Feb 24th Pro Palestinian Rally

The view down Robert Street where the rally doubled back through Oliver Plunkett Street. People walking and some carrying flags and banners.
A huge likeness of US President Biden with blood spattered hands held aloft by members of the rally.
A speaker in front of the crowd on Grant Parade.
Faces of the crowd at the rally. Flags and banners too.
A woman at the rally holds up a sign saying, "FREE PALESTINE IT IS A MATTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS"

Today saw the biggest rally supporting Palestinians happen in Cork this afternoon. Groups from all over Munster descended on the city and the rally walked down St. Patrick’s Street, chanting and singing. They doubled back through Winthrop Street and back up Oliver Plunkett Street before assembling in the Grand Parade for a number of speakers and singers.

The rally was organised by Cork Palestina Solidarity Campaign.


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If I must die, let it bring hope

People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.
People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.
People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.
People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.
People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.
People walking in a rally in support of Gaza. Some carry posters and flags.

Those are the words of a Palestinian poet killed by an airstrike in Gaza. I saw them printed on a small white kite on the Palestinian flag carried by a man at the pro-Palestinian rally in Cork today. The rally was organised by the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Last week another poet, Refaat Alareer, was killed by an airstrike. Alareer was a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught Shakespeare, among other subjects. One of his latest works widely shared, again on X, concludes with the words: “If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale.”

The Guardian, 12th December 2023.

The rally today was the biggest I’ve seen so far, and The Echo Live estimated about 1,000 people took part.


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So many steps

The steps at the bottom of the Escadinhas Damasceno Monteiro in Lisbon. Beautiful butterfly graffiti and a crudely written "FREE PALESTINE" on the wall.

The city of Lisbon is infamous for its hills, and the Escadinhas Damasceno Monteiro is a fine example. It is down the street from where we were staying. It’s got lots of steps. So many steps.


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Still Water and Blue Sky

One afternoon while we were in Valencia we visited the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe on hire bikes. There were huge crowds there, taking selfies and hanging around, but with a long 20-second exposure they all (mostly) disappear into a blur. In the photo above you’ll also see the Pont l’Assut de l’Or bridge and CaixaForum in the background and, of course, the clear blue sky.


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Let’s have a ceasefire now

What good has it done to kill over 28,000 people in Gaza? Hamas must free those hostages, it’s not like their presence is stopping the Israeli army from reducing the country to rubble. Let’s have a ceasefire now. This struggle has only caused misery, suffering and hate on both sides.

The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper for sale on the streets of that city in 2006.

In 2006, Israel stopped an attack after 37 children were killed. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper with that headline. I happened to photograph it on the streets of that city in late July that year. They’re not stopping now, are they?

Some listening:

The Israeli Hostages
Leaving Gaza
The Words to Say It (transcript)
The growing dissent over Biden’s Israel policy

Edit a few days later, one more about Israeli attacks on an overpopulated Rafah on the Egyptian border:

A screenshot from Google Maps of Rafah and the border with Egypt. Dense city on one side of the border in Gaza.

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It’s for me’o!

It’s still cold, but following up on my recent photo outside a gelato shop, here’s another one, on the corner of Patrick’s Street and Winthrop Street in Cork.

I love ice cream too, but maybe not enough to eat it on a cold wintery day, outside!


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A crack of sunlight

There was almost complete cloud cover the other night over Cork as we attempted to photograph the setting sun behind St. Anne’s Church, or Shandon Bells, as it’s known locally.

A few minutes before the official sunset, the horizon caught on fire and briefly lit up. It didn’t last long, and the transition between daylight and night just meant the sky got darker and the air colder around us.


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