Irish Daily Mirror

Protesters call on US to help stop attacks

- EMBASSY DEMO Big ceasefire plea in Dublin BY GRAINNE NI AODHA JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDG­E

and

PROTESTS have been held in Dublin and Belfast urging US President Joe Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The Amnesty Internatio­nal demonstrat­ions took place to coincide with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Mr Biden at the White House as part of the traditiona­l St Patrick’s Day visit.

Activists from Amnesty gathered at US diplomatic offices in Dublin and

Belfast yesterday morning holding banners that read:

“President Biden, listen to your Irish roots and demand a permanent ceasefire.”

A small number of

Amnesty activists gathered at the gates of the offices of the US Consulate

General in Belfast where they laid a bowl of shamrock at the front of the building and handed over a letter to a representa­tive from the Consulate General.

Senior politician­s from Leinster House and Stormont have been in Washington DC this week to promote Irish business and culture.

But pressure has been on politician­s to also speak about the dire

PEACE PLEA humanitari­an situation in Gaza and to use the opportunit­y to call for an immediate ceasefire and to push for peace.

Israel’s military operation in the enclave was launched in response to Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and saw militants seize more than 200 hostages.

The subsequent Israeli invasion has killed more than 31,000, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the region in ruins and displaced some 80% of Gaza’s 2.3million people.

Culture Minister Catherine Martin said at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, that she felt “revulsion” at the scale of deaths and injuries in Gaza.

She appealed to the US, a country with “strong ties” to Israel, to “join us in the pursuit of peace”.

Amnesty Internatio­nal Ireland’s executive director Stephen Bowen said they were asking Mr Biden “to hear Irish people around the world pleading for an end to the atrocities”.

He said: “It’s time, Mr President. Call for a permanent ceasefire to end the mass humanitari­an suffering in Gaza, aid the return of hostages, and calm the tensions multiplyin­g in the region.”

 ?? ?? Amnesty activists in Belfast
Amnesty activists in Belfast
 ?? ?? CONSULATE CALL Messages in Belfast
CONSULATE CALL Messages in Belfast

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