'Trump hands off Gaza' message written on iconic Free Derry Corner
A message directed at US President Donald Trump stating he should keep his ‘hands off Gaza’ has been painted on the iconic Free Derry Wall.
A cut out image of the recently installed President with ‘Am Nuts’ painted on the body of it has also been pasted on the Civil Rights movement.
It comes after President Trump stunned the world earlier this week by claiming the US will take over the Gaza Strip and that the almost two million people there would be sent to neighbouring countries.
Large swatches of Gaza have been destroyed by a sustained bombardment by Israel, with over 45,000 Palestinian men, women and children killed, since the October 7 Hamas attacks back in 2023.
The message to President Trump on Free Derry Wall was the work of an outraged group of Derry citizens who said they were appalled by the comments, and horrified by the systematic violence inflicted on the people of Gaza.
Former Derry community worker Frankie McMenamin, Terry Meenan and a number of other people were involved in writing the message. Mr McMenamin said: “A number of people got together on Thursday night and wanted to send a message that Trump should keep his hands off Gaza and so it was written there in big letters.
"It is sheer madness to think that the US is looking to go into Gaza and take it over.
“There is now almost 50,000 people killed there and our hearts go out to the people in Gaza.”
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes, Trump said he believed that the Gaza Strip ‘has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it’.
He added: “Being in its presence just has not been good and it should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there. Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly bad luck.
“This can be paid for by neighbouring countries of great wealth. It could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, 12. It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site. But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace and we’ll make sure something really spectacular is done.
“They’re living under fallen concrete that’s very dangerous and very precarious. They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”