Workers Solidarity Movement

When we hear of '400 Israeli airstrikes' against Gaza we don't necessarily understand just what a tiny area this constant bombing is happening in. A lot of people are probably thinking its the size of a smallish country like Ireland when in fact as the map below shows its more similar in size to the greater Dublin area.

Gaza Under Attack: Emergency actions for Palestine this Saturday 12 July!

Dublin – 2pm @ The Spire, O’Connell Street
Derry – 2pm @ Guildhall Square
Limerick – 2pm @ Thomas Street
Cork – 2pm @ Daunt Square

(map comparison concept from Mark M, @soundmigration on Twitter, make you own for local use at  http://mapfrappe.com/?show=20150 )

Saturday 17th Nov 2012 saw a Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) protest in the center of Dublin against the attacks on Gaza by the Israeli state.  Speakers at the protest on O'Connell street included a Gaza resident and a member of the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall group - both speeches are in the embedded video.

The attempts to break the siege of Gaza have become an internationally important movement in the years since 2008. They are a model of the use of non-violence as a tactic for building resistance to imperialism. The Gaza Strip has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007 and, despite some recent improvements, the blockade still prevents the people of Gaza from obtaining many of the basic necessities of a decent life and effectively creates the world’s largest prison camp

Attempts by the Israeli government to sabotage the International ‘Stay Human’ Freedom Flotilla to Gaza have resulted in 2 ships – the Greek-Swedish Juliano and the Irish-owned MV Saoirse – having to withdraw from the Flotilla following damage to both. An emergency demonstration was held at the Spire in Dublin last night to protest the sabotage, see the pictures below.

Over 200 people took part in co-ordinated rallies and marches in Dublin last night to express solidarity with Palestine through support for the 2nd 'Stay Human' Freedom Flotilla to Gaza and protesting outside the launch night of Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.  Riverdance are intending to break the boycott of Israel by playing 9 dates there in September.  The march then went to the Israeli embassy where there was a live hook up with the MV Saoirse, the Irish ship in the Flotilla to Gaza.

An IPSC meeting on Saturday saw some of the Irish participants on the Freedom Flotilla talk of their experiences, and discuss what practical steps Irish people can help take to bring about the end of the siege of Gaza and Israeli apartheid as a whole and secure self determination for the people of Palestine. This is the audio from the meeting.

This is the recording of the 'Israeli Apartheid, BDS and Grassroots Resistance in Palestine' from the 2010 anarchist bookfair. The speaker is Freda Hughes from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Topics covered in the one hour audio include the apartheid wall and settlements, experiences of the occupied territories, popular committees and Bi'lin, the cage protest and other direct actions, how Israeli activists argue for the boycott, Zionism, the freedom flotilla, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

Over two thousand people took to the streets of Dublin last night to protest the bloody attack by the Israeli military on the Freedom flotilla to Gaza which left between 9 and 19 people dead and dozens injured. The assembled crowd heard that least five people from Ireland were now in an Israeli jail awaiting trial for refusing to co-operate with being deported from a country they had been brought to against their will, after their ships were hijacked by the heavily armed pirates of the IDF.

Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara, Turkish Flotilla of IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) this morning struck a very dangerous cord with Turks of all sides, it also received the mixed reaction of a very divided and confused society . Turkey has had a love and hate relationship with Israel from the beginning, being one of the first states to recognize the State of Israel.There is a considerable amount of USA/CIA backed liberal opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's and his party AKP's repositioning of Turkish foreign policy from being "the only friend of a loner aggressive child in the class" to being a friend of Syria and Iran. This reaction takes place despite the obvious backing of his party by the USA in Turkey. Similar opposition has been expressed about Erdoğan and Brazilian President Lula's deal/ mediation with Iran to nuclear fuel swap deal last week.

Protests are to take place in Dublin, Sligo, Galway, Belfast, Derry,  Monaghan & Cork today against the act of international piracy by the Israeli military last night when they attacked a flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza . The Globe & Mail is reporting that 19 people have been killed in an attack staged last night. The flotilla of six ships called the “freedom flotilla” includes one from the Ireland called the Rachel Corrie, named after the American activist murdered by the IDF in 2003. At least 8 Irish people are on board various ships in the flotilla.