On Saturday, February 17, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin in a solidarity march for Palestine, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Chanting through the Irish capital, demonstrators urged the Irish government to “take action to hold Israel accountable”.

People travelled from all over the country to take part in the National Demonstration for Palestine organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC). The march for Palestine was endorsed by over 80 civil society groups, including GCN and the National LGBT Federation (NXF), and saw nearly 80,000 people gather in Dublin, according to organisers.

The demonstration started at 1:30pm at the Garden of Remembrance, from where participants marched across the city centre to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Stephen’s Green. Palestinian flags flew over the crowd, who carried banners calling for a ceasefire and reading “freedom and justice for Palestine”.

The National Demonstration for Palestine is making its way up George’s St in Dublin ?? pic.twitter.com/DMiFwJMzxS

— Gay Community News (@GCNmag) February 17, 2024

A stage was set up in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs, where several speakers addressed the crowd in a rally at the end of the march. Chair of IPSC, Zoe Lawlor, told the protesters: “We come here together as we have for five months, all over the country, in pain, in anger, in grief and in rejection of the atrocities against the Palestinian people.

“We are here to say no to genocide, no to ethnic cleansing, no to forced starvation…and no to Israeli apartheid,” Lawlor continued.

The view from the stage at the National Demonstration for Palestine. A massive turn out on the streets of Dublin @ipsc48 #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/6tFa2l9EdA

— Gay Community News (@GCNmag) February 17, 2024

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett was also among the speakers and told the crowd that no Irish politician should shake hands with US President Joe Biden because of his stance on Gaza and continued support for Israel.

Among the marchers was also Queers for Palestine, a new collective formed as a way for LGBTQ+ folks to gather in support of Palestine and to recognise that Palestinian queer liberation cannot be separate from freedom for all Palestinian people.

In a statement released ahead of the march, Queers for Palestine highlighted a quote from a group called Queers in Palestine that stated: “We are fighting interconnected systems of oppression, including patriarchy and capitalism, and our dreams of autonomy, community, and liberation are inherently tied to our desire for self-determination.

“No queer liberation can be achieved with settler-colonization, and no queer solidarity can be fostered if it stands blind to the racialized, capitalist, fascist, and imperial structures that dominate us,” the statement continued.

Passing O’Connell Bridge en route to Dept of Foreign Affairs #ceasefirenow #palestine pic.twitter.com/k5iT26L3iY

— Gay Community News (@GCNmag) February 17, 2024

Over 29,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded since Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas attack on October 7, last year. Many more had to flee their homes to avoid being killed in the airstrikes, with estimates showing that 90% of the population in the Strip has been displaced.

Today, a series of hearings has opened in the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, on the legal case brought against Israel for its 57-year occupation of the Palestinian territories. An unprecedented number of countries are set to participate in the hearings, and the decision, while not legally binding, could put mounting international pressure on Israel.

These proceedings are separate from the genocide case against Israel brought before the ICJ by South Africa for its violations of the 1948 genocide convention. In relation to that case, in late January, the ICJ ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent “acts of genocide” in Gaza.