Cork Gaza rally hears 'Palestine is a red line for the people of Ireland'

Despite the inclement weather, hundreds of people turned out for Saturday afternoon’s Cork Palestine rally, the 59th consecutive gathering in the city centre to protest the ongoing war in Middle East.

Cobh-born celebrity chef Lily Higgins addressed the crowd, speaking about the death toll which continues to mount in Lebanon and Palestine.

Ms Higgins has long been an advocate for the Palestinian cause, and she told the approximately 700-strong crowd of the “absolute catastrophe” facing civilians.

“On Thursday, at least 66 people-mostly women and children were killed; 100 others injured when a residential building near a hospital was destroyed,” she said.

“And on Thursday night quadcopters [remote operated drones] fired directly into the emergency reception of a hospital itself, critically injuring its oxygen distribution network and destroying their only generator.” Ms Higgins urged the crowd to vote for candidates who support the Occupied Territories Bill.

“Palestine is a red line for the people of Ireland, we want to stop the use of Shannon Airport to transport weapons. We want US soldiers out of Shannon,” she said.

“We want the Occupied Territories bill to be passed.

“In the past it has been blocked by Fine Gael governments, now they’re saying they’ll work on it. No more words, we need action.” 

Protesters were also told that protesters at a rally in Shannon last week clashed with gardaí, leading to eight people being arrested.

“When we got on that bus and went to Shannon, never did we think we’d be met with the full force of the Irish State in the form of the Public Order Unit,” said Anne McShane, co-chair of the Cobh Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Cork rally heard calls for “all political candidates who stand with Palestine and the Palestinian movement, to call for the charges to be dropped against the protesters”.

The Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign were joined at Saturday’s rally by TDs Mick Barry of People Before Profit-Solidarity and Thomas Gould of Sinn Féin, as well as representatives from the Workers’ Party, People Before Profit, the Green Party, the Labour Party, and the Social Democrats.

The death toll in Gaza, caused by the 13-month war between Israel and Hamas, has surpassed 44,000, local health officials said this week.

The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

The Israeli military said it has killed over 17,000 militants, but it has not provided evidence to support this claim.

The health ministry said 44,056 people have been killed, with 104,268 wounded, since the start of the war.

It has warned that the real toll is likely far higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250 people.

Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.