Remembering Bloody Sunday in the ‘dark shadow of a genocide’ in Gaza

This year as we remember Bloody Sunday, we do so in the dark shadow of a genocide being carried out against innocent people in another part of the world. As we prepare for our commemoration we know that over 20,000 people have been killed in Palestine. More than 10,000 were children.
By Bloody Sunday Trust
Published 18th Jan 2024, 08:06 BST
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This is happening in the full view of the international community and the world’s media.

It must be condemned.

It must be treated as the war crime that it is and those responsible must be brought to justice.

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TOPSHOT - Palestinian women with their children fleeing from their homes following Israeli air strikes rush along a street in Gaza City on October 11, 2023. At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with hundreds of air strikes overnight, a Hamas government official said on October 11. Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8 following a shock land, air and sea assault by the Gaza-based Islamists. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)TOPSHOT - Palestinian women with their children fleeing from their homes following Israeli air strikes rush along a street in Gaza City on October 11, 2023. At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with hundreds of air strikes overnight, a Hamas government official said on October 11. Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8 following a shock land, air and sea assault by the Gaza-based Islamists. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Palestinian women with their children fleeing from their homes following Israeli air strikes rush along a street in Gaza City on October 11, 2023. At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with hundreds of air strikes overnight, a Hamas government official said on October 11. Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8 following a shock land, air and sea assault by the Gaza-based Islamists. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2023 the Bloody Sunday Trust raised over £15,000 for causes in Palestine, and organised a number of events in support of Palestinian causes. The commemoration of Bloody Sunday this year will also have a strong focus on Palestine.

We will hold a torchlight procession to the Bloody Sunday monument to remember all the children who have lost their lives in the current attack on Gaza.

Our guest speaker for the annual Bloody Sunday lecture will be Omar Barghouti, founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and co-recipient of the 2017 Gandhi Peace Award. He will also join us for a public meeting on what the people of Derry can do to support Palestine, along with representatives of a number of other groups.

Other highlights of our programme include international art and craft displays, a music night featuring the Henry Girls, Jeanette Hutton, Eileen Webster and Siânna Ní Laithbheartaigh, the play Four Days in Derry by Bernadette MacFarland, a talk on British legal impunity organised by the Pat Finucane Centre and an Irish language discussion on Palestine.

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We will also be organising the annual memorial service, mass and minute’s silence on behalf of the Bloody Sunday families.

Full details of the 2024 commemoration programme can be found on Bloody Sunday Trust and Museum of Free Derry social media, and in our printed programme.

The 2024 commemoration of Bloody Sunday is dedicated to those who are suffering in Palestine.

The Bloody Sunday Trust is opposed to all killing of civilians in acts of war, be it carried out by Hamas or by the Israeli government, but Israel has been waging a war against the Palestinian people for over seven decades through ethnic cleansing, occupation, apartheid and a brutal siege on Gaza.

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Any international response that that fails to acknowledge this reality is not merely hypocritical but serves to further dehumanise the Palestinian people and deny them the justice, peace, and equality that they are entitled to.

We call on all governments to work towards a just and lasting solution which will provide long-term peace, security and quality of life for Palestinians and Israelis by ending the injustices imposed on the Palestinian population.

One world, one struggle, until all are free.

*The Bloody Sunday Trust was established in 1997 on the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Initially it acted as a conduit for family members and friends seeking support or advice during the course of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and to commemorate those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday.From the start the Trust stated that its vision is to promote human rights, conflict transformation and understanding between people both nationally and internationally.

Related topics:PalestineGazaDerry