3. ipsc annual report 2010

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Annual Report 2010

Ireland Palestine

Solidarity Campaign


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IPSC Annual Report - 20102

Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)

June 2010


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CONTENTS

Palestine 6

International Solidarity 9

Our activities 10

Lobbying and Trade Unions 11

Boycott and divestment actions 12

Events 14

Education and media work 15

Organisational development 17

Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign

IPSC Annual Report

2010

IPSC


Room 5, 64 Dame Street, Dublin 2

Telephone: 01 677 0253

Email: [email protected]: www.ipsc.ie


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FOREWORD

Photo courtesy Michael Gallagher


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IPSC Annual Report - 2010 5

Dear IPSC supporter,

Enclosed is a report of the last year of IPSC activity. It has been a very busy year for Palestinian soli-

darity in Ireland, and al so an extremely productive one. We have worked with the trade unions to build

union support for the boycott campaign, with political parties to push for practical solidarity action with

Palestinians, with other NGOs, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and people from all backgrounds allaround the country to ensure Irish support for Palestinian rights.

It is no accident that Ireland is regarded so highly by Palestinians, that - often in association with other groups -

the IPSC has achieved so many victories over the last year in our lobbying, boycott and educational campaigns.

Any success is due to the hard work and commitment of people in the IPSC and Id l ike to take the opportunity

to thank everyone especially members of our national committee for their work for Palestine. It has been

an honour to serve as the chair of an organisation that is so highly regarded by political parties, NGOs and the

general public, because of our achievements.

While we might celebrate our actions and our successes, we must remember why we do what we do. Life for Pal-

estinians has grown even harder over the last year, the political situation no less desperate and this report will

begin where it should with Palestinians, before discussing international solidarity work and finally our actions.

David Landy

Chair

IPSC


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PALESTINE

Photo courtesy Right to Education campaign. Bir Zeit University


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7IPSC Annual Report - 2010

I

n summer 2010 there was still

hope that the US would finally

exert some control over Israel

and compel it to stop building set-

tlements and engage in meaning-

ful negotiations with Palestinians.

This hope proved to be misplaced

but was replaced by hope in a more

robust campaign to pressure Israel

the international BDS (Boycott

Divestment Sanctions) campaign.

Palestinians themselves are in-

creasingly turning to non-violent

civil society resistance to occupa-

tion, as well as boycott.

Barack Obamas failure to get Is-

rael to halt settlement expansion

let alone dismantle its illegal settle-

ments was a disappointment to

those seeking a peaceful resolution

to the conflict.

There has been a similar failure

from the European Union to take a

robust approach to the Goldstone

report on Gaza. This points to the

importance of ongoing civil soci-

ety action. Coupled with the recent

OECD approval of Israeli member-

ship, this failure of leadership by

our governments has led Israel to

believe it can act with impunity in

repressing Palestinian rights. This

was most starkly evidenced by their

massacre on May 31 of peaceful

human rights activists bringing soli-

darity and aid to Gaza.

Gaza itself remains besieged by

Israel; life there is grim and domi-

nated by fear of more Israeli at-

tacks. However, in response to the

killing of aid activists, Egypt has re-

cently announced an indefinite end

to its collusion with Israels siege.

The EU, in response to civil soci-

ety outrage, is also shifting slowly

on the issue and we hope that 2010

will finally be the year the siege is

ended.

There is more to Palestine than

Gaza. The West Bank is also locked

down according to the UN there

are in mid 2010 about 500 check-

points and roadblocks in an area

the size of County Galway. Israel

is still operating a policy of slow

ethnic cleansing and land theft.

