Student tells Dublin protest that leaving family in Gaza was ‘hardest decision’
By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association
A student from Gaza has described how leaving her family to come to Ireland was the “hardest decision of my entire life”.
Ghada Ashour, a speaker at Saturday’s National March for Palestine in Dublin, told the Press Association she left Khan Younis last September to study for a master’s degree in Ireland.
She said her family has been “devastated” by the war, adding: “Not only were our houses levelled down to the ground but also we lost many family members, most importantly, my brother, who was killed almost two years ago.”
Her decision to leave was a difficult one but she said she faced two options: one to “risk my life, risk my future” in Gaza or the other “to leave my family, to leave them in tents, leaving everything behind”.
The brilliant speakers and performers for our National March for Palestine tomorrow. Bring yourself, your friends and family, your solidarity and noise. Join us at the Garden of Remembrance, 1pm. All out! #FreePalestine ðµð¸ pic.twitter.com/k9Rte6oKqM
— IPSC (@ipsc48) February 20, 2026
She said: “So honestly, I had to make the hardest decision of my entire life, which was leaving my family behind.
“And while I was leaving them, I was saying goodbye and I didn’t know when I’ll be able to see them again.”
She was one of thousands who marched through Dublin city centre on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which organised the march, said this is the 19th National March for Palestine which has taken place since October 2023.
Also waiting to address the crowd was Rula Nasr-Mazzawi, an activist, who travelled from Nazareth to speak at the demonstration.
She said: “It’s very important to me to tell you that people back home in Palestine, they follow what you guys do here in Ireland, and we always feel stronger.
“People feel stronger when they see your demonstrations, it’s just a feeling that we are not alone, that people in Gaza are not alone, and this is very important.”
“People follow each and every demonstration, and they feel stronger, and they feel proud, and they feel that there is somebody who sees them.”
The IPSC said more than 170 Irish civil society groups support its campaign and there were representatives from a variety of organisations from across the island in attendance.
Raymond Carroll travelled to Dublin with the Newry branch of the IPSC to take part because he said he “can’t just sit back and watch” what is happening, adding: “Governments are sitting back and watching and doing nothing about this.”
He said: “Being from the north of Ireland, we have gone through a similar situation, not nearly as bad as the Palestinian people, so obviously we’re going to have empathy with them.”
