About us
Who we are
Cairde Palestine is a diverse community of Palestinian solidarity activists with one common goal, to support a Palestinian-led strategy to end Israeli Apartheid and bring about freedom, justice and equality for the people of Palestine.
Our Goal is to maximise awareness of BDS in our local communities. That’s why our focus isn’t only on establishments that stock Israeli goods, but on those that don’t! We want to turn every corner shop, hairdressers, barber shop and café into somewhere where people are talking about BDS.
What is BDS?
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS is modelled on the South African BDS movement which helped to end apartheid in South Africa…
CAIRDE Constitution
Consensus
We make decisions using a consensus-based decision-making model. Although the consensus process often takes a lot time and effort, this method leads to fuller participation of all members in the decision-making process and ensures that our decisions are group decisions that are arrived at through dialogue between members rather than the impulse of any individuals. Consensus is often a creative process of finding the middle ground. We don’t all necessarily all have to agree, but we all must feel heard and everyone has the opportunity to influence the shaping of a decision. Everyone takes individual and collective responsibility for our actions and no one is forced to be a part of any initiative they disagree with. We are a non-hierarchical movement and we do not have individual leaders.
Everyone is welcome to participate or collaborate in our initiatives. However, to maintain our independence and freedom, political parties are not allowed within the movement. Party members can be part of Cairde but as persons not representing a party.
Activism is Palestinian-led
We support initiatives put forward by the global BDS movement. We encourage that our members become active in whatever capacity they can. Whether that is simply joining a protest or organising one, liking a post or writing one, writing an article, hosting a workshop, creating a poster, whatever it may be. We want our activists to tap into their own creativity, identify within themselves how they can contribute and to become active in whatever capacity that suits them.
Inclusivity
We oppose any and all forms of bigotry and support full equality of all people. We do not accept any form of oppression including, but not limited to, discrimination based on ethnicity, class, physical appearance, origin, gender, gender identity, sexuality, physical ability, age, and religion. This is to ensure safe spaces for all our volunteers and that our actions do not serve to support or perpetuate other racist, fascist, sectarian or other bigoted behaviours, practices, or structures.
We expect all our volunteers to adhere to these beliefs and to take a strong stance against Zionism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sectarianism and all other forms of bigotry. We want to create an inclusive space in which our activists feel safe, which recognises the systemic hierarchies that exist in our society and which proactively encourages people from historically oppressed or underrepresented groups to have equal input in any and all matters of discussion.
Respect
We insist that all our members engage with the public in a polite, courteous and respectful manner. We understand that we live in a society of vastly opposing political ideologies and, as such, we may encounter abusive or threatening behaviours from members of the public who do not support our initiatives. It is important, however, that we as members of Cairde Palestine maintain a respectful decorum and do not respond in kind to any forms of verbal abuse or aggressive behaviours that we may encounter from members of the public.
This is not to say that we should simply accept abusive or aggressive behaviour, only that our primary goal in these situations should always be to deescalate and disengage.
Direct action (Non-violence)
We believe that non-violent direct action and civil disobedience are not only effective but are a necessary and powerful tool to resist oppression occupation and apartheid. We recognise the wide variety of tactics a movement needs to engage in in order to succeed.
Cairde Palestine advocate for the use of non-violent forms of action and will support any actions that meet our core principles and that are arrived at through group consensus. Cairde Palestine will not dictate to individual Palestinians how they chose to resist oppression. However, Cairde Palestine members absolutely reject the use of any and all forms of physical and/or verbal violence in the achievement of our goals.
Education
We realise that education is key to changing peoples minds. As such Cairde Palestine we will actively engage in and support any initiatives that aim to educate both our members and members of the public about issues relating to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. Our primary objective is to change public perception about Palestine and to mobilise people in support of the Palestinian cause for freedom and equality.
Every action we take, be it a workshop, a social media post, or some form of direct action should serve to educate and inform as well as draw attention and support to this cause. Any form of action which fails to do so becomes ineffectual.
CAIRDE is the Gaeilge word for friends and this concept is key to the success and sustainability of our movement. We want to grow a community of grass-roots activists who share in common a passion for the Palestinian cause for freedom and self-determination. This will involve developing an infrastructure that emphasises the importance of self-care and which enables us to support our members as we would our friends through periods of difficulty.
It will also involve us actively engaging with and developing relationships with Palestinians who live here, creating opportunities for them to meet new people through artistic workshops, cultural exchange events etc so that we can help develop and nurture a sense of belonging and friendship.
We are at our core a solidarity movement and it is important that our activists, through activism, education and community, continue to strengthen and reinforce that sense of solidarity both within the group and with Palestinians both here and abroad!
Get Involved
If you would like to participate in this movement please fill out the form below. By signing up you’ll be joining a community of like-minded activists who share a passion for Palestinian solidarity activism. No matter how big or small a contribution you can make, we have something for you!
So please, sign up today and join the growing number of activists who are working towards ending Israeli apartheid.
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