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LAST UPDATE | 15 May 2021
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE across the country are joining protests in solidarity with Palestine today.
Protestors gathered at the Spire on O’Connell Street earlier this afternoon, with Palestinian flags flying and some draped across the Ha’penny Bridge.
Those who gathered chanted for Palestine to be set free, with chants like: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Free, free Palestine”, and “Israel, shame on you”.
The protesters then marched from the city centre to Ballsbridge, where the Israeli embassy is located on Pembrooke Road.
Outside the embassy, protestors gathered in huge numbers waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs calling on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.
Gardaí attended the scene of the protest and moved with it to the conclusion outside the Israeli embassy.
According to a Garda spokesperson, everyone who was present at the protest dispersed peacefully at its conclusion.
“No injuries were reported and no arrests were made,” said the spokesperson.
However, Gardaí have said that they will be carrying out an investigation into the organisers of the protest, due to public health guidelines restricting the number of people who can gather in a single group to 15.
Other protests occurred, with one on Dún Laoghaire pier, with People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett speaking out against the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.
“Under international law, they have the right to resist occupation. That is a legal right to resist a military occupation,” said Boyd Barrett.
Smaller protests are also taking place outside the capital, with social media showing small protests in counties like Leitrim and Sligo, with larger protests in Cork and Galway.
Protests across the country are taking place on Nakba Day, which takes place each year on 15 May, which is when Palestinians remember Nakba or “the catastrophe”.
Nakba Day represents the current and historical exodus and expulsion of the Palestinian people from the region of Palestine.
The protests were organised by the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which had originally planned one major protest action before Gardaí warned them against, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It comes as eight Palestinian children were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, said in a tweet that the attacks by Israel on Palestine cannot be acceptable to the international community and that the UN Security Council should hold Israel to account, with Ireland to “speak forcefully” according to Coveney.
This cannot be acceptable to the International Community. #UNSecurityCouncil needs to speak with one voice to hold those responsible to account. @irishmissionun https://t.co/V6FyCYCXx7
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) May 15, 2021
“32 children killed since Monday in Gaza by Israeli fire – that’s approx 1/4 of all fatalities – It’s not acceptable,” said Coveney in a tweet, continuing that Israel has an international legal obligation to protect children in conflict.
UK protests
In the UK, thousands of people have gathered in central London to march in solidarity with the people of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
At midday today, demonstrators arrived at Hyde Park near Marble Arch to march to the Israeli embassy, holding banners and chanting.
Thousands of people marched through the park chanting “free, free Palestine”, and holding banners calling for an end to the bombing of the territory by Israeli forces.
Huge crowds of protesters then arrived outside the gates of the Israeli embassy in Kensington.
A temporary stage was set up on Kensington High Street and organisers urged people to keep moving down the road as numbers continued to swell and dozens of police officers lined nearby streets.
The Metropolitan Police said: “Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon.
“A policing plan is in place to ensure everybody is kept safe and to reduce the spread of Covid-19.”
Huge crowds of demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the Israeli embassy were addressed by multiple speakers.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the crowds that international action provides “succour, comfort and support” to those suffering in the conflict.
Crowds chanted “oh, Jeremy Corbyn” and threw roses as he took to the stage.
“Think what it’s like being a mother or father and seeing a building bombed in front of you, knowing your family is in there, and you can do nothing,” said Corbyn.
“It’s our global voices that will give succour, comfort and support in those settlements alongside Gaza and all over the West Bank, East Jerusalem who are suffering at this time.”
Husam Zumlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said: “This time is different. This time we will not be denied any more. We are united. We have had enough of oppression.
“Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity. Thank-you for standing with us.”
Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told those present: “We must remember we are part of an international movement. This is a worldwide movement for justice.
“Palestinian people are having their land seized… and they are now being killed in their homes.
“All of this is illegal.”
With reporting by Press Association
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“A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of crimes include intentionally killing civilians”
@GrumpyAulFella: Remember the Palestinian kids killed by Israeli shells fired by warship as they played football by the seashore.
@GrumpyAulFella: That’s Israel to a tee.
@Charles Coughlan: I honestly got a lump in my throat reading that.
@GrumpyAulFella: Hold Hamas accountable. And also the Arabs who refuse peace with Israel, although Israel has tried multiple times. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/national-international/history-of-the-israel-palestinian-conflict-and-whats-behind-the-latest-clashes/2380768/
@Charles Coughlan: I personally know 5 Jewish families suffering from loss of family members this round after Hamas missles hit their homes. 5 different families. Hamas starts this mess knowing full well the Western media will back them, forgetting Hamas is NOT Palestine, but a terrorist organisation funded and weapon-supplied by Iran. Western media is not reporting whole stories, as usual. We are being played. Again.
