Two of the Gazan boys who visited Nenagh in 2016 are alive but displaced.
The news was announced at a Free Palestine rally on Banba Square in Nenagh last Saturday.
Member of Nenagh Friends of Palestine, Damian O’Donoghue said he spoke to the Al Helal team manager, Ayed Abu Ramadan, in the last few days.
“I asked him about his welfare and the welfare of the team. Ayed is safe. His immediate family are safe, and we have managed to get hold of two of the players. One of whom’s house was flattened last week and is now a refugee, already in a refugee camp. The other is okay but scared for his life,” said Mr O’Donoghue.
In his speech, Mr O’Donoghue said the boys had made a “fantastic impression” on those they met and loved Ireland.
However, they also learned that three younger boys from the team who had not visited Nenagh were killed in the last two weeks.
Nenagh Friends of Palestine with a group of Gazan boys from Al-Helal football group in 2016.
He said those gathered were there to stand with the Palestinian people against the “slaughter, dehumanisation and oppression” by the Israeli government.
And he called the situation genocide and apartheid.
“I know we can’t solve it today. But what we can do is make a statement and that statement is this. We in north Tipperary are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are calling for Israel to stop committing war crimes. We are calling for Israel to stop killing people in the Westbank and people in Gaza. We are calling on them to end the occupation of Palestine, end the siege of Gaza and above all, free Palestine,” said Mr O’Donoghue.
Maeve McDonnell followed Mr O’Donoghue with a reading of On the Trunk of an Olive Tree, written by Palestinian poet Tawfiq Zayyad.
Two local speakers, Rahman Albshty and Marym Fawsi spoke in support of the people of Gaza. Rahman from Nenagh said that those gathered were on “the right side of history” and their voices would not be censored if they did not matter.
“In the last 20 days, more than 7,000 Palestinans have been murdered, and most of them were children, and I fear many more of our brothers and sisters in Palestine have died since the blackout. “The internet was cut so the occupation could commit genocide in total darkenss,” said Rahman.
Marym spoke about the black out of Gaza the previous night. She said that Israel cut power so the world could not see what was happening.
“This is not a military war, its a genocide. They have turned Palestine from a peaceful country to a country of blood and war.
“We will not stand by and watch the injustice. I will not be silent because I demand justice for Palestine. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” said Marym.
Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary Martin Browne also spoke.
He criticised the language by the media and politicians and called on people to join the movement so that it could not be ignored.
“The message we must get out to our Palestinian friends here in Ireland and also in Gaza is that we stand 100% behind them,” said Mr Browne.
The event was concluded with a rendition of Mickey MacConnell’s Only Our Rivers Run Free by Gerry O’Brien.
“I think two lines in the first verse sum it all up. ‘A land that’s never known freedom and only our rivers run free,” said Mr O’Brien.
