Alan Lawes, an Independent councillor of Meath County Council, is calling on all the parties to join him and many others to a peaceful protest outside City Hall, in Belfast, this Sunday at 5.00pm. It comes at a time, when ordinary people in the UK and Ireland, are standing up and demanding the British government to stop supporting a genocide in Palestine.
As children and families die, they face starvation and oppression in the region, enough is enough. Cllr Lawes says ”Starmer is using legislation to mug the ordinary people, an 83 year old man, a blind person, has been arrested in peaceful protests in the UK . We don’t have to go too far back in history to see how the Irish were treated in 1968 when peaceful protests resulted in the start of the troubles, he pointed out. We as a nation know what starvation is all about too, as referred to The Great Famine in his address to the crowd.
In a plea to all the parties, he called on all of their leaders to come to Belfast on Sunday and support this peaceful protest. Yesterday, he was in Newry to show his solidarity and support for Palestine Action who hold a protest every Thursday in the town. He told the crowd he was there to pledge his support but also those in England that had stood up to oppose the lack of action by the British government.
He travelled with a number of activists from Dublin including Ciaran Perry, another Independent councillor from Dublin County Council. ” We want to show our support to the people of England and London in particular, that were arrested in their hundreds on Saturday and show their support to you.” he goes on to say ”exposing the British government to the genocide that is going on” using legislation that outlaws peaceful demonstration and protest.
” We say to Keir Starmer there is no way that on the island of Ireland, we will let him criminalise a group that is standing up against a genocide” He pledged his support to attend further meetings in the town. He reminded the crowd ” that a British government is supporting a country that is using starvation as a weapon. Irish people remember a government that used starvation as a weapon against us and we won’t allow that to happen”
He goes further to express his disgust at Keir Starmer ” if Jeremy Corbyn was British prime minister of Britain, this would have never happened. Thatcher left a legacy and Starmer you are even out passing her, a humanitarian lawyer, my arse.” he concluded.
