POLITICANS TO JOIN SAUDI & YEMENI SPEAKERS AT RALLY TO CONDEMN YEMEN WAR; PROTEST TODAY 24 JUNE, 6PM, SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY.

IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM)
PRESS RELEASE – 24 June 2021
• POLITICANS TO JOIN SAUDI & YEMENI SPEAKERS AT RALLY TO CONDEMN YEMEN WAR
• STOP THE WAR ON YEMEN – LIFT THE SIEGE NOW!
• PROTEST TODAY 24 JUNE, 6PM, SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY, DUBLIN
Several TDs will join Yemeni, Saudi and US Citizens and an Irish Aid Worker at the IAWM’s Rally this evening 24 June at 6pm at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, 6-7 Fitzwilliam Square East in Dublin to condemn the war in Yemen, call for it to be stopped immediately, for the cruel siege to be lifted, for an end to all arms sales and for the Irish Government to support the Yemeni people.
The IAWM is calling on everyone who attends the rally to wear a mask at all times, to socially distance and to follow all Government and HSE guidelines on outdoor assembly.

IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM)
PRESS RELEASE – 24 June 2021
• POLITICANS TO JOIN SAUDI & YEMENI SPEAKERS AT RALLY TO CONDEMN YEMEN WAR
• STOP THE WAR ON YEMEN – LIFT THE SIEGE NOW!
• PROTEST TODAY 24 JUNE, 6PM, SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY, DUBLIN
Several TDs will join Yemeni, Saudi and US Citizens and an Irish Aid Worker at the IAWM’s Rally this evening 24 June at 6pm at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, 6-7 Fitzwilliam Square East in Dublin to condemn the war in Yemen, call for it to be stopped immediately, for the cruel siege to be lifted, for an end to all arms sales and for the Irish Government to support the Yemeni people.
The IAWM is calling on everyone who attends the rally to wear a mask at all times, to socially distance and to follow all Government and HSE guidelines on outdoor assembly.
Richard Boyd Barrett TD and President IAWM, Paul Murphy TD, both from PbP, and Senator Lynn Boylan of Sein Fein all hope to speak at the event this evening which has been called to bring attention to Saudi Arabia’s role in the six year war which was caused utter devastation and suffering to the people of Yemen.
The war has claimed 233,000 lives, displaced more than 3.6 million people, over 80% of which are women and children, and forced the closure of 50% of health-care facilities according to the UN.
Ibrahim Hashem, a Yemeni citizen living in Ireland who will speak at the rally said:
“Since the beginning of the war the Saudi-led coalition has targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure and has been using starvation as a weapon of war. The coalition, with the support of the US and UK, has committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. A child dies every 75 seconds from malnutrition and preventable disease due to the illegal air and the sea and land blockade imposed on Yemen. The world must stand against the genocide being committed by the Saudi Arabian regime against Yemen.“
Abdulaziz Alloayyad, a Saudi Arabian citizen and member of the IAWM Steering Committee, said:
“Because the Saudi Arabian regime is an absolute monarchy, ordinary Saudi people have no say in what the Royal Family do with under our name. We must therefore clarify that we condemn this war on Yemen and we refuse what is happening to our fellow citizen heroes who dare to speak against what is happening. The Saudi government is killing Yemeni children in the war and killing peaceful Saudi citizens who dare to speak out against these atrocities. It is very important that we show that we ordinary Saudi people are not monsters and we reject outright that the Saudi Government acts in such a horrific way towards the people of Yemen.“
Riona Judge Mc Cormack, an Irish Aid Worker who worked who worked in Yemen for several months with the Norwegian Refugee Council and who will speak at the rally this evening said:
“It is ordinary people who have suffered the violence of this war. It is farmers who have run with their whole families, running at dawn from bombs raining down on their rural homesteads carrying their injured. It is the roads families rely on to reach one another or to go to school on that have been turned into rubble. Schools that have been occupied or bombed or mined. Children that are sitting in makeshift classrooms, constantly on edge because of the sound of bullets being fired. Children who are grieving dead family members or who have lost arms or legs or their eyesight. …. Over 3 million people, almost the population of our small island, have had to flee. It is very hard to comprehend the scale of the devastation.“
She concluded by noting that:
“Ireland likes to think that we have nothing to do with this war but we have allowed Shannon Airport to be used for support of one side and that means that part of this destruction I witnessed has to be on our conscience ……. and our continued silence will be too unless we speak out. This war has to stop.“
This war has been fuelled by the arms industry of which so many western countries are guilty. The US, Britain and some EU countries have made many multi-million arms deals with the Saudi and UAE regimes, the products of which have ended up killing Yemeni men, women and children. Glenda Cimino, US citizen and IAWM Steering Committee member said:
“All parties to the conflict must fully implement a ceasefire and work toward a sustainable peace and a political solution. War is never the solution. It is time to reject war – shut down the arms industry – and recognise that war itself is a crime against humanity.“
THIS CATASTROPHE IS MAN MADE – THIS WAR MUST STOP AND THE SIEGE MUST BE LIFTED NOW!
www.irishantiwar.org
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