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A vigil in Camlough village during the week saw several hundred people turn up to acknowledge the 200th Day of the continuing military onslaught by the Israeli Government on Gaza. Many of them wore the colours of their local GAA clubs and counties.
Speakers at the event which was organised by the local Gaels Against Genocide Group, give their own very personal thoughts and reflections on the ongoing situation in Gaza.
Pat McGinn speaking on behalf of the organising Gaels Against Genocide Group told those present that history will judge all of those who are complicit in what is being done in Palestine and he urged all present ‘not to stop talking about Palestine’. Personal messages of thanks from contacts in Gaza were read out to the crowd assembled in the south Armagh village.
One message from a Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) staff member sounded a grave warning that the ongoing health and humanitarian disaster in Rafah will reach catastrophic new levels if the Israeli military launches a ground invasion.
Local musicians entertained the large crowd with a wide range of music and song including the internationally recognised anti-war classic, “Where have all the flowers gone”
One of the most poignant moments of the event was when 8 year old Aoife McGinn joined her grandfather Pat on the stage to recite the poem ‘If I must Die’ written by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer shortly before his death in an air strike by the Israeli military.
Aoife a pupil at St Malachys Primary School in Camlough who makes her First Holy Communion was presented with tins of sweets for her and her classmates on behalf of the children of Gaza and in the hope that someday Aoife or one of her friends would meet some of the Palestinian children that she and all in attendance at the vigil were standing up for.
