The silence on Grafton Street spoke volumes as a group of more than 100 healthcare workers quietly marched in solidarity with colleagues in Gaza and in remembrance of a child killed along with ambulance workers who came to her aid.
There was no shouting of slogans or words of condemnation, just a sombre bell tolling. But it was enough to stop shoppers in their tracks and see the buskers on Ireland’s busiest shopping street still their guitars to allow the protest pass them by at a funereal pace.
The march was, organisers said, aimed at highlighting the manner in which Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues. Women are still forced to give birth in tents, in freezing rain, while mobile maternity units provided by Irish people are denied entry, they said.
The gathering also heard how Israel is planning to prevent 37 aid organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières, from working in Gaza, a move that they say will worsen the plight of millions of people who have been living in a war zone for more than three years.
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The march snaked its way from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on St Stephen’s Green down Grafton Street, up Wicklow Street and South William Street before going back to the starting point.
It was, organisers said, a remembrance for six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed while fleeing with her family from Gaza City just over two years ago.
The family came under fire from an Israeli tank and the other occupants of the car were killed, leaving the terrified child to spend hours on the phone with a Red Crescent dispatcher.
When an ambulance eventually arrived, Israeli soldiers fired directly at it, killing the two paramedics and the little girl.
“We’re also here to remember the 20,000 other children that Israel has killed in Gaza since October 2023 and the 100 children they have killed since the ceasefire began,” said Dr Angela Skuse, a GP and the medical director of Safetynet Primary Care, which provides medical services for asylum seekers.
“We’re also here to call attention to Israel’s plan to ban 37 agencies from Gaza by the end of this month due to the agencies’ refusal to put the lives of their Palestinian staff at even greater risk by giving Israel their personal details,” she told the gathering.
Skuse said a silent walk through the city centre is organised monthly.
“It’s just a different type of protest. It’s very emotional and it is a time for people to reflect and people often cry on the march,” she said. “There’s a lot of moral distress, moral injury, hidden grief, especially, I think, among healthcare workers, about what’s happening in Gaza.”
She called on the Government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill and to stop the US from using Shannon as a refuelling point for planes returning Palestinians to Israel.
“The returning of people to places where they are likely to be persecuted is illegal under EU law and under international law so the transit of people through Shannon has to stop,” said Skuse.
Margaret Holland, from Donnycarney, was among those marching. She said she was compelled to protest because “this is the most important thing that’s happening in the world right now”.
She expressed dismay that the conflict was not getting the level of attention it deserved.
“I think people actually realise that it’s not over but unfortunately I think the media is behaving as if it is over and that’s the problem,” she said.
