National March for Palestine to take place in Dublin TOMORROW Saturday 18th May

March will commemorate the Palestinian Nakba and call for Irish government to sanction Israel for genocide

Tomorrow, Saturday 18th May 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, and for the Irish government to take action to hold Israel accountable. It will be the sixth such national mobilisation since October - all of which have seen tens of thousands flood Dublin's streets. This march will also commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba ('Catastrophe'), the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians from their homeland between 1947 and 1949 so that the Apartheid State of Israel could be forcibly created.

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 Lubnah Shomali of BADIL - Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Other speakers include Zoë Lawlor IPSC Chairperson, Zak Hania who was until recently the last Irish citizen trapped in Gaza, Walaa Ajjawi a Palestinian refugee woman living in Ireland, and Jenny Maguire, President-elect of TCD Students' Union speaking about the student encampment movement for Palestine.

There will also be a musical performance by Leen and Latif, a Cork-based Palestinian/Moroccan musical duo. Christina Collins, Committee member of the Cork 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 end of the march will also see a children's creative arts space hosted by Creative Arts Therapists for Palestine. 

Note: The event is organised by the IPSC, and the full list of endorsing organisations are Gaza Action Ireland, A4 Sounds, Academics for Palestine, Adult Education Tutors for Palestine, Afri – Action from Ireland, Animal Rebellion Ireland, Apartheid-Free Arts, Art in Solidarity, Balbriggan Palestine Solidarity, Bloody Sunday Trust, Bray & District Council of Trade Unions, Cairde Palestine, Cairdeas Falasteen Chonamara, Centre for Global Education, Clare Solidarity Network, Climate Camp Ireland, Comhlámh, Comhlámh Justice for Palestine, Communincation Workers Union, Community Action Tenants Union – CATU, Cork Families 4 Palestine, Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Cross-Cultural Conversations, Disability Power Ireland, Drogheda Stands with Palestine, Dublin 4 Gaza, Dublin Bay North for All, Dublin Council of Trade Unions, Dublin Ecofeminist Collective, Dublin LGBTQ Pride, Dublin Vegfest, Dún Laoghaire for Palestine, East Wall Here for All, Ecojustice Ireland, Financial Justice Ireland, Foyle Pride, Friends of the Earth – Ireland, GCN – Gay Community News, Grandfathers Against Racism, Independent Workers’ Union, Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network, Irish Anti-War Movement, Irish Artists for Palestine, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Irish Creative Arts Therapists for Palestine, Irish Farmers for Palestine, Irish Football Fans Against Israeli Apartheid, Irish Lawyers for Palestine, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, Irish Occupational Therapists for Palestine, 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 Support Group, Lawyers Against Racism, Le Cheile – Diversity Not Division, Left Bloc, Mandate, Maynooth Student’s Union, Mothers Against Genocide, Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Mullingar 4 All, National Animal Rights Association, National Women’s Council of Ireland, NCAD Students’ Union, North Wicklow Against Genocide, Palestinian Rights Institute, PalFest Ireland, Pallas Projects/Studios, Pals for Palestine, Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Peadar Brown’s Bar, Phibsboro For All, Postal Workers for Palestine, Psychologists for Palestine, Rosa Socialist Feminist Movement, Sadaka – The Ireland-Palestine Alliance, Shannonwatch, SIPTU, Slí Eile, Socialist Lawyers Association of Ireland, TCD BDS Campaign, TCD Students’ Union, Teachers for Palestine, Teachers’ Union of Ireland, The People’s Movement, Trade Union Friends of Palestine, Trademark Belfast, Trans & Intersex Pride, UCD Students’ Union, UG Student’s Union, Union of Students in Ireland, Unite the Union, United Against Racism, Waterford Ramallah Twinning Committee, West Cork for Palestine, Queers for Palestine Ireland, Spunout, and more to be announced.

"No way Israel will be victorious" : Diana Buttu

Another outstanding interview by Owen Jones. This time with the Diana Buttu, former Palestinian negotiator & lawyer👇

 

Tomorrow: Protest calling for Eurovision Boycott to take place at RTÉ Studios - singers, musicians, artists and activists to take part in mini-concert

Tomorrow evening, Thursday 2nd May, between 4.30pm and 6pm the Irish Boycott Eurovision 2024 Coalition will stage a visual spectacle and mini-concert calling for Ireland to boycott Eurovision 2024 outside RTÉ Studios gates. The action will feature artists, musicians, and LGBT and human rights activists, and a 'die-in' by health workers in scrubs, depicting Eurovision as a contest actively artwashing Israel’s war crimes. 

