100th weekly Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally held in city centre

The people of Cork will never falter in their support of the people of Palestine, the 100th consecutive weekly city centre Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign (CPSC) rally heard on Saturday.

About 700 people gathered outside the Terence MacSwiney City Library on the Grand Parade at lunchtime, with Palestinian flags waving beside Irish tricolours, alongside placards and banners denouncing what has been described by the Taoiseach as the genocide in Gaza.

On display too were the flags of Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, and the Labour Party, as well as a lone flag reading “An Gorta Mór Gaza”, resonating with the official declaration last month by the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) of famine in Gaza city.

According to the IPC, a quarter of all Palestinians in Gaza, more than 500,000 people, are starving, with that number expected to rise to more than 640,000 within weeks.

One placard read “Socialism or Barbarism”, while multiple hand-written cardboard signs said: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.

Lilly Higgins, a CPSC member from Cobh, spoke in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid.

“In Arabic, ‘sumud’ means steadfastness, and there is no better word for this moment,” she said.

“These ships are not just carrying hope, they’re carrying the world’s conscience, they’re breaking the blockade with their bodies, with their courage, and with their love for Gaza.

“In Gaza, they are carving welcoming messages in the sand, in hope that the flotilla will arrive, always in hope.

“Let Palestine know we will never stop marching with you, shouting for you and standing for you,” Ms Higgins said.

“A hundred weeks is not the end, rather it’s a promise that we will continue to support Gaza and all of Palestine in its liberation, and Palestine will be free.” 

An Garda Síochána received cheers and applause when another speaker recounted an incident which had occurred at the previous week’s rally, when one person marching had become unwell and fell. “This guard jumped into the crowd to help them and offered to give them a spin home in a garda car, or an unmarked car if they preferred”.

This kindness was, the speaker suggested, in sharp contrast to the behaviour of police forces at pro-Palestine protests in some other European jurisdictions.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran said Israel and its allies were allowing a famine to occur, something which greatly offended Irish sensitivities.

“I was in Co Mayo recently and I saw a large pot which had been used for delivery of famine relief and it reminded me that this is something which is still present in the world today, and people are wanting the same thing which we wanted, which is freedom,” he said.

Mick Nugent, CPSC committee member and former Sinn Féin councillor, said it was “incredible” that people continued to each week show their support for the people of Palestine.

“Today is also a global day of action in terms of raising awareness of the occupation of Gaza and the ongoing starvation of the people of Gaza,” he said.

“But it’s not just about raising awareness or raising our voices, we need sanctions of Israel.” 

Once the rally began its well-worn route along the Grand Parade toward Patrick St, down Winthrop St and back along Oliver Plunkett St, loud drums accompanied chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”, and “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution”, referring to the Arabic word meaning rebellion or uprising.

In the context of Israel and Palestine, the word usually refers to uprising by Palestinian people against Israeli occupation, involving violent and nonviolent resistance, specifically invoking the First Intifada of 1987–1993 and the Second Intifada of 2000–2005.

The streets of Cork city have seen CPSC rallies every Saturday since the latest iteration of the Israel Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-backed insurgents murdered some 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 hostages.

Since then, the death toll caused by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) attacks on Gaza has now passed 64,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry (GHM). Last month, The Guardian published classified IDF data which showed that 83% of those killed in the conflict were civilians, a rate of slaughter rarely seen in decades of conflict globally.

Next Saturday morning, CPSC intends to picket from 10am to midday the constituency offices of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Colm Burke, Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central, demanding that the Occupied Territories Bill, as it was originally framed, be passed.