As the sun shone over the country yesterday (Sunday 17th August) and many enjoyed the day, Cllr Alan Lawes, headed to Belfast to show his solidarity for the support of Palestine Action who held a rally outside City Hall in Belfast on Sunday. Earlier in the week he had travelled to Newry in county Down to pledge his support for the many thousands of ordinary people that can no longer watch the genocide that continues in Palestine and can be arrested under recent legislation in the UK. 

He questions the lack of actions by the elected governments that can watch day by day as countless souls starve to death, yet nothing happens. The lack of action has mustered strong feelings as he spoke to Meath Live on his trip north.’ ‘I am calling on leaders of the parties, such as Holly Cairns in the Social Democrats, Mary Lou MacDonald in Sinn Fein, Ivana Bacik in Labour, Boyd Barrett in People before Profit,  Peadar Tóibín in Aontú to come out and support Palestine Action. We need to show our support and fight with peaceful demonstrations. There is no point waiting for The Dáil to comeback in September and be a talking shop, we need action now.” He continued;

”We need to show that people cannot be arrested for standing up to the basic rights for families. There is a genocide being allowed to continue and in Britain they are using legislation to arrest innocent people by the hundreds in Britain. It’s wrong and we as elected representatives need to stand up for these people. I can’t stand by and watch what is happening. I am pleading with my fellow politicians to come to Newry or Belfast to show solidarity to support those protesting in a peaceful way and to get action to stop the genocide of the Palestine nation.”

Cllr Alan Lawes addressed the crowd outside City Hall pledging his support and informing them that he ”invited all the politicians in the republic to come and join the brave men and ladies that are standing up to challenging an unjust terrorist act and standing up to stop genocide.”  He continued ” I want May Lou to come to Newry on Thursday. Every week young men and women go to Newry , they stand and defy the Terrorism Act, the same way the civil rights leaders in 1968 in Derry defied when they were banned from protesting.

Cllr Alan Lawes addressing the crowd at City Hall in Belfast.

” We need Irish politicians who support Palestine, we know the government is not going to enact the Territories bill, they are not going to do anything about the bonds being sold by Israel to the Central Bank, we know that.

” So we have to push this over the edge, we have to come over the border, in our droves. We need to be brave in People before Profit, we need to be brave in Sinn Fein, we need to be brave in the Social Democrats. We need to be brave in all the parties, that say, they support Palestine. We need to be brave like all the hundreds of people that are here today.”

” We are trying to stop the genocide, the slaughter of men, women and children. We need politicians to have a pair of balls and join us in Newry on Thursdays  and come over the border.” he concluded.