Members of Drogheda Stands with Palestine joined Mayor Michelle Hall, Drogheda councillors and invited guests at Drogheda Civic Offices on Thursday to welcome the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland.
The visit followed a motion passed by Drogheda Borough District councillors earlier this year declaring Drogheda an Apartheid Free Zone.
The motion committed the town to avoiding business links with companies considered complicit in Israel’s occupation, oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people.
The Irish and Palestinian flags flew side by side outside the restored Civic Office on Fair Street as Ambassador Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid thanked the Irish public and the people of Drogheda for their strong, longstanding support and recognition of our shared history, saying it gives Palestinians hope in their struggle for freedom. She spoke of Israel’s ongoing oppression in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the continued killing of civilians in Gaza despite the supposed ceasefire, and Israel’s blockade of aid and reconstruction materials, leaving over a million Gazans living in tents without basic necessities. She urged the international community to impose costs through targeted boycotts and sanctions to halt Israel’s apartheid, occupation and oppression.
Alan Kelly of Drogheda Stands with Palestine said interest in the Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) campaign has grown recently, with 14 Drogheda businesses now declaring themselves AFZs. Recent additions include Hurley Bros deli, Bare Foods café, Only Natural health food shop, Kirwan’s Fish Cart, Centra Hardmans Gardens, the Secret Garden Sauna, the Black Bull Inn, Drogheda Town FC and Alan’s own Laurence St. Shop, Al’s Tees. Any interested businesses can learn more and sign up very easily at apartheidfree.ie.
Alan also urged the FAI to stop the Republic of Ireland national men’s team from playing both legs of their forthcoming fixtures against Israel in October, pointing out that Israel breaches FIFA rules by fielding teams based in illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Drogheda Stands with Palestine will organise a “Show Israel the Red Card” event in June.
