It seems a little perverse going to a gig in support of the people of Palestine when they are being bombed into extinction, but yet, here I am.
There is not much I can do to end the violence in Gaza and Israel. It would appear to me that Israel has absolute carte blanche do do exactly whatever they want to Gaza and the Palestinian people, and very, very few countries will say a word about this.
My government, the Irish government, whilst far from perfect, have at least stood in support of Palestine and condemned the actions of Israel and of Hamas.
So, even though there is not much I can do, it's vital that we all do what little we can. So here I am, on an absolutely freezing cold Thursday night, in Hen's Teeth, Dublin at Grooves for Gaza, a benefit gig in aid of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund that's been put together by Danny Groenland and Rosa Parozci.
On arrival, we were treated to some sweet sounds from the DJ, Rosa and, when her set ended, the live music started with performances from Toshín, Chris Wong, Melina Malone and Danny himself. All fantastic musicians and singers. If you're not familiar with them, you should make yourself so!
In between the fun, we heard from Suzan Elhajj and Ahmad Elagha. Their stories were, to be quite frank, extremely shocking and disturbing. Yet their belief that there will one day be an end to the suffering and there will be a free and independent Palestine, was quite empowering.
We were all fed some beautiful traditional Palestinian food courtesy of Shaku Maku, a proudly Palestinian restaurant in Rathmines. The food was stunning and warrants a trip to Shaku Maku to see what other wonders are available! You should do that too!!
A quick word about the venue, Hen's Teeth. It was my first time there, but what a great place. Nice bar, great staff and good vibes. Well worth checking out.
On the night, €2400.00 was raised and this was matched by Bytedance (of TikTok fame), bringing the total raised to a substantial €4800.00!
So, with all that said and done, there's nothing left to do but show some photos from the night:
