Derry Palestine Solidarity rally at Free Derry Corner

The Derry branch of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (DIPSC) has urged people in Derry to bring their “friends, flags and voices” to support its ‘All out for Palestine!’ vigil.

The event being held “in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all of Palestine bravely resisting the 75 years plus of Israeli Occupation” is taking place at Free Derry Wall in the City at 6.00pm on Tuesday (October 10, 2023).

Speaking to Derry Now, Catherine Hutton, the chairperson of DIPSC, said: “There has always been a history of support and solidarity with the Palestinian people, not just in Derry but in the whole of Ireland. 

“I think in this case, what we are seeing is the systematic dehumanising of Palestinians now, especially in the media. I have been listening to various news channels and almost entirely, the narrative is all about Israel and Israeli suffering.

“I am not denying that it is absolutely horrible that so many have been killed and that people have been injured.

“The other side of it is that Israel is one of the biggest military forces in the world and what it is doing in Gaza now especially is horrendous. They are describing the people as ‘human animals’. Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defence of Israel, this morning, described the Palestinians living in Gaza as ‘human animals’ and he has now ordered that there be no food, water, fuel and medical supplies to Gaza, they be stopped.

“He is basically starving them to death, killing them. I hate to use the comparison, but it is as if the world has learned nothing from the Holocaust. They stood by and watched what the Nazi’s did to the Jews in the concentration camps and the ghettos and they are allowing it to happen all over again in Gaza. 

“And all you hear in the media is about Hamas. Hamas is there. It is a product of 75 years plus of oppression, occupation, apartheid and complete discrimination. The problem is, internally, Palestinians may be split politically but the one thing that unites them is resistance to the occupation,” said Ms Hutton.

Catherine Hutton highlighted the fact it was enshrined in international law that a people under occupation has a right to resist by whatever means necessary.

She added: “This did not happen in a vacuum. Every day, Palestinians are living with ethnic cleansing, with murder, with arbitrary arrest, and administrative detention.

“They are living with all of the discrimination, lack of freedom of movement, the list goes on and on and on. This is happening daily. 

“What is happening now has not come out of the blue but the world is reacting as if it has. There is exceptionalism towards Israel. Israel is treated differently. There are different rules. Israeli lives matter more than Palestinians. That is the way it has always been but it is even more apparent now. 

“That is why DIPSC is asking people to come out and support tomorrow’s event. The governments are not representing the people,” said Catherine Hutton.

“It is very hard to know what to do to help,” said Ms Hutton, “but ‘Medical Aid for Palestinians’ is crying out for donations because they have literally repositioned all of their supplies and all their medical teams into Gaza. So we are going to be doing a collection at the protest and people can  give what they can. That money will go directly to ‘Medical Aid for Palestinians’, an absolutely brilliant charity.”

Derry Anti War Coalition has urged people with Palestinian flags in the city to fly them from their windows “in solidarity with the Palestine people”