This policy is boosted by acts of

random terror; settlers are increas-

ingly attacking Palestinians in the

West Bank. Palestinian citizens of

Israel have also increasingly been

subject to attack by supremacist

gangs, and even suffered an organ-

ised pogrom in Haifa, indicative of

growing Israeli intolerance towards

Palestinians,

L-R: Frea Hughes (IPSC), Derek Graham, Mairead Maguire & Denis Halliday, Photo IPSC


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Israel is now targeting non-violent

civil society activists in Palestine(and indeed in Israel itself). This

is their response to the good news

from Palestine the new phase

of struggle focusing on anti-wall

campaigning and non-violent resis-

tance to occupation. This campaign

is linked to international and Israeli

activism, though importantly is Pal-

estinian-led. Recently the Palestin-

ian Authority in Ramallah has joined

the calls for boycott, supporting the

boycott of settlement goods by Pal-

estinians. The emblematic struggle

here is in the village of Bilin which

has been campaigning for five

years to re-route the Apartheid Wall

that is cutting it off from its land.Defying the killings of defence-

less activists and the terror tactics

of the Israeli military (night raids,

random arrests etc), the villagers

have maintained their protests with

international help, and now have

succeeded in somewhat re-routing

the Wall. They have vowed to con-

tinue their struggle for their lands

and their rights.

As Israel moves to repress these

non-violent activities in Israel and

the West Bank banning human

rights workers from abroad, trying

to close down Israeli oppositional

organisations, imprisoning and

shooting Palestinian activists from

Bilin, Stop the Wall Campaign and

so on it is vital that we support

these civil society activists. They

represent all that Israel is trying to

crush in Palestine ordinary peo-

ple resisting occupation.

Photo IPSC


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INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

I

nternationally, Palestinian soli-

darity organisations have con-

centrated on BDS boycott,

divestment and sanctions. In the

last year this campaign has bro-

ken through on many fronts. There

have been some noted successes

which have multiplied after the flo-

tilla massacre, such as when Dan-

ish and German banks as well as

the Norwegian government have

divested from the Israeli arms man-

ufacturer, Elbit (even as the Irish

government conducted a huge arms

deal with them). Veolia is being

forced to reconsider its participa-

tion in the illegal tramline linking

the settlements with Jerusalem be-

cause of successful international

pressure. The EU has responded

to campaigns against Israeli prod-

ucts from West Bank settlements

by making them exempt from the

privileges accorded to other Israeli

goods. This indicates the privileges

that Israel still enjoys in the EU,

its largest trading partner, but also

how vulnerable it is to the economic

boycott and divestment campaign.

The cultural and academic boycott

has now reached critical mass, with

successful boycott interventions in

Canada (where recently 500 artists

supported the call to cultural boy-

cott), England (where it seems that

any cultural events promoted by Is-

raeli institutions are picketed), the

US where over 500 academics and

artists supported the call to boycott,

and even within Israel where the

Boycott from Within campaign has

started. This campaigning has had

effect for the first time high profile

stars such as Elvis Costello, The

Pixies, Gorillaz and Gil Scott-Heron

have refused to play Israel. In fact

in Ireland we can be doubly grateful

of Elviss support of boycott since

he is now performing in Dublin on

the night he was originally sched-

uled to play Tel Aviv!

The heads of all the churches in

Jerusalem also threw their weight

behind the boycott, through the

Kairos document they issued in

December 2009. Israel is worried

about the growing success of this

non-violent international campaign.

It recognises that even if govern-

ments arent putting pressure on it

to respect Palestinian rights, global

civil society increasingly is. Its re-

sponse to the campaign is predict-

able there is a bill for the Knes-

set, expected to be passed, which

will make support for the boycott

illegal in Israel a perverse recog-

nition of the growing importance of

the Boycott From Within movement

in Israel.

Activists have repeatedly tried to

break the siege of Gaza. In the New

Year the Gaza Freedom March and

the Viva Palestina convoy tried to

get to Gaza. The Egyptian authori-

ties refused to let the 1300 inter-

national activists (who included two

IPSC members Hillary Minch and

Zoe Lawlor) of the Gaza Freedom

March into Gaza. However the Viva

Palestina convoy, with several key

Irish members such as John Hurson

and Caoimhe Butterly got through

to Gaza, bringing much needed aid

and solidarity. The most recent at-

tempt to break the siege was the

international freedom flotilla.

