Vigil for Lebanon and Palestine in Limerick

limerick | anti-war / imperialism | press release Wednesday August 02, 2006 17:25 by Zoe Lawlor - Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Limerick branch)

Press Release

Limerick Rally to Express Opposition to Middle East War

A rally is being held in Limerick on Thursday 3rd August to protest against the ongoing indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Middle East, and to demand greater efforts from governments, including our own, to bring about an immediate ceasefire. The rally is to take place in lower O’Connell Street (near Penneys) at 7pm.

Limerick Rally to Express Opposition to Middle East War

A rally is being held in Limerick on Thursday 3rd August to protest against the ongoing indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Middle East, and to demand greater efforts from governments, including our own, to bring about an immediate ceasefire. The rally is to take place in lower O’Connell Street (near Penneys) at 7pm
and is supported by a wide range of local and national groups including the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), UL Palestine Solidarity Society, Amnesty International, Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) and Coisantóiri Siochána. It is also being supported by Lebanese people living in Limerick, and by former members of the Irish Army that served as peacekeepers in the Lebanon.
In the past two weeks hundreds of Lebanese civilians including many children, have been killed, and hundreds more have been injured in a large-scale bombing campaign by Israeli forces. They have also deliberately targeted and destroyed dozens of bridges, roads, powers stations, the airport and port, and other civilian facilities and infrastructure. The Israeli air strikes have forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes and thousands more are at risk. The Israeli army has warned the population in certain areas to leave, but at the same time it has bombed the roads and bridges out of the areas, trapping civilians there.
Hizbullah’s armed wing, for its part, has also killed civilians and injured hundreds in rocket attacks into Northern Israel. The attacks have caused substantial damage to homes and other civilian properties in towns and villages there. Meanwhile as the world’s attention is focused on the Israel-Lebanon fighting, the Israeli army continues its offensive against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Here too, people are suffering and dying on a daily basis.
According to John Lannon who is with Amnesty International, one of the groups organizing the Limerick rally, attacks on civilians are a blatant breach of international humanitarian law and they amount to war crimes. “What makes it worse is that the US government and others are supplying bombs and arms to allow this to continue. How can we in the West talk about providing humanitarian aid on the one hand, when we provide arms on the other?” he said. He and others also expressed their concerns that the Irish government were not doing enough to try to bring about an end to the ongoing unnecessary suffering in the Middle East.
Members of the public are invited to come along on Thursday evening to express their solidarity with the suffering people of Lebanon, Palestine and Israel, and to support calls for an immediate ceasefire.

For more information on the rally, or to arrange interviews with any of the local groups/individuals supporting the event, contact Zoe Lawlor at zoe.lawlor@ul.ie