Cieran Perry, Dublin city councilor, met at Cabra Cross, an imposing crossroads in the north of the Irish capital. This February 29, and like every Thursday evening since October 2023, he is leading a neighborhood demonstration in support of Palestine. Night falls, it smells strongly of exhaust fumes and fried food from the nearby McDonald’s. However, the atmosphere is in full swing: around twenty local residents – couples with children, retirees with dogs on a leash – have taken out large Palestinian flags which they are waving at the side of the road. They also unfurled a banner bearing the words “Stop Israeli Terror in Gaza”. Motorists respond with concerts of horns.
At first glance, Cieran Perry, 61, who criticizes the “genocide” underway in Gaza, don’t bother with circumlocutions. “Why do so many of us support the Palestinians? It’s simple. There is a historical link between Palestine and Ireland: we had the same oppressor, the British Empire, and the same policy of occupation. assures this elected official who claims to be left-wing. Cerena O’Brien, a resident of the Cabra neighborhood posted on the side of the road with her Palestinian flag, makes the same argument as Cieran Perry: “We too have experienced oppression and famine. »
Ireland is one of the most pro-Palestinian European countries. From October 18, 2023, eleven days after the massacres committed by Hamas in Israel, which responded by bombing the Gaza Strip, the center-right coalition government (allied to the Greens) called for a “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. And refused to cut funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel’s allegations accusing twelve of its members of having participated in the October 7 attacks.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins sharply criticized the “unconditional support” of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Israel, believing that she was not speaking “in the name of Ireland”. And Dublin has not ruled out joining forces with the genocide complaint filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice. “The government was not as supportive of Palestine in October, but it has evolved to better reflect national sentiment,” analyzes Cieran Perry. According to a survey published on February 2 by the Ireland Thinks institute, 79% of Irish people believe that “Israel’s military actions in Gaza constitute genocide.”
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