A Palestinian solidarity movement that started on a footbridge
What began with one small group in Ballincollig has inspired others to start their own events and now there are bridge protests starting to pop up in many other places across the country.
If you’re westbound on the Ballincollig bypass on Friday evenings, then you’ve probably seen the protests taking place on the footbridge near Dell EMC.
For the past twenty-one weeks a group of people have been gathering at this location, to offer their support to the people of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
This initiative was begun by ‘Ballincollig Palestinian Solidarity Committee’ and one of its members Ciarán Dawson met with T+D this week to tell us more about these protests, how they are now spreading to bridges all over the county and why there isn’t any end in sight as to when they might stop.
“We started the Friday after the first big protest in the city and chose this location as it’s a real bottleneck and traffic slows down to a crawl.”
“The first night people came to join us from many different places around Cork and even from Killarney, as it was the nearest protest to where they were living.”
“There’s an Egyptian couple who are both doctors, there are some Iranians. It’s a very diverse group, but the main thing is, it’s about being seen.”
The protestors arrive around 4:15pm every Friday and stay until 6:30pm, depending on the volume of traffic passing. This has meant standing out in some tough weather conditions throughout the winter, but both the push for an end to ongoing atrocities and the support they have been receiving, more than keeps them going.
“People have been banging the horns and flashing lights, so we see the depth of support out there. You get the odd nasty one, but very few.”
What began with one small group has inspired others to start their own events and now there are bridge protests starting to pop up in many other places as well.
“For the past five or six weeks there’s been a protest on a bridge on the way into Cobh. There was one in Fermoy for the first time last Friday. There is one in Mahon that has also been going since last October. It’s a real Cork phenomenon.”
“The Friday before last we started a WhatsApp group around the county, so we’re planting the seed here first and then aiming in April to stage a thirty two county, all Ireland event with people protesting on bridges all over the country.”
“It would be a very powerful image for people to see and the photos would go around the world. That’s why we always fly the Irish tricolour as well as Palestinian flags, so people from other countries know where these protests are happening.”
The question many people ask however, is are the protests having any effect on how the conflict is developing? Ciarán thinks the answer is a definite yes.
“You can see now that Israel is hesitant to invade Rafah, this is the result of the protests. The widespread support of Palestine has held them back.”
Ciarán said he finds it hard to believe that in this day and age, it is up to ordinary people to be the voice of reason. During his week-long visit to the United States, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in speeches and engagements with US politicians.
However, Ciarán thinks there is a “massive disconnect between so-called leaders around the world and people on the ground.”
“It’s unconscionable that this would be going on. I’m sixty-five this year and I can’t believe I’m still protesting. When will governments wake up? It’s time to start listening to people.”
Although he now works in U.C.C. teaching Irish, protests have had a massive impact on Ciarán throughout his entire life, most notably when he was a young man and imprisoned.
“I was involved in the H-block blanket protests, when ten men died. But that protest came to an end, we got our clothes.”
Right now, this conflict doesn’t appear any nearer to a resolution and Ciarán and the other protestors feel they’re going to be on the bridge for some time to come.
“The other day I was thinking, we’ll be here in T-shirts and sandals and then after that who knows? Are we going to go into another winter doing it? The Dunnes Stores protest against apartheid lasted for years.”
“But even if they called a ceasefire tomorrow we wouldn’t stop protesting, because the situation in Palestine is dire. Israel is determined to empty the place; they’re still attacking the West Bank and you can’t just turn a famine around overnight, which is what is happening there unfortunately.”
He is not without hope however and is heartened by how active people have been in voicing their opinions and making themselves visible.
“All successful revolutions have come from the middle class and what I see in Cork, looking at it superficially, it’s the middle classes that are out protesting.
“It has changed the structure of our lives, planning the weekend around it, trying to get the shopping in beforehand and we’ve become very good friends and are always in touch with one another.”
“I’ve protested all my life but this one will define our age and who we are. If we win this one, we can win them all.”
“The question is, how will this affect the world in three to four years time, because it can’t not affect it.”
Next week, as well as the continued bridge protests, there is also a ‘Fast for Palestine’ at Cork City Hall from Monday 9:00am until Thursday 9:00am. Anyone is welcome to join. It is a drop-in-drop-out event, so people can attend for as long as they want but the main group will fast for all three days.
