Hundreds attend pro-Palestine rally in Cork city

The Grand Parade Ferris Wheel was bedecked in Palestinian flags on Saturday lunchtime, as around 800 people turned out for the eleventh week running to protest against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Organisers said the turnout was down on recent weeks, but noted that the protest was taking place two days before Christmas, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

On the boardwalk beside the National Monument, dozens of pairs of children’s shoes were laid in lines, beside tiny bundles symbolising the children who have lost their lives during the conflict.

Speakers called for an immediate ceasefire, while leading chants of “In our thousands and our millions, we are all Palestinians”, “Free, Free Palestine” and “ Israeli ambassador, out, out, out”.

Later, the crowd moved up the South Mall, with hundreds of people protesting outside of the AXA Insurance office as part of a “Boycott, Divest and Sanctions” (BDS) campaign, with protestors calling on people to boycott AXA Group and its recently acquired subsidiary Laya Healthcare.

AXA Group is a multinational insurance company involved in car, home, health and business insurance and it has been targeted by the BDS movement because it invests in four Israeli banks.

One of those protesting was Ted Myers, from Fermoy. He told The Echo the people of Cork had to stand by the people of Gaza.

“Their lives have been taken, their homes have been bulldozed, it’s a genocide, it’s a landgrab, and shamefully the US are standing by and arming the Israeli army, and they’re out there in the Mediterranean with their ships to make sure that nobody else comes in to support the Palestinians,” Mr Myers said.

“It’s absolutely shameful, and our Government ought to expel the Israeli ambassador and also they ought to enact the Occupied Territories Bill, which has been sitting, waiting to be signed off on.” Councillor Mick Nugent of Sinn Féin said he felt the rallies in support of Gaza were unprecedented in Cork city’s political history, “barring, perhaps, the hunger strike protests of 1980/1981”, with weekly protests of up to 1,500 people.

“With two days to Christmas, I think it’s been a remarkable turnout, and they counted 800 today, and I think the campaign will continue from here.

“I think Ireland is playing its part, the Government is playing its part, it could do more as well, in terms of recognizing the state of Palestine and moving on the Occupied Territories Bill, which would also encourage other countries to push the most powerful nations to call for a ceasefire,” Cllr Nugent said.

His colleague, Cllr Kenneth Collins, said that Cork schools had taken a strong interest in the conflict, with several flying the Palestinian flag in recent months.

“It’s quite touching that children are picking up on what is happening half-way around the world,” he said.

Israel declared war after Hamas militants stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.

Israel has vowed to continue its attacks until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza, and all of the hostages are freed.

Health officials in the Gaza say more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the latest round of hostilities and 53,000 wounded.

More than half a million people in Gaza are starving, according to a report this week from the UN and other agencies.