for, the genocidal Israeli state.”

Paris Olympics proved ignoring Covid is not a winner

 Today's article in the Indo: https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/tess-finch-lees-it-hasnt-gone-away-you-know-paris-olympics-proved-ignoring-covid-is-not-a-winner/a1177172379.html

Huge thanks to my lovely, principled editor Tom Coogan 😇

Absolutely gutted that my original opening was cut though: ""Olympic dreams shattered", "Covid causing havoc", "Everyone's dropping like flies". Just some of the headlines from the 2024 “post Covid” Olympics” where the word “post” won linguistic gymnastics gold and reality (along with several athletes) collapsed at the first hurdle: Covid denialism". 

Extracts👇

"Five years into this pandemic, the evidence of harm is now irrefutable. Yet most people are unaware, for example, of the Lancet study published in June indicating brain abnormalities in survivors of Covid two years later and that “people recovering continue to experience cognitive, psychiatric, neurological symptoms and brain functional alterations”. Numerous studies have found that even “mild” SARS2 infections can cause or accelerate neurological degeneration. This has wide-ranging implications.

In May, pathologist Dr Margot Bolster reported that Covid-induced brain fog was likely a significant factor in a multi-car crash in Cork killing two in 2022. The driver, who veered onto the wrong side of the road, tested positive for Covid in the morgue. “There were all sorts of brain symptoms with it… it affected all organs of the body,” Dr Bolster said.

Last week, the WHO issued yet another warning: “Your health is precious. Protect yourself and loved ones from Covid: stay at home if sick. Test, get boosted, ventilate, mask around others.”

Again, this information was not shared. Instead, our governments are pathologising, and increasingly criminalising, those of us using proven tools to protect ourselves and our loved ones. As though being scientifically literate is an act of disobedience, punishable by state-sponsored stigma and ostracisation": 

"The Paris Olympics proved that pretending the pandemic is over only serves to prolong it, that everyone, including elite athletes, are vulnerable and that we can’t hand-wash our way out of an airborne pandemic.

We urgently need clean indoor air and sterilising vaccines. Until then, FFP3 masks are the most effective tool we’ve got to protect our precious health".

Stop Arming Israel: National March for Palestine to take place in Dublin on Saturday 20th July

 March will call for states to stop arming Israel's genocidal regime & demand Irish government sanctions on the Apartheid state

Press Release, Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, 18th July 2024

This coming Saturday 20th July the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by over 100 Irish civil society groups, is holding a National Demonstration for Palestine – calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza, for states to stop arming Israel, and end to the use of Irish airspace by the US Military, and for the Irish government to take action to hold Israel accountable. It will be the seventh such national mobilisation since October - all of which have seen tens of thousands flood Dublin's streets in opposition to Israel's slaughter in Gaza that has seen at least 39,242 people killed, including some 15,000 children.

This march will also take place on the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Dunnes Stores Anti-Apartheid Strike, which led to the Irish government ultimately banning the import of produce from Apartheid South Africa, and we are honoured that Mary Manning, the woman who began the strike by refusing to handle a South African grapefruit, will be a special guest speaker.

Protestors will assemble at 1pm at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square, and will march from there to Leinster House for a rally outside the Dáil.

Special guest speaker at the rally will be Dunnes Stores Anti-Apartheid Striker, Mary Manning. Other speakers include Walaa Sabah, a journalist and director of operations at We Are Not Numbers in Gaza, Salah Al Tanani, a survivor of the Gaza Genocide, Senator Alice Mary Higgins, the driving force behind the Arms Embargo Bill, John Lannon of Shannonwatch, and IPSC Chairperson Zoë Lawlor.

There will also be a musical performance by Katie O'Connor, a Galway-based singer-songwriter who will sing her new song 'We The People'. Michelle Byrne, Communications Officer of the member of the South East branch of IPSC will MC the event.

There will be a disability access point at the intersection of D'Olier St and College Green. The Trade Union assembly point is outside Mandate Head Office on Cavendish Row, and Community Groups will be assembling outside the Hugh Lane Gallery.

