Waterford people attend march for peace in Palestine

Waterford people came out last Saturday afternoon, June 28, to march in solidarity with the people of Palestine as the humanitarian crisis in the region worsens. 

Organised by the South East Irish-Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), locals met at Ballybricken Green and marched towards John Roberts Square in the city centre. 

In front of Christ Church Cathedral, musicians, activists and artists spoke about the ongoing tragedy in Palestine. 

This week, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are being ordered to kill Palestinian civilians seeking humanitarian aid. 

Over the last 21 months, an estimated 55,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military. 

In Waterford, Palestinian supporters urged attendees to boycott Israeli-affiliated companies and products. Some attendees referenced Israeli-linked companies in Waterford, including Teva Pharmaceuticals. According to the 2022 Forbes list, Teva is the fourth largest company in Israel.

Local artist and playwright Ben Hennessy spoke about how Palestine now has the largest number of child amputees than anywhere else in modern history.

He spoke of the destruction of the local ecology and nature throughout the land: "A lot of the indigenous plants, indigenous trees, indigenous landscape that the indigenous gazelles used to live on are now being erased to build some kind of European oasis."

"In the local zoo the Palestinian gazelle is being translated into Hebrew, the Israeli gazelle, trying to eliminate their culture."

He referenced former BBC presenter Gary Lineker: "If it's raining outside and we can all see the rain, why give airtime to those who would tell you that it's not raining?"

Hennessy ended by reciting the poem 'If I must die' by Refaat Alareer; "If I must die/ let it bring hope/ let it be a tale." Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in December 2023.