Solidarity march in support of Palestine postponed following Dublin riots
The march scheduled for Saturday will now be held on December 2. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
A march in support of Palestine has been deferred following the riots in Dublin on Thursday night.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has said the march, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, will now be held on December 2.
The decision was taken after the violent scenes in the capital which saw public transport vehicles set on fire, shops looted, and members of An Garda Síochána attacked.
The campaign said that far-right groups are calling for further so-called protests over the weekend.
Their statement said that these same people are "also fervently anti-Palestinian in outlook".
"Indeed, there is little the enemies of the Palestinian people would like more than for violence to be directed against such solidarity marches," a spokesperson said.
The group also said that it would be disrespectful to hold the march as it was due to begin near the scene of the knife attack that left a five-year-old girl in a critical condition, a woman in her 30s in a serious condition, and two other young children also hurt.
"There are no words to describe the horror, devastation, and trauma this has caused," the IPSC said, extending love and solidarity to the victims, their families and friends, and the local community.
They called out attempts by those who instigated the riots to use the attack as an excuse to promote anti-immigrant views.
"It is important to emphasise that whatever the background of the perpetrator, their crime was theirs alone and not the crime of any community, ethnicity, or nationality — and attempts to portray it as such need to be clearly called out for what they are: Far-right racist fearmongering."
Equally, the IPSC said that the actions of the minority who caused havoc on the streets do not represent all Dubliners.
"The tiny minority of people that did this do not represent the people of Dublin, in all our diversity," the spokesperson said.
"They do not represent the thousands and thousands of people who have turned out every Saturday for nearly two months to march for justice for the Palestinian people.
"And they certainly do not represent the heroes of yesterday’s events, not the people that intervened to stop the attack and get people to safety, nor those who treated the wounded, nor indeed, the victims of the appalling attack, all of whom were from diverse backgrounds."
While this weekend's march will not go ahead, the IPSC believes all other planned events outside of Dublin city centre will go ahead.
"The people of Palestine know that the people of Ireland share an unbreakable bond with them," they said.
"That bond remains whether we are on the city streets, in our local communities, or in our homes doing solidarity work."
