07/04/18. Israel Embassy in Dublin, Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge Dublin 4.
Approximately 100 people gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Ballsbridge, South Dublin on Saturday afternoon demanding the Irish Government take action against Israeli diplomats. The demand comes in light of a number of Palestinian protesters who were killed during clashes with Israeli military last week. Reports suggest that over 30 people have been killed over the past fortnight in several different locations on the Eastern border of the Gaza strip.
The call to action in Dublin emerged during the week in the form of a Facebook event organised by a Facebook Page called ‘Immediate Expulsion of all Israeli Diplomats from Ireland’, with over 1,600 people expressing interest in the event.
The official start time for the protest was 3pm, with numbers peaking at around 4pm.
There was a significant Garda Siochana presence at the embassy, including the Garda Public Order Unit, stationed within the embassy grounds itself.
Despite the heavy Garda presence, the crowd never really exceeded more than 100 people, in what seemed to be an underwhelming turnout for the occasion. With the disappointing attendance came the lack of any trouble or tension from the crowd, who began to disperse at 5pm. By 5.30pm there were only a handful of protesters remaining.
Speaking to a number of those attending the demonstration, many conceded that the turnout was “disappointing.” It is unclear why the attendance was lower than anticipated, although there were some theories amongst those who did make the journey. Some suggested that the Homelessness Demonstration which took place on O’Connell Street may have drawn attention away. Others believed the bad weather may have played a part. There were also those who speculated that poor communications between Ireland/Palestine solidarity groups was responsible. One demonstrator suggested that such groups with the same ideologies need to work more closely together in order to make more progress, and develop a better presence in Ireland.
The most surprising element of the protest was the scarcity of attendees of Arabic ethnicity. Nearly everyone who attended the event was of Irish ethnicity, apart from a couple of outliers. Both the numbers and ethnicity of attendees was a clear contrast to the demonstration held outside the US Embassy on December 9th last year, where over 300 people protested against Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Neither the Irish Government nor Israeli Embassy have commented on Saturday’s protest.
Evan O'Gorman 