The Palestinian Resistance recently issued a call for international supporters to take direct action in support of the war against Zionism Imperialism. In Response to that call Anti Imperialist Action Ireland this week stepped up our direct action campaign to support the Resistance.
At 6pm on Thursday November 2, members of AIA and other Palestine solidarity activists occupied the lobby of The Clarence hotel in Temple Bar, Dublin.
This was in response to the sale of the Hotel this month using Zionist blood money, with the hotel being bought from Bono and the Edge of U2 by the Dean Hotel Group using a 43 million euro loan from Bank Leumi. Bank Leumi is the largest bank in ‘Israel’ and has directly financed the construction of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Upon entering The Clarence with Palestinian flags and a megaphone, activists began to chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” among other slogans. Within seconds the manager on duty attempted to physically drag an activist out of the building claiming they were trespassing. They failed to do so however, and spent the next while impotently calling Free State police for intervention. They refused to engage on their business’ complicity with Zionist genocide.
Leaflets were distributed around the lobby to staff and guests explaining our actions. Several staff expressed support for Palestine. It was made clear that our occupation was directed at the shameful deal with a Zionist bank and not the workers in the hotel. A statement was read out on the megaphone highlighting the recent sale, the deal with Bank Leumi, the history of the Bank’s involvement in settler colonialism in Palestine and calling on a boycott of the Dean Hotel Group and associated bars, restaurants and shops.
Activists also picketed outside the building distributing hundreds of leaflets to passerbys and leading with chants in support of expelling the ‘Israeli’ Ambassador, supporting the resistance in Palestine and boycotting Zionist goods. There was a great deal of support from people on the street.
Eventually two carloads of Gardai arrived and threatened activists inside with arrest if they refused to leave the building but as the occupation was clearly a civil matter, no arrests were made.
Over and over in recent weeks we have seen how the Free State has used its stormtroopers to defend Zionist interests and shut down protests, whether it was arresting activists at the Zionist Embassy in early October, or blocking access to the American Embassy last week with the use of the riot squad, mounted police and dog units.
This protest demonstrated that we will not allow businesses or institutions to accept investments from ‘Israel’ without consequence. It also shows again that there is immense popular support for direct actions in solidarity with Palestine.
We will continue to bring it to the doors of those who profit, and escalate boycott actions and highlight the shameful roles of businesses like Press Up and others content to profit from the occupation and exploitation of the Palestinian People.