Hundreds hear calls for isolation of Israel at major pro-Palestine solidarity march in Derry

Derry Journal

Transcript

00:00There will be an attempt by Israel and by Western media to reframe Israel as the victim.

00:12We will see interviews of hostages and their families and a continued dehumanization of

00:20Palestine prisoners, not acknowledging that Palestine prisoners, many of whom are hostages

00:27themselves.

00:28Journalism is speaking truth to power.

00:32Everything else is PR and propaganda.

00:36Truth is built on facts, on verified statistics, on the empirical evidence of trained and trusted

00:44observers.

00:45Its job is not only to tell the truth, but to provide context that makes the truth relevant.

00:53So here is some journalistic truth based on statistics and other facts.

01:01Last Monday, the International Federation of Journalists, representing 600,000 media

01:08professionals from 187 trade unions in more than 140 countries, including the NUJ and

01:17the Palestine Journalist Syndicate, released its latest statistics on Gaza.

01:23It put the number at 149 journalists killed, that's the verified number, including Saeed

01:33Abu Nabhan.

01:35Saeed was shot dead by an Israeli sniper on the 10th of January in central Gaza.

01:41He was wearing garb like this that clearly identified him as press.

01:46When he was fixed in that IDF sniper's sights.

01:50The problems we face here in the north of Ireland pay into significance when we look

01:55at what's happened to our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

01:58The British and American bombs fired by the 13th State Patrol have not only claimed countless

02:03lives, but have also decimated Gaza's health and infrastructure, leaving its people to

02:08a state of extreme suffering.

02:11Shireen Abu Akhla, celebrated as the daughter of Palestine for her incisive journalism for

02:18Al Jazeera, was shot dead during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

02:24Every investigation since has disproved initial Israeli claims that she was shot by Palestinian

02:31militants, and the later revised narrative that she was shot accidentally.

02:37Yet Gaza's toll of journalists represents an extraordinary rate of attrition, far exceeding

02:43the cumulative annual toll of journalists around the globe who have been killed for

02:48doing their job.

02:50The Gaza Strip comprises 365 square kilometres.

02:55That's one square kilometre for every day of the year.

03:00Dirty City and Stravan District comprises 1,245 square kilometres.

03:08That's three square kilometres for every day of the year.

03:13Gaza is approximately 40 kilometres long.

03:16That's the distance from here at the Guildhall to Newton Stewart.

03:21In terms of width, Gaza ranges roughly from 6 to 12 kilometres.

03:27For comparison, that is roughly from here at the Guildhall to Ardmore, or from here

03:32to Eglinton.

03:34But here's the real difference in ratio.

03:36Dirty City and Stravan has a population of roughly 150,000.

03:41At the start of this genocidal onslaught by the Israeli army, Gaza had a population of

03:48two and a quarter million, crowded into one third of this space.

03:54The systematic targeting of hospitals and medical facilities has crippled the Gaza health

03:59system.

04:00Out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, only 14 remain partially operational.

04:05The destruction of the health infrastructure has not done the two hospitals.

04:09According to the World Health Organization, nearly 600 attacks on health care facilities

04:14have been recorded since the genocide began.

04:17These attacks have affected 94 health care facilities, including 26 hospitals and 79

04:23ambulances.

04:25The health care system in Gaza is on the brink of collapse.

04:28Make no mistake, every time they target a hospital, a medic or an ambulance, they are

04:32committing a war crime.

04:36Stravan, in complete contrast to the entirety of the Israeli occupying forces, has been

04:40a warrior, like the rights of Gaza health care professionals.

04:44Their bravery in the face of genocide was truly inspirational.

04:48The world discovered a new superman in Dr. Hussein Abu Safara, who stood alone against

04:53the forces of Israeli terrorism, who attacked the patients.

04:58Where is he now?

04:59What have the shaping forces of occupations done to this heroic man?

05:04We say free Dr. Hussein Abu Safara.

05:07I thank you for asking me to speak today here at this important event.

05:11People have asked why we marched.

05:13Why is there a ceasefire?

05:15We marched because we witnessed the slaughter of the innocent.

05:18We witnessed the deliberate destruction of hospitals and schools.

05:22We marched to hold the terrorists in Tel Aviv to account.

05:25And we will keep marching until the occupation ends and Palestine is free.

05:29We cannot allow the lies of the Western media to make any gains over the next phase of this

05:36ceasefire.

05:42We know they'll double down because we're seeing it already.

05:47Michal Martin has announced that one of the first things he's going to do is bring forward

05:53the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which in part equates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism.

06:04And we have to say no.

06:08That definition of anti-Semitism is already on the books in Stormont.

06:13Those Stormont politicians already allowed it to come through.

06:18It's the exact definition that's used in order to undermine the Palestine Solidarity Movement

06:23used to witch hunt Jeremy Corbyn and other Palestinian activists over in Britain.

06:28And it is dangerous.

06:30As long as they can continue to say that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is the same thing,

06:37they will destabilize our movement.

06:40So we have clarity.

06:42We have grown over the past 15 months, but not enough to fully stop this genocide.

06:48We need to continue to boycott, to divest, to sanction, to isolate Israel,

06:58to not allow the Western European Union and the United States to continue to back Israel to the hilt.

07:07So I'm so glad to see so many people out here today.

07:11In many ways, our struggle is only just beginning.

07:15Free Palestine.

Category

Transcript

Recommended