As we all know this flotilla, with a

significant Irish presence, was bru-

tally attacked by Israel on May 31.

The attack backfired, with Israel

becoming increasingly isolated and

support for practical actions to end

the inhumane siege of Gaza grow-

ing. While we acknowledge this

success, we must never forget that

nine solidarity activists had to die

before the world took notice. We

must remember them and their sac-

rifice.

9IPSC Annual Report - 2010 9

Photo IPSC


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OUR OBJECTIVES

This year, we have achieved a number of significant successes

for Palestinian solidarity. Our ongoing educational work has been

aided by a heightened media presence, which further intensified

after the flotilla massacre. We have also initiated a number of do-

mestic campaigns and lobbying initiatives that have succeeded in

placing the issue of boycotting Israel on the agenda.

Photo IPSC


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11

We have maintained a

strong political profile

among both national

and local politicians. Our biggest

success in lobbying remains the

UN vote on the Goldstone Report.

Our political officer, Dan Finn pro-

duced a briefing document about

Goldstone and met with the foreign

affairs spokespeople of all par-

ties. After this lobbying, and after

many IPSC members contacted

the Department of Foreign Affairs

demanding they endorse the Gold-

stone report at the UN, Ireland did

just that becoming one of the few

EU countries to endorse Goldstone.

We should be proud of our part in

this success.

We produced a briefing document

upon Maire Geoghegan-Quinn be-

coming EU commissioner for Re-

search, Innovation and Science.

This is because Israeli arms compa-

nies benefit hugely from EU funding

for science. The report has been

widely circulated around interna-

tional Palestinian solidarity circles

and has provided a useful resource

for their work. Several MEPs have

taken note of it and asked questions

in the European parliament based

on its suggestions. We have also

been strongly lobbying the govern-

ment over supporting the Israeli

arms industry and Israeli accession

to the OECD. Our governments

support of Israeli accession to the

OECD despite strong lobbying from

many bodies including ourselves,

the Labour Party and Trocaire was

a disappointment. It indicates the

distance we still have to travel to

ensure our government stops en-

abling Israeli human rights abuses.

In the wake of the flotilla massacre,

we are engaging in intensive lobby-

ing among all parties our message

in our recent briefing document for

the Joint Committee for Foreign Af-

fairs was clear: Words are no lon-

ger enough. Israel will continue to

act as it does until it is sanctioned


LOBBYING AND TRADE UNIONS


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12

for its actions. Politicians are lis-

tening and we are hopeful that they

will begin to act.

In order to build support for Pales-

tine across the board we have en-

gaged in more local lobbying, where

weve chalked up notable success-

es. Early 2009 saw successful mo-

tions in Sligo and Galway Council

about not using Veolias services

while they are building the apart-

heid tramline through Palestinian

land in East Jerusalem. Following

this, we cooperated with members

of Dublin City Council who recently

passed a similar motion. We have

also cooperated with Carrick-

macross town councillors who suc-

cessfully managed to get a motion

passed condemning a civic recep-

tion for the Israeli ambassador, (as

well as tearing the page he signed

out of the distinguished visitors

book!). Recently Donegal council

passed a resolution calling for the

expulsion of the Israeli ambassa-

dor.

We are strengthening links with

councils across the country, and

are working towards passing more

BDS resolutions. Israels use of

Irish passports to undertake a ter-

rorist attack in Dubai as well as

its attack on Irish citizens bring-

ing aid to Gaza has seriously dam-

aged their credibility in this country,

and politicians and the public have

never been more receptive to our

message.

Trade union work has possibly been

the most dynamic and fruitful area

of our BDS campaigning. ICTU and

many affiliated unions have already

passed boycott motions the most

recent was the UNITE motion pro-

posed by Daithi Doolan and in the

last year we have worked with them

to action these resolutions. IPSC

members were at the well-attended

April ICTU conference on Pales-

tine, both as invited delegates and

as union members. There we made

many useful contacts both among

Irish unions and with the Palestin-


On divestment, we are

concentrating on the roleof CRH and Veolia. On

boycotts, we continue to highlight

Israeli goods in our shops. We have

plans to concentrate on the eco-

nomically strategic issue of Israeli

blood diamonds.

