Trade unionists use Derry May Day rally to place focus on war in Gaza

Goretti Horgan, acting chair of Derry Trades Union Council, referred to the health workers and teachers killed under Israeli Defence Force (IDF) bombardment.

"Every single university, every single school, even pre-schools, have been bombed and when I say bombed I mean totally destroyed so that they can never come back again,” said Ms. Horgan.

She referred to ‘thousands of health care workers’ killed since last October and to reports by Palestinian officials last month that they had exhumed 283 bodies at Nasser Hospital some of which had their hands bound.

Catherine Hutton, chair of the Derry Branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “May Day is an important time for us to celebrate class solidarity and working class tradition.

"’May Day, May Day, May Day’ is also an internationally-recognised distress call, a call to signify that something is going catastrophically wrong.

"Palestine is sending out a distress call to the world. Our trade unions have a massive role to play here, to stand with Palestinian trade union comrades, support workers who refuse to handle Israeli goods in shops, at ports, or tech workers.”

Ms. Hutton reiterated her view that what is taking place in Gaza is a ‘genocide’.

Addressing the rally in Waterloo Place on Saturday, she said: "Union leaders cannot and must not stay silent while the crime of genocide is being carried out in Gaza. It dehumanises us all.”

Mohammed Samaana, a nurse from the West Bank, who works in Belfast, also described Israel’s bombardment of Gaza as a ‘genocide’.

"On May Day we send a strong message of solidarity to Palestinian people, to Palestinian workers in Palestine, especially in the Gaza strip: what is going on is a genocide that meets the legal definition of a genocide.

"According to the Palestinian Red Crescent over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed including about 15,000 children, 10,000 women, over 1,000 of the elderly,” he said.

Mr. Samaana called for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest.

"On behalf of the Palestinian community and the Palestinian people we call on the boycott of Eurovision as long as apartheid Israel is participating in it,” he said.

He added: “Let's remember that Europe was very quick to ban Russia from participating in any sporting or cultural event after invading Ukraine. Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people has been going on for 76 years.”

Mr. Samaana referred to South Africa’s successful application for provisional measures to protect ‘the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention’, which was contested by Israel. Israel has said it does not accept that its actions amount to genocide.

"The right thing to do is to follow in the footsteps of South Africa and join South Africa in taking ‘apartheid’ Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” he said.

Becca Bor, a member of Unison as well as Jewish Voice for Just Peace Ireland, said: “I want to thank DTUC for keeping their eye on Palestine.

"I think it is so important on May Day we are having our eyes on Palestine. It is the pressing social justice but also workers' rights issue of this moment.”

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