Note: The event is organised by the IPSC, and the full list of endorsing organisations are A4 Sounds, Academics for Palestine, Adult Education Tutors for Palestine, Afri - Action from Ireland, Animal Rebellion Ireland, Apartheid-Free Arts, Balbriggan Palestine Solidarity, Bloody Sunday Trust, Cairdeas Falasteen Chonamara, Centre for Global Education, Clare Solidarity Network, Climate Camp Ireland, Cloughjordan Palestine Justice, Comhlámh, Comhlámh Justice for Palestine, Community Action Tenants Union - CATU, Cork Families 4 Palestine, Cross-Cultural Conversations, DCU Student's Union, Disability Power Ireland, Dublin 4 Gaza, Dublin Council of Trade Unions, Dublin LGBTQ Pride, Dún Laoghaire for Palestine, East Wall Here for All, Ecojustice Ireland, Feachtas Inis Oírr don Phalaistín, Financial Justice Ireland, Gaza Action Ireland, GCN - Gay Community News, Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network, Irish Anti-War Movement, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Irish Farmers for Palestine, Irish Football Fans Against Israeli Apartheid, Irish Lawyers for Palestine, Irish National Teachers' Organisation, Irish Pakistani Community Network, Irish Second-Level Students' Union, Irish Social Workers and Social Care Workers for Palestine, Irish Sport for Palestine, Jews for Palestine - Ireland, Kairos Ireland, Kashmir Peace and Solidarity Council Ireland, Kerry Friends of Palestine, Killorglin 4 Palestine, Kinvara Palestine Solidarity Group, Lawyers Against Racism, Le Cheile - Diversity Not Division, Mandate, Misneach, Monkstown Vigil for Palestine, Mothers Against Genocide, Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Mullingar 4 All, Muslim Sisters of Éire, National Animal Rights Association, National LGBT Federation, NCAD Students' Union, Neuro Pride Ireland, North Wicklow Against Genocide, Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Peadar Brown's Bar, Phibsboro For All, Places of Sanctuary Ireland, Psychologists for Palestine, Sadaka - The Ireland-Palestine Alliance, Shannonwatch, SIPTU, Slí Eile, Socialist Lawyers Association of Ireland, Spunout, TCD Students' Union, Teachers' Union of Ireland, The People's Movement, Trade Union Friends of Palestine, Trademark Belfast, Trans & Intersex Pride, TUD Students' Union, UCD Students' Union, Union of Students in Ireland, Unite the Union, United Against Racism, Waterford Ramallah Twinning Committee, West Cork for Palestine, World Beyond War, PalFest Ireland, Irish Artists for Palestine, Palestinian Rights Institute, Drogheda Stands with Palestine, Pals for Palestine, Irish Occupational Therapists for Palestine, Independent Workers' Union, Praxis Artist Union, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Friends of the Earth - Ireland, An Dream Dearg, Conradh Na Gaelige, Access for All Ireland, Teachers for Palestine, TCD BDS Campaign, Irish Health Care Workers for Palestine, Cairde Palestine, Queers for Palestine Ireland, Postal Workers for Palestine, Gaels Against Genocide, Irish Creative Arts Therapists for Palestine, Art in Solidarity,  Communincation Workers Union, Bray and District Council of Trade Unions, Industrial Workers of the World - Ireland, Left Bloc, Rosa Socialist Feminist Movement, Grandfathers Against Racism, Dublin Bay North for All, Dublin Vegfest, Pallas Projects/Studios, Foyle Pride, DCU BDS, Fórsaand more to be announced.

'End US Complicity in Israel’s Genocide' protest TODAY at AmCham 4th July Gala Event with Simon Harris

 TOMORROW 4th JULY the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by over a number of other solidarity groups, is holding a demonstration at the Clayton Burlington Hotel on Sussex Road.

 

 – calling for an end to Apartheid Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza;

 – calling for the US government to end their funding and facilitation of the ongoing genocide;

 – calling for US multinational companies to end their complicity and profiteering from the genocide;

 – calling for the Irish government to take concrete action at national, EU and UN levels to hold Israel accountable;

 – and calling for an inspection regime to ensure that weapons or military tech are not being transported to Apartheid Israel via Irish airspace

 

Campaigners will assemble at 11am outside the Clayton Burlington Hotel on Sussex Road, and will line both sides of the street with at least 30 metres of red banners in a highly visual protest that will appeal to photographers and videographers alike, to symbolise the non-existent “red line” that US President Biden promised would be crossed if the Israeli state attacked the tent encampments of Rafah where hundreds of thousands of refugees sought shelter.

 

Speakers at the rally will include former RTÉ producer Betty Purcell, Conall Ó Dufaigh of Teachers for Palestine, Martin O’Quigley of the IPSC, and Zak Hania, a Palestinian-Irish survivor of the genocide, who recently lost yet more members of his family.

 

IPSC National Chairperson Zoë Lawlor said: “In March, US President Biden warned of a ‘red line’ if Israel attacked the refugee camps of Rafah. Israel proceeded to bomb the refugee camps, burning dozens of Palestinians alive, and destroyed hospitals and murdered medical staff. Millions face famine, and there are sickening reports of widespread torture in Israeli prisons. It is clear that there never was a ‘red line’. The US government continues to fund and facilitate a livestreamed genocide, and US multinational corporations continue to profit from it. This is nothing to celebrate.”

 

Ms Lawlor concluded: “Instead of attending this celebratory Gala event, we call upon the Taoiseach to use every means at the Irish government's disposal to stop the genocide and to hold the Israeli state to account - including sanctions on Israel, and ensuring Irish airspace isn't used to transport weapons or military technolohgy to the genoical apartheid state of Israel.”

