Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
SOME 1,500 PEOPLE turned out for a solidarity rally for the people of the Gaza Strip today in Dublin, as the death toll from the conflict with Israel continued to rise.
Violence continued in the region today, with the Jewish state pounding Gaza for a fifth day with air strikes and artillery, killing 22 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israel says it has been hit by 43 rockets since yesterday.
Today’s march in the capital began on O’Connell street at midday — continuing across the Liffey to Kildare Street, where speeches were held in front of Leinster House.
The demonstration then continued out to Ballsbridge, where a minute’s silence was held outside the Israeli embassy.
Freda Hughes of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the organisers of today’s march, said it had passed off peacefully.
“The main chant this afternoon has been ‘we want justice’,” Hughes said.
However, TV footage later showed a small number of protesters being prevented by gardaí from trying to mount barriers placed at the embassy.
Hughes called on the new Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan to strengthen Ireland’s stance on the issue, and pressure the EU to impose sanctions on Israel.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore said he was “gravely concerned” by the escalating violence.
He criticised the actions of both sides, condemning the Israeli air strikes and saying that the firing of rockets from Gaza posed a “grave threat”.
Fresh attacks
Both sides in the conflict have brushed off fresh calls for a truce, and Israel continued today to build up troops and armour on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground invasion.
The military’s aerial campaign saw a series of strikes start early today, including one that hit a centre for the disabled.
The attack in the northern Gaza Strip killed two women and wounded four, the centre’s director said.
Other targets included a bank, the homes of Hamas leaders and a mosque that the Israeli military said was being used to store weapons.
Today’s deaths raised the toll in five days of violence to 127, Gaza medics said.
In Washington, the White House has said it was willing to “leverage” its relationships in the region to bring about a ceasefire.
The chief diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the United States are also due to discuss how to achieve a truce when they meet in Vienna tomorrow, on the sidelines of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
First posted at 6.14pm. Includes reporting from AFP.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The guy got carried away with the excitement of the win…..I would like to go back and live in the eighties
@Rodney Byrne: He got excited most definitely Rodney.
@Rodney Byrne: Where women were targeted with wolf whistles, disgusting innuendo and unwanted physical advances. Or do you have a different reason?
@Anthony Curran: And the world is so perfect now?
@Anthony Curran: In your endo….hehe…
@Rodney Byrne: Id’ve kissed her too if it was a man. Awful pain in me bollix at this stage.
Anyone got a tube of solution? Me back tyre is flat
@Anthony Curran: you obviously have a lot of experience. Or are you talking cách?
@Anthony Curran: Women were far safer on the streets in the eighties..and as for the controversy about the kiss, parts of society has gotten too precious about itself.
@Anthony Curran: Now young men just do it behind a woman’s back and trade stuff in there secret WhatsApp groups while on the outside pretending to be “woke”.
@JP: parts of society? The “parts of society” you’re talking about is actually half of society and half the population. Do you know any woman who would want to be kissed on the lips by someone she doesn’t know without her consent? You think that’s being precious?
Cancel culture
@Davejohnston: Consequences for one’s behaviour. Child.
@Davejohnston: silly outcome. He even kissed the men walking past
@Temp Stuff: I bet he didn’t try to kiss them on the lips
Ridiculousness. If he made an apology, and it was accepted, then it should be a closed issue.
@Steven Schulz: he should be arrested and charged with sexual assault
Me b0llïx he should be; he was only carried away in a moment of celebration, appreciating the achievement of his compatriot – and that is all. Sexual assault, my entire alimentary canal; even she recanted her complaint.
@Purple Nurple: no. she didn’t recant her complaint.
@Purple Nurple: don’t feed the nameless troll. He lives here in TheJournal just to make inciteful remarks
@Ian McDonald:cmere mr McDonald you offer absolutely nothing on any article on the journal. All ye do is spout tripe and call people trolls when you see their comments. Classic troll so you are innit.
There is no complainant.
World is gone mad
He hugged and kissed the male coach too.
@richard griffin: Not On The Lips!
@Kelly Clan: couldn’t get low enough on the day
Did she not release a statement previously saying that she was caught in the moment too?
@Bob Oleydo: The Spanish FA released that on her behalf. She has since released a direct statement that paints a different picture
What was he thinking………
@Dman: haven a kiss
Remember watching the the medal ceremony and wondering who this guy was. He was literally picking every Spanish player up of their feet for a close hug.
The welcome issue is that the circus is over.
Nobody cares who kisses who other than the woke crayzssies.
.
What’s that old song again, from that old film… Casablanca – that’s the one! It went something like “You must remember this, a Kiss is just a… VIOLENT ASSAULT!!! ARRGGHH!! QUICK – GET THE HUMAN-RIGHTS ORGANISATION AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ON THE PHONE!!! WE MUST DESTROY THIS MAN!!! ARGGGHHHHH!!!” – or something like that? Great song… great movie too.
@Mr. X: amnesty international shouldn’t be getting involved in issues like this – every day globally there are literally hundreds of thousands of genuine cases , miscarriages of justice , political imprisonment etc …whatever woke social justice warrior either inside or outside the amnesty international offices handling this should be ashamed wasting precious resources and time and energy required for the real issues amnesty need to work on …..far too quick to jump into the media storm of nonsense like this / pathetic behaviour – they can’t see the stupidity but they need to be called out – people don’t need to be lectured in the rights and wrongs with a moral compass over inappropriate behaviour by an idiot at a medal ceremony’s . thanks.
