{"id":286356,"date":"2026-02-07T22:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T22:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/286356\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T22:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T22:50:09","slug":"silence-speaks-volumes-as-healthcare-workers-march-for-gaza-in-dublin-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/286356\/","title":{"rendered":"Silence speaks volumes as healthcare workers march for Gaza in Dublin \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The silence on Grafton Street spoke volumes as a group of more than 100 healthcare workers quietly marched in solidarity with colleagues in Gaza and in remembrance of a child killed along with ambulance workers who came to her aid. <\/p>\n

There was no shouting of slogans or words of condemnation, just a sombre bell tolling. But it was enough to stop shoppers in their tracks and see the buskers on Ireland\u2019s busiest shopping street still their guitars to allow the protest pass them by at a funereal pace. <\/p>\n

The march was, organisers said, aimed at highlighting the manner in which Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza<\/a> continues. Women are still forced to give birth in tents, in freezing rain, while mobile maternity units provided by Irish people are denied entry, they said. <\/p>\n

\"DrDr Angela Skuse (centre) and Irish healthcare workers lead a silent memorial walk in solidarity with colleagues in Gaza. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni <\/p>\n

The gathering also heard how Israel is planning to prevent 37 aid organisations, including M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res, from working in Gaza, a move that they say will worsen the plight of millions of people who have been living in a war zone for more than three years. <\/p>\n

The march snaked its way from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on St Stephen\u2019s Green down Grafton Street, up Wicklow Street and South William Street before going back to the starting point.<\/p>\n

It was, organisers said, a remembrance for six-year-old Hind Rajab<\/a>, who was killed while fleeing with her family from Gaza City just over two years ago. <\/p>\n

The family came under fire from an Israeli tank and the other occupants of the car were killed, leaving the terrified child to spend hours on the phone with a Red Crescent dispatcher.<\/p>\n

\"Six-year-oldSix-year-old Hind Rajab was killed while attempting to flee Gaza City with her family two years ago. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

When an ambulance eventually arrived, Israeli soldiers fired directly at it, killing the two paramedics and the little girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also here to remember the 20,000 other children that Israel has killed in Gaza since October 2023 and the 100 children they have killed since the ceasefire began,\u201d said Dr Angela Skuse, a GP and the medical director of Safetynet Primary Care, which provides medical services for asylum seekers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also here to call attention to Israel\u2019s plan to ban 37 agencies from Gaza by the end of this month due to the agencies\u2019 refusal to put the lives of their Palestinian staff at even greater risk by giving Israel their personal details,\u201d she told the gathering. <\/p>\n

Skuse said a silent walk through the city centre is organised monthly. <\/p>\n

\"DrDr Angela Skuse addresses the marchers in Dublin city centre. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a different type of protest. It\u2019s very emotional and it is a time for people to reflect and people often cry on the march,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of moral distress, moral injury, hidden grief, especially, I think, among healthcare workers, about what\u2019s happening in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called on the Government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill<\/a> and to stop the US from using Shannon as a refuelling point for planes returning Palestinians to Israel. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe returning of people to places where they are likely to be persecuted is illegal under EU law and under international law so the transit of people through Shannon has to stop,\u201d said Skuse.<\/p>\n

Margaret Holland, from Donnycarney, was among those marching. She said she was compelled to protest because \u201cthis is the most important thing that\u2019s happening in the world right now\u201d.<\/p>\n

She expressed dismay that the conflict was not getting the level of attention it deserved. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think people actually realise that it\u2019s not over but unfortunately I think the media is behaving as if it is over and that\u2019s the problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The silence on Grafton Street spoke volumes as a group of more than 100 healthcare workers quietly marched…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,136734,61,60],"class_list":["post-286356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hind-rajab","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}