The names of hundreds upon hundreds of Palestinian children who have been murdered in Israel’s relentless assault on the tiny Gaza Strip since October were read out at a poignant vigil in Galway on Saturday afternoon.
It was one of eight vigils taking place at locations across the island of Ireland to honour and name more than 15,000 children who are known to have lost their lives during eight months of relentless bombardment.
The vigil at Droichead an Dochais, the new pedestrian footbridge beside Galway Cathedral, was organised by the Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine and the Galway branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
To add the poignancy of the vigil, members of Mothers Against Genocide put together a powerful display of children’s shoes and clothes alongside the readers. Two mothers also held up a banner to remind people that more than 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza since early October.
Emma Daly of the Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine provided a list of names which stretched to 30 pages and were read out by volunteers, both Irish and Palestinian, over the course of two hours.
The names were divided up equally between the eight vigils across Ireland and it took two hours at each venue for readers to go through the lists of children.
Tragically, it was reported that another 64 children were killed during yet another intense Israeli onslaught in Gaza, even as the Galway event was taking place on Saturday afternoon.
“Please remember that these events do make a difference,” said Ciaran Tierney, Chairperson of the Galway Palestine Solidarity Campaign. “Politicians have told me they are shocked by how often the issue of Palestine came up on the doorsteps in recent weeks.
“Flying the flag over the Dáil, or recognizing the state of Palestine, is simply not enough. There needs to be sanctions. There needs to be a complete ban on goods from the illegally occupied settlements. But today is not about politics.
“It is about honoring and remembering the murdered children of Palestine. Like our Irish children here today, each of them had a story, wanted to have fun, or play football, or play music, or play with their friends, or swim in the sea. Each of them had a dream and people who loved them and cared.”