Award-winning actor Stephen Rea will read Refaat Alareer's poem 'If I Should Die', legendary blues singer Mary Coughlan, Hothouse Flowers frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí, jazz chanteuse Honor Heffernan, and a host of other musicians will sing on stage. The event will be MC'd by queer artist Ciarna Hackett. 

Great visuals for photographers and television reporting. Interviews with musicians, artists, and activists available at the RTE gate.
 
When: Thursday 2nd May, 4.30pm - 6pm
Where: RTÉ Studios, Stillorgan Road entrance, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 

Irish Boycott Eurovision 2024 Coalition Spokesperson and IPSC Chair, Zoe Lawlor said: “Israel’s President Yitzhak Herzog has stated ‘it’s important for Israel to appear in Eurovision.’ We say the opposite. It’s vital to exclude the genocidal apartheid state of Israel from this global cultural platform. Ireland has shown the way in the 1980s in exposing the crimes of Apartheid South Africa. It can do the same now, by withdrawing its participation, and standing on the side of humanity, equality and human rights. Boycott Eurovision 2024!” 
 
Israel has been waging a genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza, with at least 34,500 killed, 14,500 of them children, and many thousands more buried under the rubble. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war, according to UNICEF, who have declared Israel’s campaign, “a war on children." Mass graves show doctors, patients and children among those hand-bound and executed by Israeli soldiers. The International Court of Justice is investigating Israel for a plausible case of Genocide. And only yesterday, Israel confirmed their determination to continue their killing spree into the area of Rafah, where 1.5 million Gazan civilians are huddled in what supposed to be a place of safety for them, having been forced from their homes by Israeli bombardment.

Israel is determined to artwash these war crimes, and is using the occasion of the Eurovision Song Contest to pretend all is normal. This protest against Ireland's participation in ogranised by a coalition of Irish artists, actvists and individuals who are calling for Ireland to boycott the contest, and not play on a stage with the rogue state of Israel. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural boycott of Israel (PACBI), and the Palestinian led global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement have called on all countries to refuse to participate because of Israel’s inclusion by the EBU - the same EBU that indefinitely suspended Russia and Belarus in 2022.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has written to RTEs Director General Kevin Bakhurst, and the RTE board, asking them to respect the Palestinian boycott request. More than 16,500 Irish people have signed a petition to RTE to this effect, and some 400 artists have written to Irish participant Bambie Thug requesting that they make a historic stand for justice by refusing to perform.

Palestinian journalists are livestreaming their own demise in Gaza. Western journalists are ignoring them. That's why I'm boycotting the Orwell Prize for Journalism this year.

Over Six months & countless pitches to editors in the UK & Ireland, one of my pieces about Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza - is finally published. Thanks to the Irish Independent. 

We are living through Orwellian dystopia. Genocide Joe has lost his moral compass - & the plot. Students & professors wrestled to the ground, ,knees on necks - by police - on US campuses for peacefully protesting against genocide enablement - in their name. Refusing to bend to Biden's will. Their resistance brutally repressed. Please read & take action against genocide in Gaza👇

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/tess-finch-lees-we-can-all-see-whats-happening-in-gaza-so-why-do-some-refuse-to-face-the-truth/a1898049138.html

Note: I did not write: "According to Hamas figures". I wasn't aware of that edit. I've asked for it to be changed to Palestinian Health Ministry, whose numbers are verified by independent  sources, including Human Rights Watch.

Update: Online article has been amended to read Palestinian Health Ministry.

My word count was way over, inevitably bits were cut. See below.  Some of it is difficult reading. Please don't look away👇

"Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces (excluding those buried under the rubble), at least 13,000 of whom are children. Over 200 aid workers, mostly Palestinian, have been killed. Yet, it took the horrific killing of 7 international (World Central Kitchen) aid workers to provoke global outrage. White blood trades higher than brown on the open human rights market. The founder of WCK said Israel “systematically targeted” his aid workers. They were travelling in clearly marked vehicles having coordinated and agreed their movements with Israeli forces. Israel previously thwarted UNRWA aid operations based on unsubstantiated allegations. The UN warned, Israel is  deliberately starving Gaza, and decent into famine is imminent.

The targeting of aid and healthcare workers is entirely consistent with Israeli officials’ early statements of genocidal intent. On October 9^th, Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, declared “a complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no fuel”.  All restraints on the IDF would be removed, “We are fighting human animals”. Former general, Giora Eiland, wrote: “In order to make the siege effective, “we have to prevent others from giving assistance to Gaza”.