@Contrary Mary: Hamas didn’t start this, the Israelis did, evicting Palestinian families from East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers. You think they should have complied without complaint?
@EillieEs: Due to covid, Israel closed mosques and refused gatherings at the start of Ramadan. THAT is what started this round. Hamas, a terrorist organisation, was given the right to rule Gaza by Arab states, ignoring the importance of the land to another religion and ethnicity. If you were a tiny country surrounded by other countries that do not want you there, would you build your defenses or just stick to throwing stones at missles?
@EillieEs: thousands of hamas rockets have been fired at Israel for years, but its only reported when there’s a flare up as at present!
You know its strange, the troubles are justified by many because the six counties used to be Irish owned, and should still be. This is seen by the republicans as patriotism. I do not condone violence in any shape or form, i am not for any side that uses innocent people as collateral in a turf war. But i find it interesting that most Irish people are saying ‘free Palestine’. and the woman with ‘Israel is a settlement?’ Israel became an independent state in 1948. And to all you peaceful UK protesters, guess who controlled Palestine before Israel? free Palestine indeed..
@Pauline Gallagher: correction. Israel became a protectorate in 1948 under the Balfour Declaration.
@Pauline Gallagher: I don’t really get what you are saying there.
I think many irish people have sympathy for the Palestinian people because they see parallels with the settlement and civil rights abuses the northern nationalists (and lets face it, all of ireland in earlier times) had to endure.
Whatever your thoughts on the northern troubles, or actions of militants in Palestine. When it has happened close to home it gives a tangible perspective of how people can be driven to stand up for themselves. There is never an excuse for murder but it is important to understand what drives young men to become militants.
@Noo Ni Ailpin: It became a recognized independent state.
@john doe: The same thing that drives all terrorists; fundamentalist thinking. What i am saying is that there is a degree of hypocrisy here. How many people protesting also supported the hunger strikers or any other republican ‘heros’? Like i said, i so not for one second condone the actions of the Israelis responsible for the air strikes and im sure the vast majority of Israelis do not either.
@Pauline Gallagher: The vast majority of Isrealis do not support the air strikes? Not sure about that now.
https://twitter.com/EmpireFiles/status/1393015740291162120?s=20
@Pauline Gallagher: Don’t quite get what you are trying to say. The people who supported the IRA in their armed campaign are hypocrites because they also support Hamas in their’s?
Seems to be confused thinking. As for fundamentalist thinking, does that include’ my ancestors allegedly lived here thousands of years ago so that gives me the right to drive out the people living there now’, and does bombing and killing innocent civilians in support of this thinking make the people doing it terrorists?
@Pauline Gallagher: How would you personally defend yourself or your family against violence ? “I do not condone violence in any shape or form”. Absolutely horsecack.
@Pauline Gallagher: but the State of Israel was not the size that it is now. That is the issue. The State of Israel has subsequently annexed/occupied three times the size of the land which was allocated. It has caused displacement of Palestinians, annexation of land, destruction of homes and farms. The Palestinian people have become landlocked. They do not have access to airspace or to seaports. Palestine is often referred to as the biggest open air prison in the world. It was not always thus.
@Pauline Gallagher: civil rights issues started that do you know your history .. do you know how catholics were treated
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Gavan Duffy: I am saying that even though the formation of the state of Israel was backed by everyone including the United Nations in order to allow European Jews to start over and create a nation in their ancestral homeland, surrounding Arab countries immediately went to war with them, objecting to the migration of displaced Jews form Europe after WW2. There is a long, fraught history between the Palestinians and Israelis but ultimately it comes down to Israelis seeing the territory as their true ancestral home, a case of ‘we were here first’. I dont agree with the war, Of course Palestinian people were going to object to having to split territory that they claimed for themselves, thats why they never agreed to share it. But the overall conflict stems from the UK and United Nations decision that Jews from war torn Europe and Holocaust survivors have a place to claim of their own, as much of Europe posed a danger with anti-Semitism still strong after the war.
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
incorrect again Pauline.
The violation of civil rights is what escalated ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Gerrymandering did not help either.
Gerrymandering is when an occupying or ruling power changes geographical boundaries to enable a socio-political outcome.
@Noo Ni Ailpin: No im not, ffs.
@Pauline Gallagher: apologies Pauline, for some reason only my 1st sentence from a much longer post was submitted multiple times. Not my intention. The full comment was then posted & gives context (if not clarity).
