Clive Sulish
(Reading time: 3 mins.)
Thousands on Saturday (24th) witnessed Palestine supporters demonstrating outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin’s Ballsbridge, their reactions for the most part ranging from neutral to applause, some having their photos taken alongside the picketers.
On this Saturday there was no Palestine solidarity march in Dublin and some instead attended a picket of the Zionist Embassy.
There were also a handful of hostile provocative reactions, ranging from mention of “the hostages” to cheering “Israel” and one who tried to make an issue of Jewishness but was firmly told that opposition to Zionism has nothing to do with anti-semitism.
Those who mention “the hostages” refer only to the 130 or so prisoners taken by the Palestinian resistance in their operation of October 7th, never to the thousands of civilians, including children, taken prisoner by the Zionist state and, if judicially processed, tried in Israeli military courts.
Initially the crowds leaving the Rugby game between the Irish and Welsh teams, seemed neutral as they passed the picketers but gradually grew warmer.
The handful of passersby who expressed support for the Zionist state were militantly denounced by the picketers as “Genocide supporters” but much more common from the crowds were signs of approval such as applause, thumbs-up and occasional cheers and clenched-fist gestures.
A few in the crowd also shook hands with or gave a fist-bump to a demonstrator and some also thanked the picketers.
Some asked to have their photos taken alongside a picketer, one also waving a borrowed Palestinian flag. A woman approached one of the demonstrators, removed her Ireland rugby colours scarf and wrapped it around the picketer’s neck, saying “We support you” before walking away.
The nearly non-stop chants of the picketers, led by a young man of Middle Eastern appearance in a keffiyeh were directed at solidarity with the Palestinians and denunciation of the Israeli State, including calls for boycott and sanctions and the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador.
One of the female demonstrators, a regular at the site, is garbed in white “blood-stained shroud.” At least half the picketers appeared Irish by appearance and accent. A majority were female, which seems to be the pattern in pickets, rallies and marches in solidarity with Palestine.
The thousands who passed the picketers were in contrast to the earlier near-deserted Shelbourne Road, as the Gardaí had closed the road to vehicular traffic in the vicinity of the Aviva Stadium where the Ireland rugby team was playing the Welsh one.
The Israeli Embassy moved in 2019 to its current location on the fifth floor of a multiple-business-occupied building at 23 Shelbourne Road. Formerly the zionist embassy occupied an upper floor at Carrisbrook House, Northumberland Road, with every other floor unoccupied.
Some of the occupants of the current building, which is protected by a Garda presence, have reportedly asked their landlord to remove the Embassy but the request was denied.
When Gardaí reopened the road a senior Garda officer directed the demonstrators, ‘for their safety’, to remove from the road in front of the Embassy building to the side. However, it is the Gardaí who have barricaded off the entire section of pedestrian pavement in front of the building.
It seems likely that this will become an issue at some point in the future.
THE RUGBY
The Irish team beat the Welsh one 31-7 on Saturday. The Irish rugby team is a 32-County team, unlike soccer, where the Irish state and the colony each has their own ‘national’ team and are obliged to compete against one another internationally.
However, the song played for the Irish rugby team is the anodyne Ireland’s Call and not Amhrán na bhFiann/ The Soldiers Song, which is played for the Irish soccer team and in Gaelic Athletic games.
Rugby has gained in wider popularity in Ireland in recent decades but formerly in most parts of Ireland was considered a game for Anglophiles or “West Brits”.
Also, with the exception of Limerick, socially a game of the upper middle class, being played in Anglican colleges and in Catholic colleges of the English public school model.
Until the advent of the now-defunct Irish Press(1931-1995), neither of the main national newspapers, The Irish Times nor The Irish Independent reported on Gaelic Athletic Association games, reporting instead on the minority rugby, hockey and cricket matches.
End.
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