Local protests in Dublin in support of Palestine

For the last 18 months, Palestinian-solidarity activism around Dublin 7 and Dublin 8, like elsewhere, has been practically non-stop. 

On April 3rd, a community protest occurred in front of Maple Shopping Centre, Dublin 7 – one of many protests in Dublin’s inner city demanding an end to Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.  

From 6 to 7pm, Navan Road was lined with protesters and local activists carrying Palestinian flags in front of the Maple Shopping Centre. 

This specific protest, which is organised weekly and has now run for over 50 weeks, emphasises the shopping centre as a location of a McDonald’s. This company is known for being a long-time supplier of meals for Israeli soldiers and is on the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s list of boycotted companies. 

Dublin 7 for Palestine, a local solidarity group for Dublin 7 locals, organized this community protest. They shared the solidarity picket on social media late Tuesday, calling it “part of a series of local community demonstrations across Dublin”. 

Passers-by honked car horns in solidarity, an locals walked up to learn about the action.  

“There are so many little local organisations that have just developed organically,” Ken Powell told The Liberty. Powell, who has been part of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign since 2023 and frequents many local and national protests, is involved in activism in the Liberties.  

“I live in Dublin 8, and we have a group here, Liberties Stand with Palestine. Mostly we go along to the Lidl stores in the area with leaflets.

“We try to educate the shoppers about Lidl because they’ve been selling baby wipes produced in occupied territories and selling Israeli avocados grown on Palestinian land. 

“There’s a lovely mural in Dublin 8 just off Clanbrassil street on the Peadar Brown Pub, and the Dublin City council have been trying to take it down, so there’s a local campaign about that,” he added.

“People before Profit take many actions locally in our area, and I’ve met people through that, and they’ve been very proactive. We’re very lucky in Dublin that there is such a wonderful diversity of events we can attend all the time.” 

Many have expressed concern over the Mother’s Day arrests of ‘Mothers Against Genocide’ members and the strip-searches of two of them. 

“There is a lot of anger on the streets about the way that the women have been treated by the gardai,” Powell said.

At a recent national protest, Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian who co-founded the BDS movement, told the crowd that is “so un-Irish to give up hope”.