I recently had the chance to send a message to the President of Ireland, Her Excellency Catherine Connolly.

President Connolly is a vocal supporter of Palestine and remains one of the few European heads of state to explicitly accuse Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza.

She has a long history of this advocacy; while previously serving as a member of the Dáil Éireann—the lower house of the Irish Parliament—she famously argued that if Ireland couldn’t recognize Israel as a “terrorist state,” then the country was “in serious trouble.”

She has a long history of this advocacy; while previously serving as a member of the Dáil Éireann—the lower house of the Irish Parliament—she famously argued that if Ireland couldn’t recognize Israel as a “terrorist state,” then the country was “in serious trouble.”

The President’s sister, Dr. Margaret Connolly also joined the Global Sumud Flotilla—a multi-boat humanitarian convoy carrying medical supplies and food attempting to break the siege on Gaza. 

In May 2026, the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, resulting in the detention of Dr. Connolly and hundreds of other pro-Palestinian activists.

Instead of developing my own message or constructing a commentary on what I think Gaza and the Palestinian people want, I chose to resort to my lifelong methodology of research—the framework of “people’s history” or “history from below.”

My objective was to center the voices of truly representative Palestinians and allow them to speak for themselves, unfiltered and directly to a head of state.

What follows below are the raw, unedited messages from Gazans themselves.

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Message from Umm Mohammed

The first section is the result of an ongoing, intimate conversation with a Palestinian mother from northern Gaza. An Arabic teacher who now lives in a displacement tent, she has endured unimaginable loss in this war, losing three of her children, her husband, her brother, and a vast network of cousins and extended family. 

She speaks entirely from the heart.

Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. We pray that........

© Middle East Monitor