Talha AlAli, who is married to an Irish woman and has lived here for several years, organised an initiative called Stop Starving Gaza.
Members of the group recently travelled to Israel to protest peacefully against aid trucks being prevented from entering Gaza.
They spent around a month in Israel, dividing their time between Tel Aviv, Ashdod Port, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The group — who numbered around 15 people altogether at different times — travelled mainly from Ireland, the US and France. They returned home in the past fortnight.
Mr AlAli said the situation the group encountered on the ground came as a shock.
“They did not expect the level of tension that was present,” he said. “They were also taken aback by the amount of Israeli citizens carrying arms. Just normal Israeli citizens, walking around casually with M16 rifles. A good comparison would be if you went to Dundrum Town Centre and all the shoppers were walking around with these kind of weapons. So, yes, it was a big shock to Irish people to see that.
“It was also more tense and worse than we expected, in terms of hostility. In hindsight, it was maybe too much for the people who travelled to deal with.
“I think it was traumatising for them. They were emotional on their return.
“It was also more dangerous than we anticipated. While the group managed to get to Ashdod Port to peacefully protest against the aid trucks being blocked, they were stopped at checkpoints from travelling to other areas to peacefully protest.”
The world cannot continue to just watch while this happens. What we need is sanctions
Mr AlAli could not personally travel as he would not be allowed to enter east Jerusalem, being a Palestinian citizen from the West Bank. He said it was difficult to watch from afar what was happening in Gaza, especially the deaths of children from lack of food.
He said that on reflection, since the group has returned, he has changed the focus of his efforts to help those stranded in Gaza.
The Stop Starving Gaza initiative has donated the rest of its funds, around €5,000, to help activists on the ground who run a community food kitchen.
In addition, Mr AlAli is now providing free online training for activists in Gaza in psychological help, first-aid and social activity interventions for citizens.
He said speeches by world leaders condemning the atrocities in Gaza were in some way helpful, but action was now needed.
“The world cannot continue to just watch while this happens. What we need is sanctions. Arms need to stop being provided to Israel,” he said.
“We need Ireland to take action against Israel in terms of suspending exports and imports and to stop allowing the US authorities the use of Shannon Airport.”