 

The event is organised by the IPSC, and endorsed by Academics for Palestine, Dublin 4 Gaza, Irish Anti-War Movement, Gaza Action Ireland, Pals for Palestine, Psychologists for Palestine, Teachers for Palestine, and more to be announced.

SARS-CoV-2 is surging globally: Demand the reinstatement of universal masking in healthcare now

 Today's Indo article👇

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/tess-finch-lees-were-drowning-in-a-wave-of-covid-but-hospitals-arent-even-insisting-on-masks/a504621681.html

Extracts:

"Why is the HSE’s IPC hospital guidance so at odds with the science? Why has it not been updated to include the World Health Organisation’s “indoor airborne risk assessment” findings? Instead, former IPC lead, Professor Martin Cormican’s publicly expressed “anti-mask” stance seems baked into HSE guidance.

The European Centre for Disease Control recently reported almost 44,000 patients contracting infections, predominately SARS-CoV-2, in Irish hospitals, ranking Ireland as having one of the lowest levels of hospital masking in Europe. French and UK hospitals have reinstated mask mandates.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has washed his hands of all responsibility".

".....The BMJ, the British Medical Association’s journal, reported “unequivocal evidence that SARS2 is airborne”, noting: “[Hospital] infections occur despite strict contact and droplet precautions and reduce when airborne precautions are added.” Respirator masks are a vital IPC tool.

Last week, a study found that when Swiss hospitals switched to a more stringent mask policy “the percentage of healthcare-associated infections subsequently declined”. 

"...Medica haven't been informed of more than 400,000 studies documenting the harm caused by SARS2 infections. That a recent study revealed people who recovered from "mild" Covid lose around three IQ points, a further two IQ points on reinfection and that another recent peer-reviewed study showed that 90pc of long-Covid patients had mild or asymptomatic initial infections" 

"Given the extent of known harms, no informed doctor should ever refuse a patient’s request to don a respirator mask so they can access healthcare safely.

While patients and staff breathe disease-laden hospital air, occupants of Leinster House breathe fresh air pumped in at 10 exchanges per hour. Everyone’s vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, especially our vulnerable.

Politicians and their lackeys gave us permission to stop caring about them. We grabbed it. We traded our humanity and health for brunch and lipstick".

Stay safe: Mask up, crack open windows, meet outdoors, stay at home when sick & get boosted if you can. Do it for yourself, your loved ones & your community 💓

Going off-piste: Our winter in lockdown hell with nothing but fellow sheep to keep us company...

Year 5 of the pandemic & something extraordinary is happening. Words have taken on new meaning, pivoting to the politically manufactured pretend "reality" Being the only one in a room wearing  a mask in the middle of an airborne pandemic = following the herd, constant sickness = normal, not wanting to be constantly sick & making others sick = abnormal, advocating for clean air in schools & refusing to consent to your child being forcibly infected with a level 3 biohazard - repeatedly = a referral to social services 😬

Ice breaker 😍

Will he or won't he...🤔

No messing about: Ice bath ala Wim Hof 💪👇

Off-piste 😬

"Are you still alive?" 😄

Smores & hot cocoa o' clock 😊

Cook up of freshly caught fish by the lake, followed by an evening dip - not for the faint hearted 🥶

Forest bathing & mucking about!

Living in fear 👇

Swinging it!

Lovely sunsets 

Leo Varadkar launches affordable eco housing plan 👇

Happy birthday to the strongest, kindest, smartest. most talented human I know. I want to be like you when I grow up 💗💞😎 Celebrated outdoors (in December) with friends, firepit, blankets, hot dogs, smores & campfire jamming & sing songing

Home ed cookery: Chocolate chip cookies. They look scrummy but they'd crack your teeth

Home ed music 😎

Living in fear: No wetsuits for these sheep taking a lakeside evening dip - there were lots!

Rain doesn't stop cool kids/sheep hanging on the moors. Rumor has it a picnic was had 😍

You're never too old to climb a tree

.

First Soda bread I've made this winter, accompanied by our homemade crab apple jelly. Yum!

Home made scones - with & without cocaine....If you're not a Father Ted fan, you won't get that 🤷

Construction workers building Leo Varadkar's affordable housing

Cat napping 😻

Last Spring: Skinning a pigeon for the pot. Caught with a sling shot👇

Living in fear last winter too - in France & Spain.

It looks like he's relaxed but underneath this cool, calm, happy exterior, living in fear & being deprived of constant sickness is really taking its toll 😎

Teen woodland shenanigans 👇

Posting self composed riffs on Indaband & watching the claps pour in 😍😎💪⭐

Squeezing freshly picked oranges from the tree outside for breakfast. Last winter in Spain 

Wild swimming in a remote river & waterfall in Spain

Winter is the best time to visit castles: Drawbridge up!

Teens getting water in their wellies - coz they're sheep

Our cat posing on the garden wall outside the kitchen window 😻

Breaking: One of Santa's elves spotted on castle grounds 😍