PEOPLE Before Profit will host a public meeting titled ‘Stop Israeli Oppression’ this Monday, November 13 at 7pm in the People’s Museum at 2 Pery Square.
The meeting is on the topic of the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza and actions we can take locally as part of the huge global movement of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The speakers will include two veterans of the Palestine Solidarity movement in Ireland, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy and chair of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Zoe Lawlor.
Both Mr Murphy and Ms Lawlor took part in the 2011 ‘Freedom Flotilla’ and were imprisoned by Israel for trying to break through the naval blockade of Gaza.
The speakers will be hosted by local People Before Profit Candidate Ruairí Fahy.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Fahy said that Israel is committing mass murder and ethnic cleansing in Gaza but Israel’s allies in Europe and the United States refuse to call for an end to the murder and destruction.
“How can the Israeli politicians ordering these bombings, the western governments supporting them and the shareholders of weapons manufacturers like Raytheon, Elbit and all the rest profiting from the murder of so many people possibly sleep at night?” he asked.
“This is collective punishment of a population that one Israeli Minister has called ‘human animals’. It is a continuation of 75 years of ethnic cleansing of the population of the region, since the creation of the state of Israel backed by British colonialism.”
Mr Fahy also pointed out that Ireland has a proud history of anti-colonialism and people here overwhelmingly support the Palestinian struggle.
“Unfortunately the Irish government are not reflecting the will of the people. They refuse to take meaningful action to sanction and cut ties with the Israeli state, so the Irish pro-Palestine movement must increase the pressure on our government to take action.
“The movement of people raising awareness of the suffering Palestinian people face from Israel’s occupation and brutal bombings needs to grow, tens of thousands have come out in support of Palestine in the last few weeks alone but that hasn’t been enough for our government to take action.”