A handful of protesters gathered outside the Dáil today to protest against Israel's war in Gaza, highlighting the number of children who have died since the conflict began.
Demonstrators displayed a white sheet covered with red hand prints and the names of children who have died in Gaza in the 18-day offensive in an attempt to raise awareness about the conflict and its victims. A number of children's shoes were also gathered in front of the sheet, to represent the young victims.
The protest came as the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs met in the Oireachtas today to discuss the current situation in Gaza. The ambassador of Israel, Dr Zion Evrony, and the Palestinian representative, Dr Hikmat Ajjuri, were both due to attend.
A small number of protesters greeted the arrival of foreign ambassadors at the Dáil, carrying placards urging Irish leaders to stop the war, and proclaiming the number of dead in the conflict.
Speaking at the protest, Anne Kennedy from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to respect the European Parliament's vote on suspension of trade negotations with Israel. She claimed that this could help end the violence in Gaza.
More than 900 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed in total since the bombardment of the Gaza Strip began at the end of last month.
Protesters were also condemning the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are without power and running water, and the use of phosphorus bombs in the Gaza conflict, warning that the death toll would rise further as a result. They urged the Government to take sanctions against Israel to help encourage an end to the action in Gaza.
Israel began the offensive on December 27th in a bid to end Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to press forward with an “iron fist,” despite growing international calls for an end to the fighting.
