The first was a music gig organised by Drogheda Stands With Palestine, the proceeds from which are to go to the Palestinian Red Cross Society. As the Israeli Luftwaffe has destroyed the health system in Occupied Gaza, it is vital that funds reach the medics battling to preserve life in the face of the Israeli determination to end it. The doors had to be closed early as the venue was packed. The MC was Joanna Byrne who introduced keynote speaker Stephanie Kirwan. Both women praised the people of Drogheda for consistently showing solidarity with the beleaguered citizens of Gaza and urged people not to give up. Stephanie Kirwan spoke about putting her baby daughter to bed each evening and not being able to erase the images of dead Palestinian infants from her mind. It is a sentiment I can identify with as I increasingly find my mind wandering to Gaza each time I see young children tagging alongside their mums in town.
The following day Drogheda Stands With Palestine staged its weekly vigil in front of the Catholic Church in West Street. Some on the morning after the night before didn't feel up to standing for anything, preferring to have assumed the prone position in bed to nurse a hangover. Yet they came. Some locals have grumbled that a church is not an appropriate place for this type of vigil. It very much is an appropriate place. The vigil is not a protest against the Church. The Catholic Church advocates world peace and its churches, if they are to have any value, should be sanctuaries from violence. On the steps of the church each Saturday peace is preached. War contaminates a church, not peace.
One of the speakers, Bobby McCormack, made the point that despite the weekly vigil other than Drogheda Life, the local media take zero interest in what is happening below their noses. For supposed news hounds their sense of smell is not that good. He called on people to write to the editors of the papers who have turned a blind eye.
Just before Christmas an Israeli SS officer and a number of terrorist colleagues were killed when Palestinian resistance fighters ambushed their HQ. Tomer Grinberg had acquired a reputation for being a motivational speaker, having inspired the Einsatzgruppen under his command to kill Gazans. Pictures later emerged of Grinberg holding his three year old daughter. He loved her and she him. Yet each day we hear harrowing details of the barbarism displayed towards the children of Gaza by these loving Israeli fathers. The name Hind Rajab became known internationally for terrible reasons. She was the six year old child who made an emergency call from the phone of her murdered parents after Israeli tanks had blasted the vehicle they were traveling in. The Einsatzgruppen then waited on the ambulance that came in a bid to rescue her. When it arrived both the paramedics and the child were murdered.
Just before Christmas an Israeli SS officer and a number of terrorist colleagues were killed when Palestinian resistance fighters ambushed their HQ. Tomer Grinberg had acquired a reputation for being a motivational speaker, having inspired the Einsatzgruppen under his command to kill Gazans. Pictures later emerged of Grinberg holding his three year old daughter. He loved her and she him. Yet each day we hear harrowing details of the barbarism displayed towards the children of Gaza by these loving Israeli fathers. The name Hind Rajab became known internationally for terrible reasons. She was the six year old child who made an emergency call from the phone of her murdered parents after Israeli tanks had blasted the vehicle they were traveling in. The Einsatzgruppen then waited on the ambulance that came in a bid to rescue her. When it arrived both the paramedics and the child were murdered.
The sadistic mass murder of children has been described by fearless Israeli journalist Gideon Levy:
With almost 12000 children murdered, the resemblance to Babi Yar is striking.
Israel is erasing generations in Gaza, and its soldiers are killing children in numbers competing with the cruellest of wars. This will not and cannot be forgotten. How can a people ever forget those who killed its children in such a manner? How can people of conscience around the world remain silent over such mass killing of children?
A constant theme at vigils is the need to ask politicians when they do their election time doorstepping to explain where they stand on Gaza. Weekly, Brian Condra urges voters to keep this at the forefront of their minds. This seems vital at a time when many Irish politicians are queuing up in readiness for Genocide Joe's Jolly Junket on St Patrick's Day in Washington. President Biden has once again demonstrated his commitment to war on Gaza by continuing to send bombs to be used in an onslaught on Rafah which he claims is over the top. The American National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby's comments underscore the hypocrisy.
Our view is that any major military operation in Rafah at this time – under these circumstances with probably a-million-and-a-half civilians … without consideration for their safety – would be a disaster. And we would not support it . . . That’s where they were told to go” by Israel, he noted. Israel’s army previously ordered Palestinians throughout Gaza to head for Rafah, calling it a “safe zone”.
Yet in a Voltairean twist his logic, like Biden's, would appear to be: I don't agree with who you bomb but will defend to the death your right to bomb those baby bastards anyway.
Would murder on this scale be possible without US support? The Israeli desire for genocide would undoubtedly exist but it would be much more difficult to put into effect without the US building the figurative gas chambers.
There will be no votes from this home for any party that attends a Jolly Junket with those complicit in genocide.
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It's heartening to see the good people of Drogheda out in such strength.
ReplyDeleteWas sickened to read about the death of Hind Rajab. You think that the can't sink any lower, but they inevitably do.