Social media footage (which I watched) of the recent Al-Shifa hospital siege, shows hundreds of decomposed bodies, some stripped naked, hands of men, women and children tied behind their backs, some ravaged by dogs, bodies blown to pieces – unrecognisable. Reports abound of people being buried alive, bodies crushed by Israeli bulldozers, some still alive. Such was the calculated barbarity, the visceral vandalism of international humanitarian law and the sheer desecration of humanity, I puked. And wept. A guttural, physical reaction, to evil". 

"The barbarous Hamas attacks on October 7th, killing around 1,200 Israelis, kidnapping some 200 more, was horrendous and breaches international law. That’s not when this story began though. For the last 76years, apartheid Israel has forced Palestinians off their land, occupying and illegally creating settlements. Controlling access to water, food, movement. Palestinians were/are relentlessly persecuted".

Extracts from Indo article👇

"Ayat was killed documenting Israel’s bombardment of her neighbourhood. Her body couldn’t be buried, it was blown to smithereens.

One Orwell Prize judge, a former Tory MP, wrote an article in November, opining that Britain objecting to a ceasefire was the right strategy. Another, a journalist, wrote a piece mocking pro-peace, anti-“genocide” (her inverted commas) marchers/“extremists”, accusing them of antisemitism because, “when they say Zionist”, she accused, “they mean Jew”.

Journalism 101: report what people actually say, not what you think they mean through the lens of ideological biases. Her article airbrushed out the central role of the Jewish community in organising demonstrations against Israel’s genocidal campaign"....

......"In January, the International Criminal Court of Justice ruled it is plausible that genocide is taking place in Gaza. Last month, UN-appointed human rights expert Francesca Albanese produced a detailed report on Gaza, concluding: “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide… has been met.”

She added: “Denial of the reality and the continuation of Israel’s impunity and exceptionalism is no longer viable, especially in light of the binding UN Security Council resolution, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza". 

"The UN decried the massacre of civilians by Israeli forces in Gaza. “The world is witnessing the first genocide shown in real time to the world by its victims and unfathomably justified by Israel as compliant with the laws of war". 

National March for Palestine to take place in Dublin TOMORROW 20th April

 National March for Palestine to take place in Dublin TOMORROW 20th April

Latest in a series of huge marches calling for Irish government to sanction Israel for genocide

Legendary folk singer Christy Moore has been added to the bill

Press Release, Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, 19th April 2024

TOMORROW Saturday 20th April the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by over 120 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, and for the Irish government to take action to hold Israel accountable. It will be the fifth such national mobilisation since October - all of which have seen tens of thousands flood Dublin's streets.

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.

Speakers at the rally will include IPSC Chairperson Zoe Lawlor, Palestinian human rights lawyer Tala Nasir from Addameer, Tamar Nijim a Palestinian student from Gaza, and independent MEP Clare Daly.

There will also be musical performances by renowned Irish singer-songwriter Christy Moore, and Leen and Latif, a Cork-based Palestinian/Moroccan musical duo. Aoife O'Brien of the South East branch of IPSC will MC the event.

There will be a disability access point at the bottom of Dawson Street outside the back entrance to TCD. The end of the march will also see a children's creative arts space hosted by Creative Arts Therapists for Palestine.

IPSC Chairperson Zoe Lawlor said: “Thousands upon thousands of us have marched through almost 200 days of apartheid Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We urge everyone who careas about Palestinian rights to refuse to give up. We can see we are shifting the government into action, slowly but surely. That's why it’s crucial that we keep the pressure up for real action to punish Israel for its crimes. Every day of inaction means more loss of Palestinian life and the further normalisation of genocide. Join us Saturday to say that Ireland stands with Palestine and against genocide and apartheid!"

I believe the deliberate starvation, killing, dismemberment & persecution of Palestinian children, by an increasingly rogue Israeli regime, is evil

 For the love of whatever god, if any, you believe in, don't look away 💔

Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده

@RamAbdu

Breaking: Karam Mohammad Qaddah (10 years old) passed away today at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza due to malnutrition. Qaddah was trapped in Al-Shifa Hospital with his mother, and Israeli forces refused to allow him to leave since they stormed the hospital, leading to complications. He was allowed to leave with his mother yesterday, Friday, after his health deteriorated.

Quote

Quds News Network

@QudsNen

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Mar 28

The child Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Najjar lost his life this morning due to hunger and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of Gaza, which has been under a tight Israeli blockade for six months.

Eye on Palestine

@EyeonPalestine

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Mar 23

The little girl Nour Al Huda is facing death due to the lack of food and dehydration in the north of Gaza.