Councillor calls for boycott of Israeli goods

Councillor calls for boycott of Israeli goods


Áine Ryan

IRISH people should boycott Israeli goods until the conflict is resolved in Gaza. That is the view of Sinn Féin Cllr Thérèse Ruane who is a member of Mayo Friends of Palestine. She was among a large group of supporters who held a protest in Castlebar at the weekend to highlight the ongoing bombardment of the middle-eastern country, which is bordered by the Mediterranean, Egypt and Israel.
Cllr Ruane said: “I think people are horrified by what is going on in Gaza. It is genocidal and ethnic-cleansing. More than 500 are already dead, the majority of whom are civilians. Hospitals, schools and vital infrastructure has been destroyed.”
She called on the Government to speak out and for the people of Mayo to stop buying Israeli goods. Over the weekend the death toll significantly increased to over 500 in a bombardment that has now lasted  14 days. The latest casualties (early yesterday, Monday) were caused when an Israeli tank shell hit the third floor of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza, killing four people and wounding 16 people.
“I am calling for the Israeli Ambasador to Ireland to be expelled immediately and a boycott of all Israeli goods. Just like the Dunnes Stores workers stood up to apartheid in South Africa 30 years ago, we in Ireland, and the international community, must stand by the Palestinian people.