Divestment first. CRH is profiting

from building the Wall in Pales-

tine and settlements in the West

Bank, through its part ownership

of Nesher Cement. Under the ableleadership of John Dorman, the

CRH working group has launched

our CRH divestment campaign and

developed campaign briefing in-

formation, including a short video,

factsheets, online petition, sample

letter and so on, all of which is

available at our CRH Divestment

Website: http://ipsc.ie/crhdivest/.

John has spoken around the coun-

try about CRH and made links with

NGOs and with legal and other re-searchers to investigate what can

be done about CRHs breaches of

human rights laws, both on the le-

gal and the divestment front.

Our key action on CRH was at their

AGM. As every newspaper report on

the event attested, Palestine domi-

nated. A visually striking picket out-

side the AGM was complemented

BOYCOTT AND DIVESTMENT ACTIONS

ian and international boycott move-

ments. Memorably, we were hon-

oured by a sustained attack from

the Histadrut (Israeli federation of

unions) representative at the con-

ference for supporting such things

as the Palestinian right of return!

We have maintained close contact

with the union movement and have

received increasing support from

them, with several unions affiliating

and with ICTU massively helping us

organise a 2,000 strong demonstra-

tion to end the siege of Gaza earli-

er this month. We happily acknowl-

edge this support for Palestinian

solidarity and recall that the labour

movement was the backbone of the

anti-apartheid struggle. It was they

who ensured this movement would

succeed in Ireland. They have giv-

en every indication that they will

play a similar role for Palestinian

solidarity in this country the new

anti-apartheid movement.


13/20

Mozambique Annual Report - 2008 13IPSC Annual Report - 2010

by well-briefed IPSC members in-

side the AGM asking question after

question on CRHs link to Pales-

tine. To our delight (and admittedly,

surprise), several of the 400-strong

crowd of shareholders spoke up to

agree with us, and also asked CRH

to divest. Our CRH group is now

contacting shareholders and trade

unions in order to put sustained

pressure on CRH to divest from its

Israeli holdings

On Veolia, we are highlighting their

role in the East Jerusalem tram-

line and working with councils to

promote divestment resolutions.

Dublin City Council passed such a

resolution in May, and we are work-

ing with other councils to follow

suit. We are now focusing on the

4.6 billion contract for the Dublin

Metro North line which Veolia are

competing for and are demanding

the RPA exclude this company unti l

they stop building apartheid in the

West Bank.

Linked with our lobbying efforts has

been a campaign to stop our gov-

ernments ongoing purchase of Is-

raeli arms: helmets, UAVs, surveil-

lance equipment and now possibly

bullets. We have informed politi-

cians about this scandal and many

have responded positively. Politi-

cians from Fianna Fail, Greens, La-

bour and Sinn Fein have raised this

issue in the Dil, Seand and also

in the media. We are hopeful that

with enough lobbying and on-the-

ground campaigning (such as the

picket organised outside Defence

Minister, Tony Killeens offices inClare) we can halt this shameful

trade.

On the cultural and sport boycott

front, we have joined in interna-

tional efforts to stop artists play-

ing Israel. We mobilised strongly

over Leonard Cohen in July 2009,

and while he did play Israel, this ef-

fectively coordinated international

campaign was an important step

in the onward march of the inter-

national artistic boycott campaign.

The Belfast branch protested the

calling of a match between North-

ern Ireland and Israel, thereafter

having a constructive meeting with

the IFA on the issue.

Our on-the-streets actions have

centred on boycott activities, par-

ticularly on contacting managers

whose shops sell Israeli products

and leafleting shopping centres

successful events were organised

in Blanchardstown, Limerick and

the Ilac Centre over the presence of

stalls staffed by ex-Israeli soldiers

selling Ahava and Dead Sea Prod-

ucts. We have organised monthly

boycott events in Dublin on the last

Saturday of every month and are

encouraging other major centres to

have these monthly boycott events.