@Noo Ni Ailpin: Balfour was 1917
@Pauline Gallagher: I meant US not UK
@Pauline Gallagher: The Palestinian population was displaced in 1948 under Plan Dalet, the prearranged military operation designed to drive as many of them from their homeland as possible. This is well documented in Ilan Pappe’s book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, most of the research comes from Israeli government records, both pre and post independence. The attacks were launched before any hostilities with neighbouring countries broke out. The land grab of 1967 was also preplanned, Israeli officers were being trained in controlling civilian populations years before the attack. The Occupation is illegal, unjust and is destroying Israel.
@Tommy Roche: Well thanks for taking me so literally. I meant the indiscriminate killing of people who are not trying to kill you (innocent civilians killed by bombs or airstrikes). Personally defending yourself is completely different and the objective would never be to actually kill, just to protect yourself or family. Cant believe i had to actually type all that.
@Pauline Gallagher: correct. The Declaration created the precedent for the establishment of The State of Israel in 1948.
@Noo Ni Ailpin: absolutely right Pauline
@Pauline Gallagher:
Under the League of Nations Mandate
@Pat: I think what’s really wrong, and I’m contradicting earlier stuff i said, is that its not really fundamentalism but nationalism and the inability on Both sides to recognize each others rights to be their own sovereign state. This all started long before the official formation of Israel with the Zionist movement and Jewish people wanting their own identity protected and culturally enhanced by having their own nation, which they really saw as reclaiming it by what they seen as an ancient heritage right. They should both acknowledge their shared rights but Israel asserted control of those small regions and their argument is self preservation; that the Palestinians want and would take it all, all of Israel because they never wanted that state to exist. Hamas is a militant, terrorist group who have no interest in peace deals; Palestine should not be under their influence.
@Gavan Duffy: But the root of the problem has been Palestine’s refusal from the very start to accommodate the Zionist movement that began before WWII, never mind the formation of Israel. They are both at fault for failing to recognize each others right to statehood and then Israel went too far in asserting their perceived land rights. But as of now, Hamas is a militant terrorist group who fight for Palestine. Are they the type of people who can be trusted? they have no interest in peace, and they dont want Israel as a state at all.
@Pauline Gallagher: right, so if the brits had a hand in the creation of the state. Do you not think the brits could maybe coach isreal on how to deal with this better. Brits: “we made a mess of a similar situation over our way, here’s how to maybe handle this better “.
@Noo Ni Ailpin: a declaration that took land, the Promised Land, from Israel and gave it to a group who use a terrorist organisation to do their dirty work and use their population as human shields. A group who has repeatedly refuse to negotiate peace with Israel, although Israel had tried multiple times. This will never calm under a Western piece of paper, not worth what it is written on and not after millenia of history reduced to one-sided articles in Western media. Especially when one side is backed by a majority wishing a majority religion in their part of the world.
@Pauline Gallagher: the root of problem is Palestinian people not wanting to be forcefully removed from their homes. You an imperialist Pauline. Who thinks the little poor people should do what they are told. Oppression breathes response. These “peace loving Israelis” shoot innocent children. But sure they are grand lads Pauline. It’s people like you that have made world like this. FOAD.
@Philip Holohan: I have stated, several times, that i do not condone the airstrikes or the use of innocent people as collateral or dismissing them as collateral damage..i have said that! how dare you think im ok with the murder of innocent people? My first comment wasnt about me taking any side, i was stating the hypocrisy of Irish people condemning the Israelis when there is still massive sympathy and support for republican figures who were ALSO at least in some part responsible for atrocities in the North and the UK, where innocent children were also killed. You could also argue that resembles imperialism, after all it was all to get the Brits out, wasnt it? Hamas fired rockets too, you know, people have been killed on both sides. Hamas ended ceasefires this way. I have said i do not condone violence learn to read something properly before you accuse me of being a sympathizer. I have never sympathized with the republican struggle in our own country because they used indiscriminate violence, so why would i sympathize with any other perpetrators of violence? I was just trying to explain both sides of the conflict, not take sides in any way.
@Noo Ni Ailpin:
The Balfour Declaration was dated November 1917. Britain promised Palestine to the Zionist movement at a time when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire!
@Pauline Gallagher:
You are aware that Hamas are the democratically elected government of Gaza?
And that it only became “terrorist” after it had the election?
Before that it had been used by israel as in an anti al fatah function.
@Shedonny: democratic! Since when.. When was the last election?
So this is one of the protests where you can’t catch the virus.
@whitewater: Yes. Like all of the other protests which didn’t result in the predicted outbreak. Much to your disappointment I’m sure.
@whitewater: which is exactly what Israel was trying to stop, which set this new round of fighting off.
Simon Coveney is also minister for Defence. We have Irish troops stationed on UN duties who can either see what’s happening or hear the gun fire. We could at least protect the women and children fleeing instead of sitting around going nothing. Who exactly is being protected by our UN mission.
