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SIPTU

'It is so un-Irish to give up hope': Protesters calling for sanctions on Israel march in Dublin

The march began at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm and is to finish outside the Dáil.

LAST UPDATE | 22 Mar

PROTESTERS CALLING FOR sanctions on Israel marched in protest in Dublin this afternoon. 

Organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign alongside support from numerous other organisations, the National Demonstration for Palestine is in protest of “the failure of the Irish government to hold Israel accountable”.

The march began at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm and finished outside the Dáil on Molesworth Street/Kildare Street, to “bring [the protest's] demands to the Irish government’s doorstep.”

Representatives for Ireland’s largest trade union SIPTU were present at the march, posting on the union’s official X account an image of them attending, alongside a short statement: “The message on the streets of Dublin today was loud and clear the Government must live up to its commitment to the people of Ireland and Palestine by enacting the Occupied Territories Bill immediately.”

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In video from the march, protesters can be heard chanting “Free Palestine” as they make their way through the city centre.

Speakers at the rally included Omar Barghouti, Palestinian intellectual Ghada Karmi, and IPSC chairwoman Zoe Lawlor.

Barghouti, who co-founded 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.”

Barghouti added: “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.”

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 public order gardaí.

A spokesman at the event said at least one attendee had been arrested but An Garda Siochana was unable to immediately confirm that.

With reporting by Cillian Sherlock, Press Association 

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