THE Belfast West and Lisburn branches of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) have held a very successful fundraising event in response to the ongoing Israeli onslaught in Gaza.
The Roddy McCorley Social Club hosted the evening in which dozens of local teachers, adult assistants and friends and colleagues raised £1,125 for the Irish Red Cross Gaza appeal.
Local teacher Martin Connolly, who helped organise the event, said: “The scenes coming out of Gaza for the past year-and-a-half have been truly apocalyptic. It is the shame of the so-called Western Democracies, including Britain and especially the USA, that this genocide has been allowed to continue unabated. They’ve tried to normalise the genocide of the Palestinian people, but it will never be normal nor will the brutalisation of Palestinians in the West Bank either. So, we decided to organise a fundraiser to get money to the people who are in desperate need of food and water in the region. It’s the very least we can do."
Martin’s colleague Sean Mullin, a member of the INTO Palestine Ambassadors Group (INTO PAG), added: “Marty’s initiative represents the best values of teachers who are not prepared to sit back and do nothing while children suffer.
Some of the teachers at the event
"It is one of many actions carried by INTO members across the country in recent months in reaction to the slaughter in Gaza and the West Bank, all of which have been fully supported by our membership and leadership. In Palestine, a whole society faces genocide and mass expulsion from their homes.
"Our shamefully silent politicians seem to want principled people to feel hopeless in the face of this unprecedented moral depravity, but too much is at stake for us to give up. Every act of solidarity is another step toward a brighter future for all in the Middle East and across the world. We must keep going and we will.”
Paul Woods, also a member of the INTO PAG and Belfast branch of the IPSC, added his voice to the condemnation of Israel’s actions and called upon people to continue to protest and organise in opposition to the ongoing slaughter.
“What we are witnessing, in real time, is an ongoing genocide. It is vital that we continue to show our solidarity and to support the people of Palestine in whatever way we can, until the perpetrators of this atrocity are held to account.”
