Limerick Ldr - Abby's stand for Palestine

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Abby's stand for Palestine

http://www.limerickleader.ie/features/Abby39s-stand-for-Palestine.5295567.jp
Published Date: 22 May 2009
By Petula Martyn
Limerick law and accounting student Abby Ryan is working with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, which opposes Israeli occupation of the West Bank
A Limerick student swapped the luxury of her North Circular Road home for the West Bank in Palestine at the height of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip last year.

Abby Ryan is studying Law and Accounting at UL and decided she would write her final year thesis on international law and how it applied in Israel and Palestine.

When the 21-year-old was offered a position with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, who advocate the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, for her co-op from UL, she grabbed the opportunity to spend eight months living in the West Bank and working in Jerusalem.

"I would be lying if I said I was not apprehensive at all," Abby admitted. "I definitely was, but not for my physical safety, more for moving so far away for such a long time."

Abby knows politics. She grew up in a house where a political discussion was always on the menu at dinner time. Her father, Labour's John Ryan, is currently out on the campaign trail to retain his seat on Limerick City Council.

"I think my family understood why I was choosing to come here. I come from a family which is very much into politics and social justice issues, and they understood that for me this was something I felt I needed to do, to try and get involved in what I saw was a situation that felt wrong to me," she said.

It was not a big surprise to Abby's father when she announced her intentions to travel to the troubled country.

"Abby had already travelled to Palestine and Jerusalem the previous summer on a trip organised by Labour Youth and I knew she had really enjoyed that and had become very motivated to do something more to help the Palastinian cause," Cllr Ryan explained.

"She has a strong sense of what is right and wrong and felt that the way basic human rights were being denied to Palestinians in their own country was totally unjust."

Most people, however, thought she was crazy, and were steadfast in this belief because they were viewing footage of a conflict zone on their television screens every evening.

She arrived the day Israel announced a ceasefire, and reminded concerned friends that she was never going to be any where near Gaza.

"Jerusalem is a million miles from Gaza when you are here. It is actually quite a self-contained bubble in which people live in 'normalcy' but always with the fear that it will all be torn apart at any moment. It is an intense place to be at all times, but its intensity can be extremely well hidden, in some ways," she explained.

Cllr Ryan and his wife Maire were concerned for their daughter's safety at first, but were reassured by her regular emails and online calls using Skype.

"It's a bit like the troubles in Northern Ireland rarely impacted on us in Limerick. Even though the trouble in Gaza was only 50 or so miles away, it was a lot different in Jerusalem and the West Bank," he said.
There is a constant military presence in Israel and Abby has grown used to passing walls and checkpoints to get to work in Jerusalem.

Travelling in and out of the city is a precarious journey. She counted 103 soldiers carrying M16s during a two-hour period recently, but knew that there were a lot more in her midst because lots of civilians carry a rifle or a handgun every day.

Abby said the outside world thinks Palestine, and in particular the West Bank, is a dangerous place to be.

"I, on the other hand, living in the West Bank, feel very safe and very much at home," she said.

Recently, Abby ventured to a village called Bil'in for a demonstration that takes place every Friday. The vice-president of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini, was there, along with 600 other protesters. The weekly demonstration is supposed to be non-violent, but often ends up with stones being thrown and tear gas and rubber bullets being fired at protesters.

"Before the protesters even got to the fence or anything violent had happened, tear gas was shot by the Israeli soldiers, and having been in the middle of it, I can tell you it is a scary experience. It is scary when they are falling around you and you can do nothing but run and hope you don't get hit," she said.

Abby is opposed to the Israeli occupation, but she does not believe it will end any time soon, "and it certainly won't end unless you make your voice heard".

Cllr Ryan is very proud of his daughter and her passion for this cause. "Definitely, and she loves what she is doing, so that's always great. The time there is passing quickly and she will be back in UL for her final year in college before she knows it."

During more quiet moments, Abby has visited religious sites, including the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

While her life in Israel is dramatically different from life in Limerick, she does miss the Treaty City – but will be home at the end of this month to help her father with his local election campaign.

"Her visit home will be short, but it will be a great help to have her for the final part of the campaign for re-election. There is plenty to do and so many people to meet. She will be fully occupied," her father promised.

Abby has never expressed her own personal political ambitions, but it might not be long before this civic minded young woman will embark on her own campaign trail in her native city.