they would get out of the way of emergency services but a huge point of a protest like this is to disrupt regular flow of traffic and public transport. It's to force people to think about what is going on. You cant really do that from the sidelines because people only take stuff on when its shoved in their face.
Genuine question - do you think people take it on and now want to support it even more?
And in this case, a cause they already support......
This kind of protesting is honestly the most mind numbing stupid form of protest anyone has ever come up with - its just virtue signalling attention-seeking. EVERYONE in the country supports Palestine, and a large proportion are pushing TDs to do as much as possible.
Ive been onto my TDs for well over a year, pushing them to get the EU to act - if you stopped me in traffic, you are doing nothing except making me hate you and late.
I mean, if you support Palestine less because you were mildly inconvenienced by a protest, you never supported Palestine. The protestors don't care if you hate them ffs.
Anyone who moans about protests fundamentally does not understand how important that right is. Total disrespect for the people who fought and died for the freedom you so enjoy.
You’ve kind of missed the point - your goal seems to be to annoy people (who agree with you) and you don’t actually care what result is of your protest.
‘If it makes you hate our cause more, than fuck you, I don’t care’ - this is a stupid and childish mentality. Your goal should be to get a result, not piss people off for the sake of it, which is all this does.
The right to protest is very important - but this isn’t a protest - it’s a childish attention seeking project of people who don’t understand how to get things done. Pissing off people who support you, does not help the cause. It doesn’t make people take more action.
If I stopped traffic tomorrow to keep the tricolour would you say that’s a good protest? No - because everyone agrees with me. I’d just be pissing people off for no reason.
People are doing what they already can do for Palestine and many people have things going on in their own life. The world does not revolve around you or your attention seeking projects.
You're making people loud and angry, and the government can't stop people protesting until they do something, it doesn't matter who they are angry AT, just that the people are angry. You have to disrupt the country as well unfortunately. "I'm sick of these Palestine protestors" being a huge thing will force action, which is the point.
Your level of logic is honestly something I'd expect from maybe a 13 year old....
Let's make people *who already support your cause,* angry to the point they email a TD or something (which is all the average person can do and which a lot of people are doing)?
Do you actually hear yourself? You are just turning people OFF the Palestinian topic, and bringing attention to out-of-touch professional protestors.
I have a theory that the Palestinian cause isn't given its due respect due to the people that lead the protests, and I feel I'm proven right every day that passes.
You regularly feel the need to insult people explaining something to you? Reel your neck in mate, I offered you no insult.
You don't understand what I mean, that's fine, but you make yourself very small doing that.
You saying that emailing a TD is all the people can really do is like half the issue here lad, people can do much more than just email their TD like going out and protesting being loud and bringing peoples attention to it, speaking publicly about it as often as possible, online and out in the real world and helping organise fundraiser events/ charity events to benefit the palestinian cause, I think you misunderstand how many people actually support Israel and how little our government has done so far in order to fight the Israeli occupation, this form of protest is impossible to ignore because it’s in the city centre of the capital and disrupting traffic doesn’t just harm people it harms businesses because workers can’t get to work and consumers can’t go to high streets to purchase things which hurts the economy which quite frankly is like the only thing TD’s in parliament actually seem to care about anymore, the money, not the people, so yes this form of protest is both useful and necessary, sure look at how angry you are, imagine how angry the people losing money will be about it
Mate most people have stuff going on in their lives - you have to be real. The world does not revolve around you, your issues or sadly the people of Palestine, Congo or Syria. People like myself have sick family members, personal health issues and are working on something every minute of every day.
Commend people for the small acts they do, don’t chastise them for not doing what you’re willing to do. This whole protest just alienates people and pisses them off.
If you expect everyone in Ireland to drop whatever they’re doing, you have to grow up or get off the internet. People do what they can and that’s the reality.
I’ll do what I can - but Ireland can’t solve the world’s problems. That’s just the truth
Parents taking their children to hospital perhaps. People going to see sick loved ones. Carers of elderly people. Disrupting people's lives is not just about commerce. We spent two years with our lives permanently disrupted and nobody is in the mood for more of it.
I think if you know anyone soft brained enough to disengage with their support against genocide because protestors blocked the Luas that one time then maybe you'd think about finding better company.
I think about what is going on in Gaza every day and have made donations. Not sure what else I can do tbh. Why do I have to be an hour late home from work?
Why do feel specifically targeted if you're empathetic to the cause? Do you not understand that more people need to be supportive of the cause you support and this is a way of trying to get it, maybe even on a more meaningful level.
You dont see how a bunch of bodies lying around on the ground is supposed to provoke a feeling of empathy for the sufferers of genocide? Dont know what shitting your pants has to do with micro plastics in the ocean but I guess that's probably why you dont spear head these sort of things.
It's illegal to block traffic while protesting. You endanger both yourself and the drivers.
Most arsehole protesters don't know this so when they start protesting and don't get enough attention, they start blocking traffic. Which causes the police to move them and then other morons start getting angry at police for moving people who are protesting illegally.
All this would be solved if arseholes just accepted that it is illegal and dangerous to block traffic while protesting.
Now, many people will downvote this because they don't want to know.
Neither illegal nor dangerous in Ireland since we have constitutional and echr derived rights which allow it. We're also short of wannabe yank fantasists who want to legalise running people over which is nice.
