Organised by the Galway Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC ), the emergency solidarity rally will take place in Eyre Square on Saturday, February 3, at 2pm.
Plans for the upcoming rally will include a first hand account of the reality of life on the ground in Gaza, as well as featured speakers; Dr Angy Skuce, who is a member of Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and Eoghan Fox, the President of the Galway Council of Trade Unions.
These speakers will look at topics like the current state of the healthcare system in Palestine, and the impact of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS ) movement has in advocating for Palestinian rights. The rally will also include a march which Galway ISPC say, aims to "draw attention to complicit companies operating in Galway."
Calls for solidarity and decisive action
In a statement regarding the rally, Galway ISPC said, "Over 26,000 Palestinians, including more than 10,000 children, have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war. About 85 per cent of Gazans have been forcibly displaced, while all of them are food insecure and face looming famine. Yet, the Irish government remains on the fence, failing to take decisive action to end Israel’s genocide.
"We call on Ireland to support South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ ) and push for implementation of the Court’s binding provisional measures. In the wake of the ICJ decision, the atrocities against Palestinians have only intensified. Several states have defunded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, thereby exacerbating an already critical situation and contributing to Israel’s genocide.
Galway IPSC say that it is calling on the Irish Government to "act now to prevent a genocide in accordance with its obligations under the calls on the Irish Government to act now to prevent genocide, in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, by imposing lawful sanctions on Israel and on complicit corporate entities, as well as ending the bilateral arms trade and enacting the Occupied Territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill."
