By Austin Anderson

Chants echoed across Dublin’s O’Connell Street from the front of the GPO: “Red, black, yellow, white – oppressed people must unite,” went one. “From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free,” was another.

The chants came from organisers and participants of the International Day of al-Quds on 23 June, the last Friday of this year’s Ramadan.

Participants of all ages were eager to get their point across. Signs read “Boycott Israel” and “Zionism is racism” among other slogans. Demonstrators also chatted with passers-by to share their message.

“Our goal is to let the Palestinian people know they are not alone and the other people in the world know that they are suffering and we are together with them,” said Mohammad Shah, a medical student who was born in Pakistan but has lived in Dublin for the last 17 years.

The International Day of al-Quds was started in 1979 by the leader of the Iran’s Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to express support for the Palestinian cause and opposition to the state of Israel.

A flyer for the Dublin event calls for participants to “show support for the innocent civilian victims of global Zionism, false flag operations, imperialism, occupation, neocolonialism, racism, Islamophobia, takfirism, white supremacy and oppression.”

When questioned that this list does not explicitly mention terrorism, Shah was quick to point out that takfirism (sectarianism between branches of Islam) and Islamophobia supports the cause of terrorist groups such as IS – adding the claim that IS fighters “are being supported by the Israelis to fight against the Muslims.”

Shah was also adamant in his disapproval of terrorist acts, such as the recent attacks in Manchester and London.

“Our main goal is to show Islam is a peaceful religion itself,” he said. “We discourage people who go around pretending to be Muslim. Killing another human being is not known as Islam. It’s not considered being a Muslim. It’s not allowed.”