Despite international efforts to broker a ceasefire, the conflict has escalated with Israel now making military incursions into Gaza and the death toll has risen to 275.
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Protesters gather in the St Patrick Square in Downpatrick just before their white line protest in support of the plight of the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel.[/caption]
During the local Downpatrick protest, supporters of Friends of Palestine (Ireland) stood along the white line in the centre of upper Market Street between the two sets of traffic lights. Supporters arrived from towns around the district.
Downpatrick Sinn Féin councillor Naomi Bailie and activists were amongst those who gathered in Downpatrick to protest against the on-going siege of Gaza by Israeli forces.
Local Councillor Naomi Bailie and past councillor Liam Johnston attended and paid tribute to Friends of Palestine (Ireland) who organised the local event along with numerous others across the country.
Cllr Bailie said the continued attacks by Israel on the state and people of Gaza were “unacceptable and would not be tolerated by Irish society.”
She added: “People here are outraged to hear daily reports of continuing attacks on the oppressed people of Gaza by Israeli troops. Their decision today to launch a ground offensive is utterly reprehensible and it’s time the international community stood up to Israel.
“We are here today to show solidarity with Palestinians and all those who’ve fallen victim to the Israeli terrorist attacks and are suffering at the hands of an unwanted occupying power.
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“Young people, women and children have all been indiscriminately targeted and murdered during this 10-day campaign with estimates now well over 200 fatalities.
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Protest organisers  Dáithi Cliontun with Francis McStravick.[/caption]
“Their desire is freedom… to live in peace in their native land and free from foreign aggression. It is not different a cause to our own here in the north of Ireland.
“Israel has been building towards this situation for decades and will continue to do so until international pressure is enough to stop them. It is time now for the UN to intervene in Palestine and take action against Israel for the crimes committed there.
“I would also encourage people to take part in a boycott of Israeli products and businesses, which would devastate the Zionist regime’s economy and help to weaken its aggression on the people of Palestine.”
Councillor Cadogan Enright also launched a stinging attack on Israel saying: “The British press focus much on AIslamic fascism but they do not say much about Judio fascism. This recent situation in Gaza has been festering for two months.
“I am amazed that the jews who suffered so much under Nazi Germany could behave in this manner towards a different race. Both Israel and Palestine need to be looking at Lebanon and Northern Ireland as examples of how a conflict can be resolved.”
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Support For A Free Independent Palestine On the Streets Of Downpatrick
Dáithi Cliontun, spokesperson for the Liam Mellows 1916 Society, An Dún, said his group were proud to join up to 50 local people on a white line protest in Downpatrick to show solidarity with the besieged people of Palestine.
He said: “We commend those that took to Market Street in the town to highlight the on-going slaughter of men, women and children on the streets of Gaza.
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Protesters get ready for the white line protest in Downpatrick in support of Palestine.[/caption]
“The 1916 Societies take this opportunity to express our horror and complete opposition to the ongoing military assault on the innocent people of occupied Palestine and offer solidarity with the besieged people there in the face of the terrifying attacks currently perpetrated by the Netanyahu regime in violation of all international standards and the Geneva Conventions themselves.
“The disproportionate response of recent days to the abduction and killing of three teenage Israelis just outside the town of Hebron conforms to a long-standing pattern of collective punishment that is both illegal under international law and should be condemned by all right-thinking people with a commitment and belief in the principles of justice and peace.
The state of Israel presents to the world as a democracy and standard-bearer of human rights but its treatment of the Palestinians, whose lands they have taken by force and continue to occupy, tells a different story.
“The 1916 Societies, mindful as we are of the historical role and responsibility of Britain in bringing this terrible situation into being to begin with, support the right of the Palestinian people to full self-determination and sovereignty over their own affairs and territory. We reject that Israel has any right to occupy Palestinian land by military force or otherwise and call for its apparatus of occupation to be completely dismantled forthwith.

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Mr Cliontun added: “The unwarranted violence inflicted on the Palestinian civilian population demands immediate redress and the Israeli state should be brought before the International Criminal Court to account for its actions. There is though a wider issue in play, that of the continuing occupation itself. To that end collective punishment, while a horrible phenomenon in its own right, is ultimately a symptom of occupation rather than the underlying problem. It is then the occupation which should be challenged and not just the aggression which is a feature of it.
“With that in mind we in the 1916 Societies call for a complete and unconditional end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the full retrieval of Palestine’s national rights. We extend our full support to the Palestinian people and hope to see the day when our respective countries stand as free nations before the world.”
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