@Dave Hammond: that would require real and brave advocacy . Most of them spoofers are careerists . They’d take a job in the major corporations and governments that are accused of abuse etc in a heartbeat later on . The rest of them are just the student union microphone shouty types that jump onto any bandwagon . Amnesty lost their way decades ago
Proper order the dirty divel
That was a moment of elation. I don’t think he did it in bad faith.
What a travesty. A peck on the lips. Nothing sexual in it. They were just waiting in the long grass for a chance to get rid of him. The world has become so woke we are all in danger of becoming zombie insomniacs.
The way it is going no men should go to womens sports events , in case they show some kind of emotion. Ridiculous decision to resign
@Peter Byrne: Is your fragile masculinity hurt?
@Peter Byrne: don’t agree. What he did was completely unacceptable. Any person who would do that has no business leading any organisation. On top of what he did is his ignorance and arrogance in his responses to questions and criticism.
Good news.
Anyone who thinks it’s okay to grab a girl by the head and force a kiss on her…. Lads, ye obviously never had much luck with the ladies and have very little understanding of or respect for the fairer sex. My commiserations! I hope the next life treats you better in the coupling dept. Losers
@ckNAvKEk: Snowflake!
@: Incel
@: Judging by your original and well thought out retort, I bet you’re a real stud with the ladies.
I don’t think it’s okay to grab someone by the head and force a smooch on them. If that makes me a snowflake in your opinion, I could not care less. Maybe sometime soon, some baldy bloke will grab you by surprise and start shifting you… then, perhaps you may rethink your bs. Or maybe you will enjoy it, you probably crave any action you can get. Lol
@ckNAvKEk: You just proved my original comment thanks.
@Mike: I’m gay like you
Was in town last week and there was a group of women whistling and grabbing out of this foreign guy trying to get pictures with him and asking for a kiss … but that’s ok for them because it’s only fun
A genuine gesture of celebration and affection should be OK!
Joke.
His behaviour was unacceptable.
@DublinDan: Perfectly acceptable.
Dear commenters, you might as well write something here as the Journal’s comments section delete button is stuck for the other stories.
@The Irish love this shy….: don’t think that Wagner lad was on that plane
@: Strange, I’m not convinced either. I don’t believe in coincidences, or something which we all expected and came to pass. This is how hustlers make their living. The easiest thing for him to do was pretend he died. Time may or may not tell. One way or the other, we won’t be inviting him over to babysit.
@The Irish love this shy….: I was on the page thinking he is the type of guy that after the recent events would stage a death and that way go on to live out the rest of his days thankful Putin didn’t have him murdered – but once I saw Putin himself confirm him in the past tense saying he was a good guy who made mistakes – I just doubt Putin would fall for that ….remember Putin is the leader in the hot seat after Wagner threatened Moscow …..if the plane crash was a decoy – it also killed other Wagner boss , I just can’t see Putin even commenting if there was doubt – he looks much more powerful finishing off Wagner and also (same day of crash) taking out the Russia Commander close to Wagner ….Time will tell but paddy power won’t be paying out in odds it wasn’t Putins work imo
Very much a split opinion on this thread but man tend to have a very different opinion than women, so lads we can be opinionate and angered but at the end of the day listen to what women are saying they’ve been the ones that can relate to this incident, and in unison are saying it is wrong and offensive!
Faith sealed with a kiss.
Is it just me, or does the Adidas sign above his head in the small pic before clicking onto article make it look like he has a purple mohawk!
@William Thompson: Not just you
If it was trump that done this everyone would be going mad
It was the grab that did it… just like the mens world cup celebrations last year.
You cannot make a gesture like that and one gets punished and the other doesn’t. #snowflakesociety
To apologise he should buy her some nice mascara and eyeliner. Say sorry and they can both forget it. Kiss and make-up
He was outstanding in his field. Imagine if he starts a new job in the porn industry, many who called for his expulsion will be signing up.
@The Irish love this shy….: Porn industry PMSL… You thinking of Johnny Sins?
This is a knew woke low. She had no problem with it. Before you say “she didn’t like it” There was obvious banter between team mates when those comments where made.
He must be wondering why he wasted his time attending that circus in the first place.
Nobody who knows anything about football would cross the road to watch that panto.
@Ganaonfocaleile: good piss up all the same .
Down with that sort of thing!!!
Almost grabbed a girl once. Inexcusable but she was so sexy ! Nothing happened in the end but I still remember her, 40y later ha !
@offside again: I guess the poor girl didn’t forget about it while your still pulling your plum thinking about it. Bit scary that ye MUPPET.
Right.
Time to take it back.
Shut has got ridiculous now.
@lWOk0fWf: Gizza brake
Lo empezado con un beso, nunca pensado que llegaria eso…Hot Chocolate
he might show trump a lesson.
The second part of this is he smacked her bottom as she turned to walk away.
I think that is just as sexist and disrespectful to the female player as the grab of her head and the plonk of his lips.
Imagine what John Delaney would have done with the men’s team if they got that far ? Never mind the women’s (whom he neglected despite having more players at Arsenal WFC ie top flight successful team for most of the 2000s and 2010s ) No one would have been safe from his hands
Absolute joke,
Absolutely ridiculous
Joke
have your say