Historic visit by Palestinian ambassador to Galway Community College

The Palestinian ambassador, Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid and the Deputy Ambassador, Baker Hijazi, were honoured guests of the Galway Community College Senior cycle Politics and Society class on Tuesday the 9^th of September. Students from Coláiste an Eachréidh also attended this moving and historic occasion.

Dr. Wahba Abdalmajid gave a beautiful Palestinian handmade dish to the school while GCC construction teacher Cathal Noone presented a Claddagh ring craving made by his Junior Cert class symbolises our unity as people.

A Ginkgo tree was planted by horticulture tutor, Seán O'Loughlin, in the school garden to commemorate the visit. The tree is one of the oldest species in existence and can thrive in adverse conditions. As was noted in the welcome address to the ambassador the tree has a lot in common with the spirit of the Irish and Palestinian people.

A number of Palestinian students from GCC joined with the rest of the student body to prepare reflections in Irish, Arabic and in English to welcome the Palestinian delegation. The ambassador talked about the importance of speaking up and supporting the downtrodden and highlighted the historic connections between Ireland and Palestine.

The Ambassador delivered a speech emphasising the importance ofadvocacy for the oppressed and the historical ties between Ireland and Palestine. The discussion also touched upon the role of UN peacekeepers, and the visit concluded with the powerful quote from Martin Luther King Jr. , "Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere".

We hope to have the Dr. Wahba Abdalmajid back in the future with a number of students from both Galway schools taking the opportunity to discuss their Palestinian themed History and Politics projects with the ambassador.

The news team from Galway Bay FM covered the visit and you can listen to their news feature here.