An estimated 10,000 people took to the streets of Dublin on the afternoon of Saturday, July 19, in what organisers described as the largest National March for Palestine to date. Beginning at Parnell Square and concluding outside Leinster House, the demonstration was organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and supported by over 170 civil society organisations, including GCN.

The protest marked the 16th such national demonstration since October 2023, and once again, it called on the Irish Government to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza, where more than 58,000 Palestinians are reported to have been killed in the past 20 months. Protesters carried banners and chanted slogans, also urging the Central Bank of Ireland to cease the facilitation of Israeli government bonds.

 

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As the march reached the Dáil, a rally took place which included prominent speakers and performances. Mary Manning, a Dunnes Stores worker who 41 years ago made headlines by refusing to handle South African grapefruit in protest against apartheid, spoke at the march. She drew parallels between the anti-apartheid movement and today’s actions for Palestine.

Also addressing the Dublin rally were two survivors of Israeli attacks on Palestine, Marah Nijim and Mohamed Migdad, who shared their personal accounts. Marah Nijim, a 23-year-old student from Gaza, told how her brother had recently been hospitalised due to starvation.

“It’s kind of heavy for me to talk now because I just got the news that my brother is in hospital because of a lack of food and because of the starvation,” she said.

Their testimonies were echoed by other speakers, including Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, Bernard Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement, and Conor O’Neill of the Pass the Occupied Territories Bill campaign.

The core demand of Saturday’s demonstration was the full implementation of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would prohibit trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Irish government has committed to advancing the Bill this autumn, but campaigners are demanding the inclusion of a ban on trade in services as well as goods.

IPSC Chairperson Zoe Lawlor strongly criticised the government for what she described as “hypocrisy and cowardice”, highlighting its failure to grant visas to 33 young Palestinian GAA players and performers from the Lajee cultural centre in the West Bank. “They have delayed the visas of the Lajee dancers and football team. They are blocking the students in Gaza who already have been accepted to Irish universities,” she said.

Lawlor also condemned the ongoing use of Shannon Airport by the US military to transport arms, arguing that this makes Ireland complicit in Israel’s actions. “Israel does not commit this genocide alone. It does so with the weapons, the money and the political cover it gets from the US and the EU,” she told the crowd.

The march came just days before Israeli tanks entered the southern and eastern districts of Deir Al-Balah for the first time on Monday, July 21, where the military claims remaining hostages may be held by Hamas. On Sunday, July 20, Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 93 people killed by Israeli fire while queuing for food via aid trucks.

Meanwhile, international diplomatic developments continue, with France and Saudi Arabia expected to co-host a UN conference in New York later this month, where Palestine is expected to be formally recognised by several states. However, campaigners in Dublin and beyond insist that recognition of Palestine alone is not enough, urging Ireland to take concrete actions, including sanctions, to help end the bloodshed and occupation.