‘Gig for Gaza’: a night of hope & solidarity with Palistinians

The first performers, Ken McEntee & Anto, opened the night followed by Danny Mc Greevy & Rose Brenna.

The first of three guest speakers Afnan Altayeb, talked of stories of her family from Palestine.

Afnan closed her speech with a message for the Newry crowd; “Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you, for mobilizing to support Palestine. Your role from a-far transcends all the way to the river and the sea, Palestine shall be free.”

The third was Irish singer songwriter and part of the Sands music family, Colum Sands. Although Colum was without an instrument on the night, he proved to be more than capable of getting the crowd to sing along with him.

The fourth act of the night was 2/3-piece band AWOL, who played a mix of classic songs that the majority of the crowd knew well. The next act, which was supported by AWOL, was Elaine Donnelly. The second guest speaker followed Elaine’s strong vocals, with an equally strong speech by author of the book ‘Derry Boy’ Steve Hedley.

Next act to take the stage was poet Steve O’Toole. He finished his concluding poem: “This time we will not forget, no one can ever pretend they did not know. The Irish and Palestines have shared history, you ignoring it, has made it grow.”

The next act was fan favourite Tommy Sands, who spoke to the Reporter on the importance of keeping the topic of what is happening in Gaza relevant.

“I think it's very important for all sorts of reasons, they’re (Palestinians) part of the family of humanity for one thing and it's so hard to hear and see all the stress and pain it's causing, at a time were two major powers, the US and the UK are doing nothing to stop the killing,” he said.

"It's important that people get together; as many as possible to get the message out to those who are suffering, to let them know that they are not alone, and that we care. There is just so much more to say, but gatherings like tonight show how much this community cares.”

The night was finished with a performance by Pol Mac Adaim; a raffle followed the performance. A selection of Palestine themed prizes was available for the raffle winners. Deirdre Murphy, who hosted a health vigil outside Daisy Hill Hospital on March 2, explained where the funds raised would go.

“The money is very important, it's going to go those who need it more than us, to help with food and medicine,” she said.

There were also some donations made on the night, also going towards the chosen charities.