Biden and US administration slammed by speakers at Palestine Solidarity meeting outside Sligo City Hall
PRESIDENT Joe Biden and the US administration were severely criticised by a number of the speakers who addressed a Palestine Solidarity meeting outside Sligo City Hall on Saturday afternoon last.
Those attending the event, which was organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, had marched from the assembly point on Connaughton Road through the town centre to the City Hall where they were addressed by speakers including Sligo’s Mayor Cllr Declan Bree, Cllr Arthur Gibbons, Ms Niamh O’Sullivan, Mr Brian O’Boyle and Palestinian speaker Ms Marwa Ramadan.
Cllr Declan Bree said: “The Israeli regime would not and could not continue to slaughter the civilian population of Gaza if President Biden threatened to withhold American support and arms.
“There would be no famine, there would be no genocide in Gaza if President Biden restrained Israel. His decision to use the veto to stop the UN calling for a ceasefire and his continued support for the Israeli regime has been conscious and unconditional.
“The US is now building a pier and air-dropping food. But the world knows that there are hundreds of trucks already at the border-crossing full of supplies.
“However, the reality is that they are being prevented from crossing by the same Israeli regime that the U.S. is currently sending another $17 billion in military assistance to.
“What sort of cruel monsters are there in the corridors of power in Washington?” Cllr Bree asked.
Cllr Arthur Gibbons said: “The horrors Israel has been committing in Gaza since October are frankly indescribable. The civilian population of Gaza have been subject to the most depraved, indiscriminate bombing campaign in modern times.
“Not satisfied with murdering over 30,000 people in just over five months, including at least 13,000 children, Israel has also destroyed the hospitals and the entire healthcare system in Gaza, ensuring there is no help coming for these people.
“Ireland now needs to expel the Israeli Ambassador with the clear message, Ireland does not support Genocide,” he said.
“What I have witnessed in Gaza over the past five months, captured in real time, are people in all their humanness,” said Ms Niamh O’Sullivan. “Their love for their children, for their families, their communities, their land. Their continuing and lasting faith. Their deep deep grief, their raging anger, their despair, their boredom, their resilience, their hope. Their rounded, diverse, magnificent and flawed humanness. The same as any of us.
“As Irish people, we are uniquely placed. In our privilege as white westerners and in our experience as a colonised people. We know what happens to a land and a people when they are oppressed. We know the ugliness that can erupt among us and between us. We also know what it is to be dehumanised. And we know what it is to want to live in freedom and in peace,” she said.
Referring to the role of the United States in the conflict, Mr Brian O’Boyle said: “The slaughter of thousands of civilians in Gaza is a profound moral catastrophe. It is also a joint enterprise between Israel and the USA.
“Joe Biden has sponsored this genocide and has blood on his hands. He cannot be Ireland’s friend while he helps to kill other people's children. That is why no Irish politician should have gone to the White House.
“When Leo Varadkar or Mary Lou McDonald says they must speak to our 'friends' in the White House, we say ‘Not in Our Name’. We stand with the Palestinian people,” he said.
Addressing the meeting the Palestinian speaker Ms Marwa Ramadan said: “This year, Ramadan in Gaza is different. This Ramadan, Gaza suffers a genocide and forced mass starvation, and the death toll grows heavier with each passing day.
“As I sit in the comfort of my home in Ireland this Ramadan, surrounded by loved ones at our table, I am overwhelmed with guilt. Guilt for every sip of water, food bite, clean and dry clothing, and moment of warmth and shelter I enjoy. I feel guilty that I get to tuck my child in at night and know she is safe. I am haunted by thoughts of children in Gaza I cannot shake the haunting echoes of their screams and desperate cries for lost loved ones.
“Yet, the world continues to watch this genocide unfold before our eyes. The world continues to watch parents holding on to the lifeless bodies of their children. And I am left wondering why governments consistently fail to show genuine outrage over Israel's actions, why governments consistently fail to hold Israel accountable. I am left shocked as Israel, yet again, quite literally gets away with murder.
“The world continues to watch, seemingly expecting Palestinians to emerge from the rubble and embrace their killers without resentment. My question is … would you?” she asked.