LARGE crowds have demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a pro-Palestine rally in Belfast city centre on Saturday.
The rally at Belfast City Hall was the latest organised by the Belfast Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Protesters carrying Palestine flags and placards criticising the Israeli regime were among the large crowd that gathered to hear a series of speeches.
The addresses were interspersed with chants and songs voicing support for the Palestinian people and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Women also held dolls wrapped in white shrouds to represent the lives of babies killed in Gaza.
Among the speakers was Mark McTaggart, who is northern secretary of the INTO teaching union and also spokesman for the Trade Union Friends of Palestine group.
He reflected on the numbers of students and teachers who have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.
“We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest – education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the North who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety.
"Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine," he added.
A national demonstration for Gaza will be held in Dublin this Saturday.
