Protest at Israeli Independence Day Celebrations in Dublin

Yesterday, 5th May 2009, members and supporters of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) staged a peaceful protest picket outside the Ballsbridge Court Hotel where the Israeli Embassy were hosting an evening celebrating Israeli Independence Day.

The protest ran from 6.30 to 8.00pm, and was colourful and loud. There were noisy chants of "Shame, Shame, Israel", "Palestine Will Be Free", "Boycott Israeli Terrorism" and those seen entering were heckled from across the street.

IPSC spokesperson Kevin Squires said: "Yesterday symbolically marked 61 years since the foundation of the State of Israel, which entailed the ethnic cleaning of some 750,000 indigenous Palestinians from their homes. They were never allowed to return to their homeland. Palestinians call these events Al-Nakba (The Catastrophe). While the Israeli Ambassador and his friends celebrated this tragedy, millions of Palestinian refugees were mourning the loss of their homeland and still waiting for their Right of Return (enshrined in UN Resolution 194) to be implemented. "

Mr. Squires continued: “This event was nothing other than a celebration of 61 years of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, particularly disgusting in the wake of the slaughter of 1,400 people in Gaza at the beginning of this year.”

Mr Squires concluded: “Those who attended this event should be ashamed of themselves, and we were present to ensure that they were indeed shamed.”