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The Newry Branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign are hosting a special Gaza Film Festival during February and March at Finegan and Son in Kildare Street, Newry.
Admission is free but donations are very much welcome, with funds raised going towards mobile maternity unit for Gaza.
The festival begins on 25 February with the highly acclaimed ‘Where Olive Trees Weep’, a searing documentary about the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people. There will be a film shown every Tuesday evening at 7pm on March 4, 11,18 and 25.
On March 4, the film will be ‘The Last Sky’, a gripping documentary about the genocide in Gaza and the related conflict in Lebanon. It is hoped to have speakers at both showings. Other films are to be confirmed.
Longtime Palestinian activist John Hurson, who is working with Palestine Aid Ireland to raise money for the unit by April, said such units can transform the lives of the tens of thousands of expectant and new mothers trying to survive amidst the rubble of Gaza. “The impact of this genocide on women of a reproductive age is devastating”, he says. “Women have lost access to vital services like prenatal and postnatal care, family planning, and treatment for infections. Due to the lack of proper nutrition and the trauma they are facing, there has been a big rise in early births and huge increased risks of stillbirths and developmental delays. Many women are forced to give birth in tents without any medical assistance.”
For more information and to reserve a place at the first two films please email Newry@IPSC.ie. To donate directly to this project please visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk
