Hundreds of Palestine supporters attend 61st march in Cork city

Hundreds of Palestinian supporters took to the streets of Cork on Saturday afternoon to participate in the 61st march after the latest escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict began in October last year when Hamas-led militants stormed a rock concert on the border between Gaza and southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians and abducting 250 more.

Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza following the October 7 atrocity, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Since then an incessant Israeli onslaught has led to the deaths of more than 44,000 people with over 100,000 wounded according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it has killed over 17,000 militants, but it has not provided evidence to support this claim.

At a rally following Saturday’s march on the streets of Cork, speakers focused on the BDS movement which asks individuals, companies and State's to boycott, divest, and sanction Israeli companies and Israel itself for allegedly ‘violating International Law amid apartheid, the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, land grabs in West Bank, and mass destruction of civilian infrastructure across the region’.

"We are back again, 61 weeks into a genocide,” said Kathy Glavanis, the co-chair of the of CorkP Palestine Solidarity, speaking at the rally. 

“The government has still not responded to the International Court of Justice's ruling that States across the world must take actionable steps to sanction Israel and make sure they are not complicit in the facilitation of this genocide.

"We are a significant part of the supply chain for weapons heading to wars in the Middle East from the US," she said. "As one front closes another opens: Syria has now become the latest victim of this expansionist campaign in the region.

“When will the destruction of countries, lives, and infrastructure? When will the lives of Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrian people be seen as equal to ours in Ireland and European countries?"

Asch Ní Fhinn, an unsuccessful candidate for People Before Profit/Solidarity in Cork East in the recent General Election also addressed the rally and was critical of what she described as ‘Government inaction on issues from housing to Irish neutrality’.