Blanket with square for each child killed in Gaza brings silence to bustling Dublin street

A protest for Palestine brought momentary silence to Dublin’s bustling Grafton Street on Saturday afternoon as a handcrafted blanket almost 60 metres long remembering the conflict’s dead children was carried through the crowds. The slow walk without words was undertaken by about 150 members and supporters of Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine and the Craftivism for Palestine group. The latter’s “Granny Square for Gaza” blanket has attracted worldwide attention, each of its 3,000 crocheted or knitted squares in Palestinian colours and symbols representing 10 children killed in Israeli attacks since October 7th, 2023.“We started in May last year with 1,300 squares but the number kept growing,” said Niamh Bonner, coordinator of the project. READ MORE“We’ve had to stop at 3,000 because it’s got so big, it’s hard to move around [it now weighs 40kg] so it represents 30,000 dead children. “But my fear is that eventually each square will represent, not 10 children, but 100 or more.” The blanket has featured at 70 events in all 32 counties since July last year and Bonner credits it with raising awareness in a way traditional protests may not. A view of the protest on Grafton Street, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times The blanket displayed on Wicklow Street, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times The 'Granny Square for Gaza' blanket has attracted worldwide attention. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times “It’s a visual representation that helps to explain how big the number of child deaths is,” she said. “A number is just a figure but you watch how long it takes the blanket to go by and there’s a much greater impact. “It also attracts people who wouldn’t normally take part in a protest too because it can be intimidating joining a group waving banners and chanting,” she said.[ ‘Not optimistic any more’: Exodus from Israel fuelled by war and political polarisationOpens in new window ]“People feel they can make a statement just by helping to carry it.” Walkers carried multiple messages about what they said was Ireland’s complicity in the war on Gaza.They asked the public to tell their pharmacists they would not accept Teva medical products where a safe alternative to the Israeli pharma company exists. They urged support for Gazan students refused visas to take up university places in Ireland. They called for the Government to block the sale of Israel war bonds in the EU. Ireland is due to resume facilitating the sale on the EU’s behalf next month, a move Tánaiste Simon Harris has asked the European Commission to stall. Each of the crocheted or knitted squares represent 10 children killed in Israeli attacks since October 7th, 2023. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times Dr Kieran Harkin, a GP from Dublin, performing during the protest. Photograph: Tom Honan for The Irish Times They also carried photographs of some of the hundreds of Palestinian doctors and medics killed, jailed and disappeared since the Israeli assault began. Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine spokeswoman Dr Angy Skuse criticised the Department of Health for continuing to buy Israel medicines. “They say procurement rules and the EU-Israel trade deal mean they can’t discriminate against Israel but they could add conditions that would exclude Israel as a supplier. “Even if it was against the rules, you can still break the rules for the right reasons.”