ACTIVIST GROUP MOTHERS Against Genocide will host a vigil and overnight encampment outside Leinster House tomorrow, highlighting the impact of displacement and violence on women and children in Gaza.

The vigil, which will take place at 7pm on Mother’s Day on Kildare Street, will play host to dozens of pro-Palestine activist groups, Palestinian speakers and and musicians.

A visual display of ‘pillow babies’, children’s shoes, and teddy bears will be set up outside Leinster House, which organisers said will symbolise the many children who have been killed and the mothers who have lost their children in Gaza.

There will also be 70 pictures displayed of children killed in Gaza, representing “the 70 children per day murdered in Gaza”, Mothers Against Genocide said.

According to figures from the WHO’s Health Cluster, 50,021 were killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 22 March 2025.

15,613 (31%) of the estimated death toll are children, and 8,304 are women (17%).

Among the children killed, 825 were under 12 months of age.

Wafa’a Abushark, a member of Mothers Against Genocide, explained that Sunday marks two important occasions – Land Day in Palestine and Mother’s Day in Ireland.

Land Day commemorates the deaths of six Palestinian citizens of Israel, who were killed on 30 March 1976 by Israeli police.

“There’s a natural affinity between Motherhood and land-hood, as we all belong to our Motherlands,” Abushark said.

“So we have decided to honour this special day with an overnight encampment in front of the Dáil to send a message to our Government, urging them to act immediately to stop the genocide against the mothers, children, Palestinian people and their homeland.”

Mothers Against Genocide have demanded that the Irish Government immediately enact the Occupied Territories Bill.

They have also campaigned for the government to stop US military use of Shannon Airport, and have called for a ban Israeli soldiers entering Ireland.

“We are organising this protest to stand in solidarity with Gazan women and children who are facing unimaginable horror,” Megan Ni Ghabhlain, another member of the parental activist group, told The Journal.

We feel that as a group, as mothers, how can we stay silent? The bonds of motherhood, they transcend borders.

“We have a obligation to speak out for those who can’t – these children can’t speak out, these mothers can’t speak out, so how can we sit idly by?” Ni Ghabhlain added.

She explained that while Mothers Against Genocide had reached out to a number of government TDs and ministers, none had replied.

“The fact that they haven’t even replied to a bunch of mothers trying to come together to protect the slaughter of innocent children speaks for itself,” Ni Ghabhlain said.