Guildhall to be floodlit red, white, green and black tonight in solidarity with Palestine

Sinn Féin Councillor Sandra Duffy has welcomed confirmation from Derry City & Strabane District Council that various council facilities will be lit up in the colours of the Palestinian flag from Thursday night at 11 p.m.

She said: “I am pleased to receive confirmation that a number of Council facilities throughout the district - including the Guildhall - will be lit up for 48 hours in solidarity with the Palestinian people following the recent massacres by Israeli forces.

“This Council area has led the way in the past in terms of solidarity with the Palestinian people through support for the Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

“The Palestinian people need our solidarity now and I am proud that our city, with a proud history of standing up for people’s rights, will once again be to the forefront of international solidarity against oppression."

The Pan-Arab colours will adorn the seat of local government for two nights.

The gesture was agreed at a special meeting of DC&SDC to discuss the situation in Palestine on Monday.

During that meeting councillors expressed solidarity with the many people killed during the ongoing right of return campaign in Palestine, which is being staged in coincidence with the 70th anniversary of the Nakba [catastrophe] when more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes to make way for the state of Israel in 1948.

Many of these people and their children were displaced to refugee camps in neighbouring Arab countries.

Colr. Duffy said: “Over 100 Palestinian’s have been killed and thousands more injured by Israeli forces in recent weeks and months. This is an atrocity.

“To mark the lighting of the facilities and to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, Sinn Féin are calling on the people of Derry to mobilise for a solidarity vigil at the Guildhall Square on Thursday, May 24 at 11 p.m.”