Managers of shops know that Is-

raeli products are unpopular among

the public this is why they often

fail to label or even mislabel them.

We now need to move to the next

stage and make them sufficiently

unpopular that they see no point in

stocking them. With ICTU produc-

ing a boycott leaflet and distribut-

ing it among their members and Lidl

removing its Israeli potatoes from

their shelves, we may be reaching

that stage.

Besides these events, Ronan Nolan

our boycott officer has put together

a boycott map on our website track-

ing the presence of Israeli prod-

ucts around Ireland. Sean Clinton

is busy promoting smart sanctions

against Israel - a strategy whereby

the IPSC will lead an international

campaign against Israeli blood di-

amonds. Diamonds are an crucial

part of the Israeli economy, and as

experience has shown, a productvulnerable to pressure.


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EVENTS

We have had a busy

schedule of events,publicising Palestin-

ian solidarity all over the country.

The key elements were the Week of

Solidarity in November, the Month

of Remembrance in January, and

a series of events in March/April.

These were all dwarfed, but also all

helped create the massive outpour-

ing of support following the flotilla

massacre.

The Week of Solidarity involved

film screenings and talks by inspir-

ing activists Evie Soli and Pete St

John across the country. The week

culminated in a well-attended soli-

darity rally and meeting in Dublin.

The month of solidarity was even

more impressive, involving Hands

Across the Bridge vigils across the

country on New Years Eve in re-

membrance of the people of Gaza.

There were events in Dublin, Bal-

linamore, Scarrif, Sligo, Mullingar

(despite the absence of a bridge),

Cork, Derry, Limerick and Galway,

with the Dublin event followed by

a protest at the Egyptian embassyover their collusion with Israels

blockade.

On 16 January we held a nationwide

boycott day of action with events in

Dublin, Cork, Arklow, Belfast, Let-

terkenny, Donegal, Sligo, Limerick,

Newry, Kilkenny and Wexford. The

month concluded with Auschwitz

survivor, Hajo Meyer speaking to

packed meetings about Palestinian

solidarity.

In March/April we had a flurry of

events, including a book launch by

Ben White, author of the very read-

able Israeli Apartheid A begin-

ners guide. The launch in Trinity

College, chaired by Senator David

Norris was a great success. There

were solidarity vigils on Palestin-

ian Land Day (30 March), meetings

across the country on the topic of

Mobilising Youth: A conversation

with Israel and Palestine and a

solidarity demonstration outside

the Israeli embassy on Palestinian

Prisoners day (17 April). We alsohad a Palestine Day in Seomra

Spraoi in Dublin on Nakba Day, 15

May.

The IPSC was also heavily involved

in organising fundraising and pub-

licity for the Free Gaza boat, the MV

Rachel Corrie, and for the freedom

flotilla more generally. For many of

us, our first reaction on hearing that

flotilla activists had been killed was

fear that it was our friends or fami-

lies who had been murdered. The

shock and anger was channelled

into solidarity activism, and as the

week advanced and the MV Rachel

Corrie advanced towards Gaza

there was an explosion of activi-

ties in cities and towns across the

country, including two mass dem-

onstrations in Dublin. These events

were at the same time a spontane-

ous reaction and the result of long-

term work; they indicate the depth

of support for Palestine that exists

in this country.

Photo IPSC


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15IPSC Annual Report - 2010

Our media officer, Fintan

Lane, and the new me-

dia group whose core is

Kevin Squires and Freda Hughes,

have greatly enhanced our media

presence. The IPSC now issues

regular, high-quality press releases

and have gained a reputation for

credibility. We have been quoted

on every major issue to do with Is-

rael/Palestine in 2010 whether on

passports, Goldstone, OECD ac-

cession or the siege of Gaza. The

increased presence of letters in pa-

pers defending Palestinians is tes-

tament to our members willingness

to speak out for Palestine. It is vi-

tal we maintain a strong informed

voice for Palestine in the media.

