It is “un-Irish to give up hope”, a co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has said as he urged protesters in Dublin to continue their support for Palestine.
Thousands of people participated in a solidarity march through Dublin on Saturday, calling for the Government to impose sanctions on Israel.
Demonstrators, some wearing keffiyehs and waving banners and Palestinian flags, stopped for a series of speeches outside Ireland’s national parliament at Leinster House.
Speakers led chants of “free, free Palestine” and addressed the large crowd on the re-escalating conflict in the Middle East.
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The protesters called for the end of Israel’s military activity in Gaza, for states to stop arming Israel, and the cessation of use of Irish airspace for transporting weapons.
The rally, organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), is the 14th national demonstration of its kind since October 2023 and is supported by several trade unions and civil society groups.
The IPSC has also called for the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, along with the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill.
The Government has committed to implementing the Occupied Territories Bill with changes limiting its scope to trade, but it is not on the legislative calendar for this term.
Protesters also carried a giant sphere in the style of the logo of Ireland’s Central Bank with the words “stop funding genocide” painted on it.
Israel chose the Central Bank of Ireland to be the designated authority to approve prospectuses for Israel Bonds in the EU. Pro-Palestinian supporters want the Bank to stop approving their sale.
The group also wants a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and for the Irish Government to roll back on its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism, which it sees as an effort to prevent criticism of Israel.
Speakers at the rally included Omar Barghouti, Palestinian intellectual Ghada Karmi, and IPSC chairwoman Zoe Lawlor.
Mr Barghouti, who cofounded the BDS movement which stands for boycott, divestment and sanctions, said there was a “profound moral duty” to continue to support Palestine.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “I’m here to say that given Israel’s continued genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, we need to escalate non-violent pressure on Irish Government, Irish corporations, Irish institutions to end complicity.
“Palestinians are not asking for charity, we’re asking for ending complicity – to do no harm to us.
“The Irish Government continues to allow the transit of US weapons to Israel, this has to stop.
“The Central Bank of Ireland continues to profit from genocide through the sale of Israel government bonds, this has to stop.”
Mr Barghouti said: “The Government is blocking the Occupied Territories Bill and the Divestment Bill, this has to end. They have to take measures to end complicity.
“Some people in Ireland might say ‘we’ve been demonstrating for 17 months throughout this genocide, we don’t see any hope’.
“But it is so un-Irish to give up hope. The Irish have resisted colonialism for centuries under enormously difficult hardships and they’ve never given up hope.
“Similarly, Palestinians for 100 years, we’ve been resisting oppression and doing everything we can to live in peace, justice, dignity, equality and self-determination like everyone else.
“We cannot give up, it is a profound moral duty to do no harm. So we need to escalate people power and pressure to end complicity.”
Senior figures in Israel’s government have accused leaders in the Irish Coalition of encouraging anti-Semitism, with the Israeli embassy in Dublin announcing last year that it would close.
Israeli politicians have criticised Ireland’s decision to intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel, with Dublin asking the International Court of Justice to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes genocide.
The protest came days after hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a sit-down protest on O’Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre on Wednesday, causing significant delays to transport in the Irish capital.
At Saturday’s rally, there were brief scuffles between some of the demonstrators – who came from disparate groups and were not necessarily associated with IPSC – and Irish public order police.
A spokesman at the event said at least one attendee had been arrested but An Garda Siochana was unable to immediately confirm that. -PA
