A demonstration in support of the people of the Gaza strip was held in Ennis at the weekend.
Organised by the Clare branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the event saw hundreds of leaflets handed out to the public urging them to boycott Israel over its miltary operation in the Gaza Strip which has resulted in the deaths of over 1000 Palestinians. More than 30 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.
A number of people addressed the gathering and the crowd also staged a “die in”, lying in the street to symbolise the victims of the conflict.
Group spokesperson Tomás MacConmara said, “what is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide. One of the largest, best equipped armies in the world are bombarding civilians trapped in one of the most densely populated places on earth. They are bombing homes, hospitals, schools, UN buildings and even ambulances. They are killing men, women and children. World leaders are paying lip service to it but are doing nothing.”
He added: “The Irish government acted shamefully when they abstained in a UN vote to investigate Israel for war crimes. When governments ignore war crimes and refuse to act, it is up to us, the ordinary people to act. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu both said Israel is an apartheid state and that is how we must treat them. They are also in breach of more UN resolutions than any other country in the world. We must boycott, divest and sanction them until they abide by international and human rights law”.
“Anyone with any morsel of human consciousness and humanity will stand with the people of Palestine. We want the people of Palestine to know that there are people around the world who stand with them, they are not alone. They won’t know it if they listen to our politicians,” Mr. MacConmara added.
Israeli troops have so far discovered 31 tunnels in Gaza and destroyed half of them, saying the tunnels are designed for cross-border attacks. The Israelis also wants Hamas to be prevented from rearming as a condition for a permanent ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the violence has spread to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent days. Nine Palestinians have been killed as protests over the bloodshed in Gaza have erupted into clashes with Israeli security forces.
The Clare Herald 
Wow, I thought my people from Clare were smarter than this. Please do you homework on issues before you starting rooting for on-side or the other. Hamas is evil. Look up the book Son of Hamas. Changed my thinking on the Gaza debate. Also, I didm’t realize that 1.2 million Arabs live in Israel and have very good lives are active participants. The cause of Ireland is no way the same.
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Posted by Cody O'Hara | July 28, 2014, 5:00 PMYou don’t have to do your homework to see the Israeli injustice inflicted on the Gaza population. As for Hamas being evil you could have say the same about the I.R.A. when they killed hundreds both in Ulster and the UK but the British did not go bomb women and children just imagine if they had bombed towns in the south or took over part of Donegal and blockaded the irish coast of ireland Its not a case of who is right or wrong its about the israelis have well and truly gone over the top with its actions, and made people like me and the people in Clare the protest
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Posted by Paul Scarratt | July 29, 2014, 2:45 PMThr British did bomb Ireland you absolute idiot. They colluded with loyalist terrorists to bomb dublin/monaghan in 1974 of which killed 34 innocent people. The British slaightered the irish for over 800 years, but when the IRA came back everyone started slagging them off. Yes, the IRA did some terrible things but it was in retaliation to what thr British/loyalists did. In my eyes I saw the provisonal IRA as freedom fighters, but the RIRA are idiots.
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Posted by Declan Doolin | July 31, 2014, 9:59 AM