@leartius: There’s no Irish troops in Gaza; they’re about 200km away in Lebanon.
attention seeker comment
Wonder which side this reporter supports?
@Morgan Leafy: same side as you. Unless you’re a complete nimrod.
It should be obvious, going by the chants of the protesters (‘From the river to the sea’), and the placard that woman was carrying, that what the core protesters and their enablers are protesting about has nothing to do with Israel’s occupation of Palestnian land. Their objection is to the existence of Israel itself. If Israel had no settlements in Area C or Jerusalem, they would still be calling for Israel’s destruction.
@Squarepeg01: !sreals defence tactics are peculiar.
@Squarepeg01: Exactly, and thats they way its been since long before 1948. They were never welcome, Palestine never wanted them there, and thats what started this whole thing. I dont agree with the way the Israelis have taken to asserting their control and displacement of Palestinians and the army are clearly brutal, but if they had been welcomed and accepted back to their ancient homeland in the first place, the history between the two would have been very different.
Does Israel have the right to exist?
Does it have the right to defend itself?
Is it OK to Deliberately position rocket launchers so when hit in retaliation, collateral civilian damage will result?
Hamas is a terrorist organization.
I, for one, support Israel.
@Dermot N Killian: I support Palestine
@Colm Ducker: very convincing argument.
@Dermot N Killian: it’s one sign mate! I was there, I saw another sign that said ” we just want an airport “and “I want to be treated ikea citizen when I return home”.
Hamas are lun a tics. The IDF are also lun a tics. The iron dome is doing great job of defending isreal. Do you have any idea how unsophisticated those hamas rockets are? 4% of civilian casualties have been Palestinian since 2008. Isreal should be held to a higher standard, that’s all.
@Dermot N Killian: I know the complex political and religious history, plus what isn’t being reported on in much of the West. I support Israel.
@Brian Shea: Come on Brian, you can do a better job of trolling than that!
Is it possible to believe that Jews deserve a homeland in the middle east yet still be horrifed by their treatment of the palestinians? There has to be a two state solution. But i think this runs deeper than the media would like to potray is as. Jews have lived in Jerusalem for literally thousands of years, but so have arabs and muslims.
@Stephen Nix: That’s a very reasonable stance. But just maybe let people be outraged, ya know? Only thing I’d say there is. The place used to be shared by all faiths. Now it’s not. !sreal will allow any American J EW full citizenship, simply if they are a member of the faith but, but won’t even allow Palestinians born there return. Isreal want to be in the Eurovision but also want to excersise a 4000 year old claim to the middle east. Figure that one out.
@Stephen Nix: And they used to co-exist peacefully! thats the problem, when they wanted to return, surrounding Arab nations refused to accept them.
That didn’t take long… But anyway as I was saying
@Brian Shea: article up 23 mins and its evident from the 5-6 comments you have already had a commentary deleted – impressive!
israel my absolute stones. Peaceful place where all are welcome. Entitled, murderous manipilative people who should know better.
@Brian Shea: Unbelievable lack of intelligence ,
(All of Israel is a settlement) zero sum game. Nice
@Brian Shea: I really didn’t expect the very first comment to be so daft
@Claudia Varell: Jumping to a wrong conclusion to suit your point of view. Facts can be hard to accept
@Great White Hope: the “woke ” media deleted her comment. Some people
@james spice: the time of wokeness is the time of intellectual dumbing. Contradict the left narrative and be silenced and cancelled. Amazing how we have imported this wokeness. A phase when it’s gone won’t be missed.
@Tom Ripley: yeah im sure you’re very intellectual.
@james spice: Have you met Tom? He has been on here defending the killing of children by !srael for the last few days
@Tom Ripley: That what happened your twitter account? Did they try and cancel you tom? Ever think maybe it’s you? : D
@HectorPickaxe: Hope you don’t forget the Palestinian children killed by Hamas missiles. Around 400 came down before entering Israel and killed dozens of people.
I bet my annual salary that those victims are on the “killed by Israel” list.
@HectorPickaxe: have I? Prove it. Typical leftie. Making up stuff to suit their agenda.
@HectorPickaxe: I know, I think these self proclaimed intellectuals like to take the harder case to argue, as a sort of a challenge.
Yeah because chanting “Khayber Khayber Ya Yehud jaish Mohammad Sauf Ya’ud” (Khayber Khaybar oh Jews, Mohammad’s army is returning) is very peaceful and not at all antisemitic.
@Richard Keogh: If you want to cherry pick a few from a group, here is a cherrypicked group of very charming Israelis, openly discussing ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Please watch this:
https://twitter.com/EmpireFiles/status/1393015740291162120?s=20
Is there not enough problems here to protest?
@Neil Brady: “what about de homelessnessssssssss”
You love to see it.
have your say