Thousands attend protest in Belfast to ‘show solidarity with Palestinians’
Several thousand people are taking part in a Palestine solidarity protest in Belfast demanding sanctions against Israel.
The demonstration has been organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign as part of a series of protests in towns and cities on both sides of the Irish border.
In Dublin, protesters are marching from the US embassy to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Other protests are being staged in Londonderry, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Navan, Carlow, and Waterford.
‘It’s just horrific’
Mary Kelly (third from right) and members of her family were among thousands of people who took part in the Belfast protest march [BBC]
Mary Kelly attended the Belfast protest with her sister and other members of her family to show support for the people of Gaza.
“What’s going on is absolutely disgusting,” she told BBC News NI.
“We’re watching every day – on alternative channels to be fair – at what’s happening live in our faces.
“We’ve been here years doing this, we’re just wondering when it’s ever going to stop.”
Ms Kelly added: “It’s just horrific – horrific crimes going on while the world is watching. It’s heartbreaking actually.”
‘This is about humanity’
Eftaima Najjair said the people attending the protest gave her “hope for the future” [BBC]
Eftaima Najjair from Portadown, County Armagh, was also among the protesters.
“Showing solidarity is very important and coming out today, even as a Muslim-Arab lady, looking at all these different people from different places – young, old, babies, elderly – it really gives a lot of hope for the future,” she said.
“This is about humanity, it not about just the Palestinian people.
“It’s about our humanity and looking at these people who are starving… just sitting back home doing nothing is not an option,” Ms Najjair added.
“So the least we can do is come out in solidarity and show that we’re here and that we really care and that we’re trying our best.”
Protest outside BBC
Demonstrators at the Belfast protest walked through the city to the BBC NI headquarters to express dissatisfaction at BBC coverage of events in Gaza.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led 7 October attack in 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 more were taken hostage.
At least 64,300 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The ministry also said 376 people have died during the war so far as a result of malnutrition and starvation.
