Sanctuary for Palestine: Marathon for Dr Ali's family

I am running the Cork City marathon with Sanctuary Runners on June 1st in solidarity with Dr Ali al-Najjar of Sligo University Hospital, his family in Gaza, and all the Palestinian people, and to call on the Irish government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.

Dr Ali’s sister, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, is a paediatrician in Gaza. Nine of her ten children - Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra, aged between 12 and 6 months old - were murdered in an Israeli airstrike while she was at work. Her husband and her son Adam (aged 11 -pictured on left above) are both in a critical condition.

On Wednesday's Liveline, Dr Ali spoke with tremendous grace about his sister Alaa and her kids, and his hopes that this madness will soon end. You can listen back here.

The Irish government has a moral and legal obligation to do everything it can to oppose the Israeli government's illegal occupation, war crimes and genocide. This open letter from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, signed by many lawyers and legal academics, states that it considers passing the Occupied Territories Bill to be the "absolute minimum required from the State to comply with its international legal obligations" in relation to Israel. For my part, I believe the government must pass the Occupied Territories Bill before the summer recess on July 10th to avoid complicity in future atrocities. If you feel similarly, the contact details for your local TD are here.

We cannot stop the genocide alone, but as was the case with banning imports from apartheid South Africa, where Ireland leads, Europe may follow. Now is the time for courage.

Please donate or share if you can. All donations will be split between:

1. The Sligo University Hospital fundraiser for Dr. Ali al-Najjar's family in Gaza (here)

2. The Palestine Red Crescent Society , which is part of the International Red Cross group.

3. HeART of Gaza, a grassroots movement which shares artwork of Palestinian children to remind the world of their humanity. Please help me show that we care about them.

Thanks for reading. Go raibh maith agaibh.

In friendship, solidarity and respect,

Féidhlim