'The whole world knows' - Hundreds march in Waterford for end of genocide in Palestine
People gathering before the march, Saturday, September 6.
Over 200 people came out to march in solidarity with Palestine and to call for an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
On Saturday, September 6, the South East branch of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) began their march from The Green in Ballybricken, onto Lower Yellow Road, past Summerhill and through The Glen.
The protestors chanted messages of solidarity for Palestine, like 'From the sea to the river/ Palestine will live for ever'. Councillors Mary Roche and Pat Fitzgerald were in attendance on the afternoon.
At The Green, Waterford News and Star spoke to several people about their reasons for coming out to protest.
Liz Stapleton said that she was there to protest the 'slaughter of innocent men, women and children.' She said: "Where are they going to go? There's no place."
All across the country, people have been protesting for the the Irish Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and to stop letting US-weapons destined to Israel to pass through Irish airways. Liz said: "The more pressure, the better. The people of Palestine have had enough. They're starving. You're having your dinner and you're thinking of innocent children, can't even get a bowl of rice."
Former Waterford Mayor and Councillor Seán Reinhardt came out to show his solidarity for Palestine. He said: "It's unfortunate for things to happen so slowly. There's so much that can be done at a higher level, at a national level.
"It's sad to see that people have to take to the streets to point out that there's an actual genocide happening when the whole world knows there's a genocide happening. There should be firmer action taken to prevent a genocide."
Michell Byrne of the Waterford Council of Trade Unions (WCTU) told the crowd: "We need to escalate our actions and Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and disrupt the economic activity that benefits the apartheid, genocidal state."
She added: "We do need people to email, call and turn up to our complicit government politicians, offices like Waterford's Fiana Fáil Mary Butler, who's a minister at the moment, and Fine Gael John Cummins, to demand that safe passage for the civilian Flotilla, and the opening and maintenance of a humanitarian corridor in line with international law to bring aid and food to Palestinians enduring the forced starvation of the genocide."
Throughout the 22-month long campaign of violence, Israeli forces have targeted and killed humanitarian workers, doctors, nurses and journalists. Over 63,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed due to Israeli military action, bombardment and manufactured famine.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) have stated that Israel's actions against the Palestinian people constitutes as genocide, under the United Nations convention of 1948.
