Galway out in force in show of support for Gaza

Up to 5,000 people took to the streets of Galway City last Saturday to demand the Irish Government take concrete action against Israel over the ongoing onslaught in Gaza.

The mass rally was one of several that took place across the country last weekend and had participants from 20 different groups from Mayo, Galway and Clare – and further afield.

One of the organisers was Ríonach Ní Néill who told the Connacht Tribune that the overwhelming emotions as they passed through the city were grief and outrage.

The numbers that turned out for this demonstration she said, and another last month, showed there was a “schism” between public opinion on Gaza and how far Government was willing to go to bring about sanctions against Israel.

“It’s bubbling up in people – firstly that sense of stunned grief but second to that is outrage that we are two years into this and Irish people are being forced to participate in a genocide due to the Government’s failure to sanction Israel,” she said.

“The most moving moment was at Eyre Square. An eleven-year-old boy, a Gazan refugee, gave the most passionate speech. No eleven-year-old should have to stand up and argue for their right to be seen as a human being.

“But the reality is that his friends at home are being killed. These are children – they deserve the same rights as every child here,” continued Ms Ní Néill.

Among the demands of protesters was the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill, which they said should ban trade with Israeli settlements in Palestine for both goods and services.

They have also called on Government to implement the Labour party motion introduced in the Dáil last May to invoke resolution 377 at the UN General Assembly and deploy a peacekeeping force to Gaza.

Caption: Some of the many people who took part in the West’s Awake Rally for Palestine in the city centre last Saturday. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

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