Standing with Palestine - campaign group take to Kent Bridge
The Palestinian flag flew high in Fermoy on Friday as a strong cohort of people living in Fermoy and surrounding area made their way to Kent Bridge to raise awareness of the ongoing plight of Palestinian people.
Organised as part of the Bridge Initiative, which is ongoing across Cork county, the gathering held on Friday, March 15, was the first of its kind in the town.
Speaking with The Avondhu, Imelda O’Donovan, one of the founders of the Fermoy Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, explained that locals had been travelling to Cork city and elsewhere to take part in solidarity campaigns, until the Fermoy group held their first meeting on Wednesday, March 13.
“I was talking to a friend of mine about how frustrated I was that Fermoy wasn’t represented and that we weren’t doing anything. He introduced me to a friend of his and that’s where the sparks started. It went from two people talking about their frustrations who had never met, had a common friend and that became three, became four, became six. Before we knew it we have now roughly 30 people,
“We were going to rallies every Saturday in Cork and other places, there’s great solidarity in coming together. We were sitting at home helpless and we felt we needed to do something collectively. There’s power in creating awareness and letting people know that this is happening and it is happening in plain sight,” she said.
'WRONG ON EVERY LEVEL'
Taking to Kent Bridge, the group flew Palestinian flags and held up posters, calling on passing traffic during the evening rush hour to show their support and solidarity by honking their horn as they passed.
“It’s peaceful, waving flags and just letting people know that we have a presence here now and that we’re standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine. It is a war against children. Primarily, children are the ones affected.
“This is shocking stuff. We hear more and more of those kinds of stories now. There are over 30,000 people dead and more happening every day. We need to do our part and we need to take to the streets and let people know and let the powers that be know that this is unacceptable.
The people who are in power, we have elected and they need to hear our voice. This is wrong on every level. This is wrong, fundamentally wrong and action needs to be taken,” Ms O’Donovan said.
Each Friday, the Fermoy Palestine Solidarity Campaign plan to gather on the bridge crossing the Blackwater to raise awareness and bring visibility to what is happening. A monthly vigil is also being planned by the group, with the first expected to be held on Good Friday, with a time and place to be confirmed at the time of going to press.
Ted Myers, another involved with the group, explained that the oppression of Palestinian people has been happening long before October 7, with acts of oppression ongoing for over 75 years.
“The West has stood by for the past 75 years and just watched this deteriorate. I find some of the language which comes out of Israel lands everywhere else, where an oppressed people and an occupied people, when they resist, they are called terrorists and when the occupier and the oppressor are called victims. I find that very odd. To watch all the images we see on our screens, it's unbelievable. It’s almost surreal. They’ve turned the place into rubble and for what?
“I’m here to try and raise the awareness, although I think the Irish people are very much aware because of their own history, but it’s to try and raise awareness,” Mr Myers said.
If you wish to show your support and join with the group, they will gather in the centre of Fermoy on Friday between 4.30pm and 5.30pm.