Aiding these efforts was the IPSC/Phoenix supplement on Palestine,

a 16-page full colour feature en-

titled Goldstone Report Feature:

War Crimes in Apartheid Israel. The

document features contributions

from many leading anti-apartheid

campaigners, trade unionists, poli-

ticians, journalists and other pub-

lic figures, including Kader Asmal,

Col. Desmond Travers, Minister Ci-

aran Cuffe and Jamal Juma.

Coming bundled with the May 20th

edition of Phoenix magazine, the

booklet is notable not only for the

range of its contributors, but also

for the fact that it features Irish

politicians from all the Dail parties

calling for sanctions against Israel

- chiefly the suspension of Israel

from the Euro-Med Agreement.

However none of this work pre-

pared us for the effect of the free-

dom flotilla. Ably co-ordinated by

Freda Hughes, our media team

worked literally around the clock to

combat Israeli propaganda, estab-

lish ourselves as a reliable source

of information, and to push a pro-

Palestinian and pro-flotilla line. In

all these things we were success-

ful; the IPSC found itself becom-

ing not just a national, but a global

news hub dispensing accurate and

reliable information to the worlds

media. These successes have been

noted by the international solidarity

movement, especially the endorse-

ment of the boycott campaign by

the Sunday Tribune the first main-

stream newspaper in the Western

world to unequivocally support

BDS.

EDUCATION AND MEDIA WORK


16/20


Limerick BranchIPSCA local group in action

Publicity:

Limerick branch member Zoe

Lawlor went on the Gaza Freedom

March and prior to going gave an

interview to Limerick Live 95fm lo-

cal radio. There were profiles of

her and the IPSC in the three local

newspapers, and follow up inter-

views when she came home. Fol-

lowing this, members of a Munster

rugby fans forum donated 394 to

the IPSC.

Sen Clinton, chair of the Lim -

erick branch had an article about

Israeli blood diamonds published

in the Electronic Intifada and the

Adbusters online edition and also

spoke on George Galloways show

on that issue.

The group held several street

stalls in the city centre, some with

the Remembrance Tree for Gaza, a

tree with the names of all the men,

women and children killed in Gaza

written on leaves on the tree.

Speakers and

screenings:

Caoimhe Butterly Absolute Ho -

tel 24th May 2009

Erased, Wiped Off the Map Ab -

solute Hotel 13th November 2009

Evie Soli & Pete St. John Jones

reporting back from Bilin Abso-

lute Hotel 15th November 2009

Mobilising Youth: A Conversation

with Israel and Palestine Deema

Darawshy & Sahar Vardi Univer-

sity of Limerick 23rd March 2010

(Co-hosted with UL Dev Soc and

Labour Youth)

Tommy Donnellan Absolute Ho-

tel 25th March 2010

Occupation 101 screening fol-

lowed by discussion, 11th June

2010

Boycott Actions and

fundraising:

As part of National Boycott Day

the Limerick branch visited various

outlets in the city to inform shop-

pers and workers about the sale of

products from apartheid Israel

Limerick branch members held a

car wash to raise money for the MV

Rachel Corrie 24th April 2010 and

raised 440.

Flotilla actions:

Week-long local media coverage

on Clare FM, Limerick Live 95 fm

and West Limerick Community Ra-

dio. The Limerick Leader and the

Limerick Independent ran features

on IPSC actions.

Tuesday 1st June, lunch time

demonstration of over 150 people.

Saturday 5th June Demonstra-

tion where Labour Party TD Jan

OSullivan spoke and Zo Lawlor,

secretary of the Limerick branch of

the IPSC called out the names of

the murdered aid workers and, for

each person a member of the crowd

placed a card with their name on

it on the Remembrance Tree for

Gaza,

Wednesday 2nd June. Limerick

County Council opened a Book of

Condolences for the aid activists

murdered by Israel. Cathaoirleach

Cllr David Naughton was the first

to sign the book. The Palestinian

flag has been flying in the main hall

since then.

