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.


Apertureƒ/7.1
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length75mm
ISO1600
Shutter speed1/500s

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.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO160
Shutter speed1/500s

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.

Apertureƒ/4
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO400
Shutter speed1/500s

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!


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO500
Shutter speed1/500s

Listen to the radio

A man sits at one of the tables outside Gino’s Gelato listening to the radio. It was a cold day, and he was dressed for the weather, as were the people nearby. That ice-cream shop was still selling delicious treats to customers!


Apertureƒ/1.7
CameraGalaxy S23 Ultra
Focal length6.3mm
ISO640
Shutter speed1/1500s

Alexandre III Bridge at Night

The Alexandre III Bridge in Paris was a beautiful sight to see. Unfortunately, there were road works on the bridge and traffic was busy, so you had to be careful where you went. A large group of Japanese tourists spent an age taking photos with the bridge in the background. They even had lights on a stand. It was quite a set-up.


Apertureƒ/16
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length32mm
ISO100
Shutter speed2s

A man and the R&H Hall

As we were photographing the R&H Hall building the other morning, Henry spotted a boat, the Simon Princess, sailing towards us. I thought the boat might pull in on the other side of the river, but no, it stopped just a few metres away.

As it passed slowly, I caught a nice photo of one of the crew looking out, with the R&H Hall building providing a nice background. A photo that will be impossible to replicate in 6 months time.


Apertureƒ/5.6
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length85mm
ISO5000
Shutter speed1/400s

Sky Blue on a cold day

The front of the casino on Winthrop Street is coloured an unusually calming sky-blue or cyan colour. Not the type of colour I’d expect somewhere that wants customers to get excited about losing money to use.

Luckily, Deliveroo uses the same colour and a delivery guy just walked past while I was fishing for a photo!


Apertureƒ/3.2
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO800
Shutter speed1/500s