Teachers for Gaza
- Categories Playful Learning, Rahoo
- Date May 29, 2024
Many of us are feeling hopeless and desperate as we continue to watch the horror of what is happening to innocent people in Gaza. We may have shared on social media, emailed politicians, donated money and spoken to friends and feel like there is nothing we can do.
We feel like that too.
But we wanted to keep trying to help, in our own way, and whatever way we can.
What Rahoo is doing to support people in Gaza
- Reviewing all suppliers to ensure ethical businesses practice and ensure we are not indirectly supporting the massacre of innocent people.
- Writing to local TD’s to advocate for increased government action.
- Fundraising – we have two fundraising projects planned with funds going to UNRWA Emergency Gaza Appeal. We will share information about the first fundraising project below.
EPV Summer Course Gaza Donation - Learning to Play; Playing to Learn
Folllowing discussions with the author of this EPV-approved Summer Course, Rahoo is committed to donating €5 for every participant on this course. At the end of Summer 2024, Rahoo will donate the fund to the UNRWA Emergency Gaza Appeal.
This course really highlights the special time that is childhood – we are very excited about bringing it to teachers. It saddens Gillian and Ciara that the children in Gaza are having their childhoods destroyed and, in thousands of cases, cut short.
We hope that this gestures is seen for what it is – two mothers trying to do something to help.
Grá Mór!
Rahoo HQ
P.S. Scroll for ways you can help!
3 thing you could do...
Low commitment – share on social media, WhatsApp and talk to the people around you about what is happening.
Medium commitment – Write a letter to your TD and get your friends to as well! Scroll to get details.
High commitment – organise an event or fundraiser to support Gaza
Write a letter to your TD
- Copy and paste the letter below (an edited version of Sadka Ireland letter)
- Find your TD by constituency here: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/
- Email to them.
- Send these instructions to 5-10 friends.
- Be kind to yourself. 🙂
Dear Deputy,
As we watch a humanitarian catastrophe unfold in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory, I am writing to you as your constituent. I urge you to use your influence to pressurise the Irish government to call for a complete ceasefire as a matter of urgency and to speak out against any further escalation of hostilities.
Targeted attacks on civilians, whoever the perpetrator, are unacceptable. The brutal killing of over 1,200 Israelis on October 7th is inexcusable. The ongoing bombing and killing of an ever-increasing number of Palestinians in Gaza is disproportionate and is collective punishment. The death toll already exceeds 35,000, of whom 12,000 are children; over 80,000 have been wounded; more than one million have been displaced and their homes destroyed; and some 2 million people have been deprived of adequate access to food, water, medicine and fuel. It is clear that this goes far beyond “self-defence”.
It is clear to me that these atrocities erupted in the context of systemic Israeli apartheid policies and practices. Millions of Palestinian civilians, who have long been the victims of sustained and egregious breaches of international law, are now experiencing even greater grief, distress and displacement. Within the international community, many States have stood behind Israel, speaking out on its right to respond to the attacks of 7th October. But they have failed to call for adherence to international law, thus giving licence to Israel to carry out these terrible acts with impunity. Here in Ireland, how we act now will affect the legacy of our nation as a champion of human rights. We have a duty under international law to do all in our power to prevent genocide. We must speak out.
I therefore call upon the Irish government to:
• Condemn Israel for its brutal and disproportionate military assault on civilians in Gaza.
• Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire to prevent further loss of life among a highly vulnerable population;
Impose economic sanctions on Israel and sever Irish-Israel trade links.
• Immediately cease the use of Shannon Airport as a stop-over base for US military. As reported by Shannon Watch, Shannon is being used as a stopover for military flights to and from Israel.
• Ensure that life-saving aid and fuel are delivered unimpeded to all areas in Gaza without delay;
• Call for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons deprived of liberty without due process, enabling them to return to their families;
• Express concern for the growing displacement of communities in the West Bank as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinians with complete impunity;
• Work for a sustained peaceful settlement to include an end to the 16- year-old illegal siege and closure of the Gaza Strip, and which addresses the issues of self-determination of the Palestinian people, and the removal of apartheid policies and practises and settler colonising throughout the territory.
Ireland’s response should be driven by compassion, but underpinned by our obligations to defend international law. We cannot assume that this catastrophe will not worsen. We cannot wait for it to do so before we respond unreservedly, unambiguously, for the people of Palestine.
I will finish with the words of ICC Prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, who stated on October 30th,
‘We want to live in a world where there is justice. We have to do better than we are doing right now. There are so many that are crying, and there are so many that are in pain. Collectively, the law and the quest for justice is essential to move out of the misery that we see all around us.’
Please act now to ensure that Ireland stands up for justice.
Kind regards,
Name & Address
The Not-So-Secret Diary of Dr Katriona O Sullivan
I am Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan, a resilient memoirist and psychologist, who has defied poverty, addiction, and homelessness to earn a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and be an amazing academic working in in Maynooth University. My debut book, “Poor” chronicles my journey from hardship to hope.
Teachers for Gaza
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