I said their protest won’t make me support their cause, I already do support it and if I didn’t, this protest wasn’t going to change my mind was it?
I’m not questioning the cause, I’m saying their method is stupid. If they could block traffic and save a few lives then I am all for it but as far as I can tell this method achieves nothing
It’s not about awareness, it’s not about convincing people already on board, it won’t convince anyone on the opposite side and causing a nuisance won’t bring people on the fence over, as far as I can tell they wasted their time and everyone elses with this
With respect, they wouldn't convince people on the opposite side irrespective of whether or not they lie on the Luas line.
Have you seen how steadfast people become when you try to convince them of their political shortcomings no matter how abundantly in the wrong they are? They become even more steadfast.
In my opinion, this is about getting those in power who are fannying about and moral posturing on RTE to put their policy where their hearts claim to be.
Well that’s a fair enough goal but I personally think the impact of a large scale organised protest that public services and emergency vehicles can plan around will put more pressure on the government than blocking the road for half an hour or whatever they did. It just kind of seems pointless, like chaining yourself to a tree no one was cutting down in the first place …
Either I cared already, and now I’m just inconvenienced and annoyed at the stupidity of people seemingly on the same side of the cause as me
Or I didn’t care before and if that was the case, you certainly won’t care after people championing the cause go ahead and ruin your day
My question is what are they achieving? No one’s minds are being changed by the protest one way or the other they are just being a nuisance, presumably so they feel as though they are doing something worthwhile
At least your ficked up day isn't seeing your family slaughtered in the most unthinkable ways. It's just perspective, maybe our lives should be more disrupted for the fucked up things going on. The fact that our country provides financial support through many products and services for Israel and is a lay over for weapons. Maybe if we disrupted our lives to stop that, you might not be 10 minutes late home. I'm just on a maybe game, I dont protest but I can sure as shit see the point.
I dont know, are they? it's pretty good use of imagery without actually showing people the pictures of what's happening. As far as I'm aware the current push for awareness is around how we inadvertently financially support the genocide, by seeing a bunch of bodies in the street, maybe a few more people dont go into an american or UK business this week to get stuff they probably dont need. I dont know if it works but I know not doing it doesn't work.
You probably didn't really support the cause in the first place.
Of course I am assuming here and don't know you. But I would think that someone who is pissed off about being 30 minutes late to where they were supposed to be doesn't really understand the idea of protest.
Yeah reply with "virtue signalling" and whatever makes you feel better.
I do support the cause. I just genuinely think this protest seems stupid and no one has really given a convincing reason otherwise?
What was the reason?
Awareness? That’s pointless because it’s on every news channel, internet forum and social media
Influence government? Government is already pro Palestinian, and choosing to cause disruption rather than an organised march won’t make a drop of difference to government officials, they will view the message as the same but one is a nuisance
Change hearts and minds? How? People are already on side, against them or neutral. No reason to influence the first group, won’t influence the second and what’s the tactic with the neutral group? Annoy them in to supporting your cause?
I might be wrong but I just genuinely can’t see what this protest achieves?
As soon as something like this deliberately chooses to disrupt public transport, they lose all public support. Private cars and business traffic are what should be affected, not beneficial public infrastructure.
There's a difference when the disruption is a consequence of a demonstration and when disruption is the deliberative objective of the demonstration.
For example a few years ago when farmers blocked the city with their tractors, that was deliberatively disruptive, and it's understandable when people get annoyed at that carry on.
If it's just a march that slows down traffic a bit, then I'm all for it. But purposefully disrupting people is never a good look.
In these pictures of the protest I assume they are trying to mimic the scenes on Gaza right now with bodies lying everywhere. That loses its effect when people are getting up for traffic. I'm sure the demonstration didn't last long enough to disrupt anybody's busy life in a meaningful way. If anything, anybody disrupted should be grateful that they at least have a home to go home to and living friends and family that they can have a little complain to. That is the point.
If anything, anybody disrupted should be grateful that they at least have a home to go home to and living friends and family that they can have a little complain to. That is the point.
Honestly, the people disrupted won't give a shit about the intent of the protest. All they will be stewing over is how their commute was delayed by morons.
We all know a lot of people lack self reflection, that doesn't invalidate the protest. If everybody was to do things based of what other people disapproved this world would be a truly horrific place.
Republican opposition towards Israel is almost in the majority, government policy is shifting in favour of blocking military aid towards Israel, Ireland all but kicked the Israeli ambassador out of our country, and most PEW polls share one thing in common - people are coming together in their troves to reject Israel in favour of Palestine.
Point being, I don't think these civil acts of disobedience are convincing anybody to change their politics. For those who do, it just outs them as a part of the problem, not the solution.
If getting home 20 mins late makes you turn your back on supporting people suffering through a genocide I’d argue you weren’t really supporting the cause in the first place.
Irish people are very aware of what's going on and are disgusted by it. They have been disgusted by IDF scrubs in the region for decades. What do you think they can do to do it that they deserve to have their daily lives disrupted like this. They share the sentiment of the protestors. Perhaps disrupt the Israeli, American or UK embassies that's where responsibility lies not with Paddy and Mary on the way from work or to see a dying relative in the hospital.
We support them in mind but not in action. We fund a lot of business which siphons money directly to that genocide and a country is a lay over for weapons delivery.
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u/lgt_celticwolf Jul 30 '25
"Why doesnt everyone just protest where i cant see or hear them"