16


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IPSC Annual Report - 2008 17

W

hile independent of the

Palestinian Delegation,

we remain friendly with

them and with all groups represent-

ing Palestinians in Ireland. The in-

dependence of the IPSC is a cen-

tral tenet of our organisation, an

independence which exists in tan-

dem with close co-operation with

all who support justice and peace

in the Middle East.

Indeed our co-operation with oth-

er groups has never been bet-

ter. We have participated in The

Bloom Movement for Global Justice

events, and our NGO liason officer,

Ronan ODowd is in regular contact

with other solidarity organisations,

as well as NGO groups such as

Amnesty and Trocaire. We have co-

operated with Trocaire and Labour

Youth over a national college-wide

speaking tour with activists from Is-

rael and Palestine. In Europe, we

are part of the European Coordinat-

ing Committee on Palestine, com-

prised of other Palestine solidarity

organisations, and have pushed for

increased regional coordination of

our activities.

We have also made important links

with the trade union movement. Fol-

lowing the successful trade union

conference in support of boycotting

Israel in April, several unions in-

cluding UNITE have affiliated to the

IPSC. We continue to work in co-

operation with Trade Union Friends

of Palestine and with ICTU in order

to promote support for the boycott

among Irish workers.

Fundraising is crucial for the future

of the IPSC. The only way we can

truly be an independent voice is to

be independently financed. In 2010

we successfully reversed the pre-

vious decline in our finances and

have increased membership and

standing orders, though still have a

way to go before we are truly fi nan-

cially secure.

Our fundraising officer, Mark Mc-

Donnell has been doing trojan work

on increasing regular contribution

and on organising events. As well

as organising small events like pub

quizzes, gigs and DJ nights, and a

future comedy night we are organis-

ing two major fundraising events.

The first is our annual sponsored

walk, to be held in late August this

year. In addition, the IPSC will be

literally going to the dogs - were

planning a large fundraising event

at a greyhound track on June 29th.

Members and supporters have re-

sponded with great generosity to

our fundraising appeal in April.

Standing orders which had dipped,

have again increased to their previ-

ous level. It has helped that peo-

ple can now donate via PayPal on

our site. http://www.ipsc.ie/get_in-

volved_donate.php Our costs are

kept low, so that donors can be

sure that any money donated to our

work will go far.

While we need to raise our regular

contributions even more in order to

be truly sustainable, we are pleased

with this improvement, coming as it

does in the middle of the recession.

The challenge for the future is to

increase our income so as we can

begin employing full-time workers

in areas such as media and organi-

sation.

The day-to-day work of building

up branches, responding to que-

ries, organising internal meetings

and so on is ably done by our co-

ordinator Kevin Squires, who has

also maintained and enhanced our

website and our presence on social

networking sites.

Organisationally we have hugely

increased our national presence.

The most exciting development has

been the establishment of a net-

work of groups in the South East,

with groups in Kilkenny, Wexford,

and potentially Waterford. We are

also deepening our presence in

Cork and have new groups in Ne-

wry and Sligo. We must now build

on this work in the coming year by

focusing on supporting the actions

of our regional branches.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT



18/20

This has been a long annual report; it has been a busy year. But more than that i t has been a year in

which we can see the start of a sea change in this country towards Israel/Palestine. There is growing

understanding that Israel must be sanctioned for its actions. There is the beginning of mass support

among the general public, politicians and media for Palestine and Palestinians. We must not get carried away

with ourselves there is still a long road to travel. Nevertheless we should feel proud of ourselves and our

work for putting Ireland on this road.

Id like to thank everyone for your support for the IPSC throughout the year, and to encourage you all to

continue to contribute to our mutual efforts to he lp the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

In Solidarity

David Landy,

Chair



19/20

Cover photo: Michael Gallagher

Published by Ireland Palest ine Solidarity Campaign

(IPSC) Ireland

Design and Layout: Abdellatif R. Abdeljawad

IPSC 2010


20/20

IPSC


Room 5, 64 Dame Street, Dublin 2

Telephone: 01 677 0253

Email: [email protected]: www.ipsc.ie

3. ipsc annual report 2010

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