Activism — Solidarity — Palestine

TWO YEARS OF GENOCIDE IN GAZA

By Zoë Lawlor, Chairperson of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)

It is the shame of the world that we marked two years of apartheid Israel’s livestreamed genocide of the Palestinian people. It has been two years of the worst of crimes, where Israel has murdered at least 20,000 children, among them 1,015 babies under the age of one. 67,000 people is the recorded number of those murdered at the time of writing, and we know that is a huge undercount. 170,000 people have been wounded, and Israel has created the biggest cohort of child amputees in history.

It has been two years of Israel imprisoning thousands of men, children and women, who they have routinely starved, abused and murdered. Two years of Israel poisoning the air, the land, the water of Gaza, of depriving the youth of their education. Two years of Israel denying people healthcare, food, water, and electricity. Palestinians have been subjected to massacres daily, with an average of 100 people killed every day. Israel has created horrific records, killing UN workers, journalists, healthcare workers and children, in unprecedented numbers.

Palestinians have also been under attack all over the occupied West Bank, where Israel has created another siege and prison, closing the exit points, bulldozing refugee camps, rounding up thousands of people, and always stealing more and more land. What it does in Gaza, it would do in the West Bank too.

It is important to situate this genocide in the context of 77 years of Israel’s dispossession, apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people; this did not start in October 2023.

Occupation, apartheid, genocide—these are the most serious of crimes, yet Israel commits them endlessly with total impunity, funded, armed and enabled by many Western states.

All major human rights organisations, genocide scholars, and the United Nations have confirmed it is genocide; Palestinians show us proof of that every day. However, our government has failed to act. There are legal obligations to act to prevent, and to punish, genocide. Instead of fulfilling these, our complicity deepens. Ireland is Israel’s second biggest trading partner, our dual-use trade is increasing, weapons to Israel go through our airspace, and the US military continues to use Shannon Airport. There is increased police repression of peaceful protesters. After seven years, we are still waiting for the Occupied Territories Bill to be enacted, and there are murmurs that the government is being lobbied by business interests to indefinitely delay it and exclude services from it. This refusal to act is a betrayal of the will of the majority of Irish people who want sanctions and an end to this genocide, and it is in breach of our legal obligations under international law.

In contrast, the movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people has continued to grow, and the momentum has not wavered. If anything, it has increased as Israel’s crimes get worse. Our Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign National Demonstrations continue to be huge, and our branches hold marches, vigils and rallies weekly, as do many other groups. People, including many Irish citizens, have taken to the seas on flotillas trying to break the illegal siege of Gaza and bring aid in.

As always, our campaign is intersectional and one of shared struggle. IPSC branches the length of the country have participated in local and national Pride events, and we have had people from the Traveller and disability rights movements speaking at our national marches. Solidarity across struggles is a crucial aspect of this campaign.

The Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement has seen major successes. Microsoft was forced to block Israel from using its technology for mass spying on Palestinians. Massive pension funds are divesting from Israel, and workers all over the world are stopping the supply chain of arms to Israel. The sporting boycott is escalating, with coaching federations, teams, and the UN calling on UEFA and FIFA to ban Israel. Thousands of film industry professionals have pledged not to work with complicit Israeli filmmakers. After very active and vibrant campaigning, many national broadcasters, including RTÉ, will boycott Eurovision if Israel is in it. Our artists are flying the flag and making us proud, even taking on the British courts and winning.

While we grieve for and with all the Palestinians who have been murdered, hurt and displaced, we will never give in to despair. It is crucial that we keep boycotting apartheid Israel and keep demanding sanctions from our government.

While Palestinians are still standing, still digging their children out of the rubble, still resisting, we will not give up. Our humanity demands it.

And while we tentatively welcome the ceasefire announcement and some respite from the daily mass murder, we reiterate that there must be accountability for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people, who must determine their own future.

The day will come, Palestine will be free, and that will free us all.