Kite Flying Event In Soldarity With Palestine Taking Place In The Curragh This Weekend

Families, children, and individuals from across the region are encouraged to bring their kites

Kildare is hosting a family friendly Kites Not Frights solidarity event at the Curragh this Halloween.

Local Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) groups from Kildare, Laois, and Carlow are inviting the public to join a family friendly gathering on the morning of Saturday 31 October at 11:30am, directly opposite Donnelly's Hollow.

The initiative is designed to show solidarity with the children and people of Gaza while raising vital funds for humanitarian aid. 

Families, children, and individuals from across the region are encouraged to bring their kites and participate in what promises to be a "powerful visual display of hope and unity". 

All proceeds raised from the event will go directly to Children Not Numbers, an organisation dedicated to helping the sickest children in Gaza secure critical medical support. 

Central to the event will be the Children's Blanket, which commemorates the children killed in Gaza during the genocide - the 60m long blanket has 3,000 squares each of which commemorates 10 children who have been killed, with 40 people needed to hold it.

It's also symbolic following Israel's threat to expel people from areas where kites are launched from within Gaza, with the UN condemning the threat, according to RTÉ.

Speaking on Kildare Today, event organiser Emily Barrett said that all are welcome to the event:

"Anyone can come, there's eight locations around the country, kids can get involved, it's about giving hope to people as well.

In 2011, the people of Gaza set the Guinness World Record for the most kites flown at the same time, which was 12,350.

"They [kites] have a huge symbolism for hope and solidarity. It will be beautiful to see, especially with the backdrop of the Curragh,"she added.

Also appearing on the show was a Palestinian who evacuated Gaza and now lives in Ireland, Jehad Al Farra.

Jehad’s nephew has benefitted from funds raised by Children Not Numbers – he was evacuated from Gaza and went to Spain for treatment of a heart issue.

"When you think about children, you think about making things and playing, they deserve to have happiness, children in Gaza were deprived of their rights and deprived of flying kites.

"I feel like this kind of solidarity is huge, all the donations that have come from people in Kildare to those in Palestine and my nieces and nephews in Gaza, this means a lot to me, you never fail to show your solidarity to the people in Gaza," he concluded.

The full interview can be heard below: