Protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast urging US President Joe Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East.
The Amnesty International demonstrations took place to coincide with Irish premier Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Mr Biden at the White House as part of the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit.
Activists from Amnesty gathered at US diplomatic offices in Dublin and Belfast on Friday morning holding banners that read: “President Biden, listen to your Irish roots and demand a permanent ceasefire.”
Today we demonstrated outside the US Embassy to call on President Biden to demand a permanent Gaza ceasefire.
With the Taoiseach making the annual St Patrick’s Day pilgrimage to the White House, we demand @POTUS listen to his Irish roots and call for a permanent ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/0A7avx8yGb
— Amnesty Ireland (@AmnestyIreland) March 15, 2024
A small number of Amnesty activists gathered at the gates of the offices of the US Consulate General in Belfast where they laid a bowl of shamrock at the front of the building and handed over a letter to a representative from the Consulate General.
Senior politicians from Leinster House and Stormont have been in Washington DC this week to promote Irish business and culture.
But pressure has been on politicians to also speak about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and to use the opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire and to push for peace.
Israel’s military operation in the enclave was launched in response to Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and saw militants seize more than 200 hostages.
The subsequent Israeli invasion has killed more than 31,000, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the region in ruins and displaced some 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Ireland’s Culture Minister Catherine Martin said at the SXSW festival in Austin Texas that she felt “revulsion” at the scale of deaths and injuries in Gaza and appealed to the US, a country with “strong ties” to Israel, to “join us in the pursuit of peace”.
Amnesty International Ireland’s executive director Stephen Bowen said they were asking Mr Biden “to hear Irish people around the world pleading for an end to the atrocities”.
“Since the horrific attacks of October 7, more than 30,000 Palestinian people have been killed, the majority of them women and children.
“To allow this travesty to continue is unspeakable. It’s time, Mr President. Call for a permanent ceasefire to end the mass humanitarian suffering in Gaza, aid the return of hostages, and calm the tensions multiplying in the region.”
Amnesty International UK’s Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: “Here today Amnesty activists are gathered outside the US Consulate in Belfast, also today outside the US Embassy in Dublin and over the weekend outside the White House in Washington, as Irish leaders go to meet President Biden.
The USA and others cannot hide behind airdrops or efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion they are doing enough to support needs in #Gaza.
Governments must prioritise a permanent ceasefire and ground-based aid to prevent famine.https://t.co/BWkpqZkwZW
— Amnesty Ireland (@AmnestyIreland) March 13, 2024
“We want them to bring a very clear message on behalf of people across Ireland north and south, to cry out for the Palestinian people, the people of Israel as well, in demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
“President Biden has loudly, proudly proclaimed his Irish roots so we are asking him to listen to people in Ireland, we are asking him to use his power to deliver a permanent and an immediate ceasefire for the benefit of all in the Middle East.”
He added: “Some have chosen to go (to Washington) and bring the message of peace, some have stayed at home in protest, our focus is on the message itself and that is that President Biden need to listen to people in Ireland and across the world and use his power, and he has immense power diplomatically, to unequivocally call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”