Gathering in Synge Theatre on the 25th of November, Irish participants in the humanitarian mission, the Global Sumud Flotilla, discussed their experiences and hopes for the movement’s future. They were joined by Jehad Al Farra, a Gazan English translator and student in Linguistics at UCD. Introducing the delegates, Rory Rowan, assistant professor of Geography at Trinity and member of Academics for Palestine, noted the speakers had put “life and limb at risk” in their goal to break Gaza’s siege and deliver aid to the population.
Geraldine Murphy, a researcher in renewable energy, described her introduction to Palestine activism as joining a “global movement”. After watching Israel’s brutal retaliation to the attacks of October 7th, she joined Tech for Palestine. With a group of around 4,000 from 80 countries, Murphy marched from Cairo to the Rafah border crossing, where she witnessed fellow protestors being detained, deported, and brutalised. When she returned home, she felt “energised” to continue. Working on the press and communications team for the Freedom Flotilla, Murphy described the stage the organisers are at as one where they “want to keep the momentum going”. Not keen on being labelled an activist, she remarked, “I’m just a middle-aged woman who’s really angry”.
Naoise Dolan — Novelist, Sunday Times columnist, and Trinity graduate — recalled the police brutality she witnessed in Berlin at protests in October of 2023 while living there. After moving back to Ireland, Dolan sought out direct action opportunities for Palestine — that’s how she came upon the flotilla. Initiating her speech in Irish, she described how during interactions with the press regarding the flotilla, Irish language media were capable of having “adult conversations” in a way English-speaking media, she said, were not. Making a “strategic decision” to join the flotilla, knowing the risks, made her find interviewers’ questions “insulting to my intelligence”. While she noted that her position as a novelist gave her some “legitimacy” and a platform, she critiqued the fact that Palestinian voices are not offered the same legitimacy.
When the flotilla was intercepted, Dolan describes being held in two “terrorist prisons” for five days before her release, with an AI-generated image of “new Gaza” projected on a wall.
The whole institution was built, she said, “to break Palestinian spirit”. Along with other speakers, Dolan emphasised the privilege in their form of direct action activism, stating that Palestinians in the same position would have been subject to far worse. Upon her release, she thought “we need more direct action”, and noted the recent Shannon Airport actions with the defacement of a US military plane.
Caoimhe Butterly, a human rights campaigner who lived and worked in Palestine for over 25 years, spoke next. She described activism post-October 2023 as a “level of consciousness that was unprecedented”. She emphasised the presence of intergenerational solidarity both among the flotilla crew and the movement in general, with the youngest participants on the flotilla being two 18-year-olds and the eldest in his early 80s. Naoise Dolan echoed this sentiment, recalling how after she joined the flotilla, her parents began attending every protest and getting involved in the movement like never before. Butterly, too, emphasised the racial and national privilege that aided in her ability to both embark on the humanitarian mission and return home.
Jehad Al Farra arrived in Ireland 2 months ago after being evacuated to study Linguistics at UCD. Displaced 10 times, he said, “there was no time to be sad” between losses and Israel’s incessant bombing. According to Al Farra, what is depicted on social media is “nothing” compared to the lived experience of Gazans. He described the two conversations he would have: what life was like before the war, and what life would be like after the war. When the flotilla set sail to Gaza, Al Farra recalled his brother waiting each day to see if they had arrived. Not simply for aid, but because he wanted to see international solidarity with Gazans. When asked what message he has for activists, he urged that they don’t feel that their efforts in support of Gaza — whether through posting or protesting — are silly. “It makes a difference”. He also wants awareness to continue being raised, noting, “the war hasn’t ended.”
In the question and answer portion of the event, a human rights lawyer in the audience asked what the group’s strategies for the future are and how people can “push the needle” to make change. Each speaker emphasised the economic side of the genocide, and the necessity of continuing to boycott companies connected to Israel. Butterly argued that direct action has been disruptive but not entirely effective, emphasising the work of strikes and worker mobilisation as seen in Italy recently. Causing disruption at an economic level, she argued, will make “this normal for trade unions to get behind”. Dolan stated that activists must “rebuild union power” and, when boycotting, consider how directly linked the target is to Israel. She also urged a “willingness to absorb personal risk” when it comes to protest. It only takes a small number of people willing to take risks, she said, to create a ripple effect within their communities. She said that one way to make change is to make Palestine “enough people’s problem” that the government takes it upon themselves as their own.
