{"id":115226,"date":"2025-10-11T09:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T09:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/115226\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T09:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T09:35:17","slug":"a-gym-near-bethlehem-offers-a-bridge-between-ireland-and-palestine-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/115226\/","title":{"rendered":"A gym near Bethlehem offers a \u2018bridge between Ireland and Palestine\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Aida refugee camp, just outside Bethlehem, murals on the walls make reference to the daily reality for local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, only [a] tiger can survive,\u201d reads text beside a painted tiger, its mouth open in a roar. \u201cHere, only butterflies and birds are free,\u201d says another.<\/p>\n

One mural lists the 22 villages from which the camp\u2019s residents were originally displaced during what is known to Palestinians as the 1948 Nakba<\/a>, or \u201ccatastrophe\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Irish Tricolour also appears in multiple locations, including a heart-shaped version beside a Palestinian flag heart. A recent addition to the walls is a mural to Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap<\/a>, who have been consistently vocal in their support for Palestine<\/a>. Kneecap have also helped over the years in other ways, including through their fundraising for the ACLA\u00cd Palestine gym, which opened here in 2020. Its founder is Ainle \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in (40) \u2013 the brother of Kneecap member Naoise, also known as M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in\u2019s first trip to the occupied West Bank<\/a> was in 2018, when he took part in the annual summer camp<\/a> which the Lajee community centre holds for international visitors interested in volunteering and learning more about the conditions that Palestinians live under.<\/p>\n

He says he felt an immediate \u201cfamiliarity\u201d upon arrival, which he believes came from growing up in west Belfast<\/a>. One thing he recognised was seeing a community take charge and set things up for themselves \u201cout of necessity\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

In Belfast, \u201cthe school I went to, the cultural centre, the theatre, the sports club, were set up by the community because the help wasn\u2019t coming from outside. There was a big emphasis on education … educating kids in terms of their culture and their identity, giving kids opportunities that they might not have otherwise\u201d.<\/p>\n

Over the next two years, \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in \u2013 who ran a gym in Cork for a decade \u2013 fundraised and organised logistics. The ACLA\u00cd gym opened in 2020, in the same building as the Lajee Centre. One coach became six, and the gym is now open from 7am until midnight six days a week. Everything is free of charge, \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in says, and they cater to many different groups, including women, children, and people with specific health problems, like back pain. A circus school uses the gym too.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in sees it as \u201ca bridge between Ireland and Palestine\u201d. Fundraisers have continued in Ireland. \u201cPeople have done marathons for us, walked up hills, jumped in the sea,\u201d he said. Conradh na Gaeilge<\/a> held a fundraising swim for ACLA\u00cd in May. One-third of the money raised from the historic May 2024 soccer match between Bohemian FC\u2019s women\u2019s team and the Palestinian national team<\/a> went to the gym (Daniel Lambert, Bohemian\u2019s chief operating officer, is also Kneecap\u2019s manager). <\/p>\n

\"AA mural in Aida refugee camp \"InsideInside ACLA\u00cd Palestine community gym in Aida refugee camp \"ACLAÍACLA\u00cd Palestine gym founder Ainle \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in (left, front) with gym users in Aida refugee camp \"ChildrenChildren play football in the grounds of the Lajee Cultural Centre in Aida refugee camp <\/p>\n

About 10 Irish coaches have come to volunteer in ACLA\u00cd Palestine, including Northern Irish boxer Tyrone McKenna, who ran a boxing training camp this year. It was an \u201cunbelievable experience, seeing the kids that have been through so much and still come to boxing every single day with a smile on their face\u201d, McKenna said afterwards. On September 13th, Palestinian men cheered in the gym watching as McKenna won a televised fight in Belfast wearing keffiyeh-patterned shorts with \u201cAIDA\u201d written on them. <\/p>\n

International links are vital at a time when Palestinians face an existential threat, supporters say. In the Gaza Strip<\/a>, an ever-growing number of international bodies and experts conclude that Israel has carried out a genocide<\/a> \u2013 charges Israeli officials deny. The enclave, East Jerusalem and the West Bank make up the territory that many Palestinians hope will make up a future Palestinian state. The West Bank\u2019s roughly 3 million Palestinian residents live under a gruelling Israeli military occupation. Increasing numbers are being displaced from their homes, particularly in rural areas, while the number of Israeli settlers is growing. Though the first phase of a ceasefire deal in Gaza was agreed this week, whether it will last – as well as broader questions around the future of Palestine and Palestinians – remain unanswered. <\/p>\n

In Aida refugee camp, visual reminders of the Israeli military are inescapable. The 75-year-old camp is set on an area of about 17.5 acres, the UN agency for Palestinians refugees Unrwa says, with its population soaring from 2,000 in the 1960s to more than 7,200 today, and its buildings extending upwards because they cannot spread out.<\/p>\n

Right in front of the ACLA\u00cd Palestine gym is the Israeli-built West Bank separation barrier, known to locals as the \u201capartheid wall\u201d. It wraps around much of the camp, and is flecked with Israeli watchtowers and security cameras. Drones sometimes fly overhead. Nearby there is also a huge black key on top of an arch, a symbol of the Palestinian belief in the right to return to their families\u2019 former homes and land.<\/p>\n

\"AA wall mural features a black key \u2013 a symbol of the Palestinian belief in the right to return to their families\u2019 former homes and land \"TheThe names of villages from which the relatives of residents in Aida refugee camp were displaced are painted on a wall \"AA mural on the West Bank separation barrier, or ‘apartheid wall’, which wraps around Aida refugee camp \"AA mural inside Aida refugee camp <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the West Bank, one of the biggest problems is how much movement is controlled by the occupation. That [affects] everything from going to the shop to going travelling: from the smallest thing to the biggest thing is difficult,\u201d says \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in. \u201cTaking a small space and developing it into a community resource is a collective effort in exercising our independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the gym, women were warming up in advance of a training session. Due to how confined the camp is, \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in says, it is very important to provide a safe and comfortable area for women to exercise, because there are few \u201copportunities for women to be physically active and less space to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in \u2013 who lives in Belfast \u2013 visits each year. In Aida camp, \u201cthe living conditions are way below what we would take for granted at home in terms of access to water and electricity and space … community amenities like medical care and education. And something that stands out is how much people endure but yet carry on,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0US lawmakers intensify warnings to Taoiseach over Occupied Territories BillOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Israeli military carries out raids, including at least three on the camp last January. I spoke to a mother whose three sons were detained during previous raids \u2013 she says soldiers came into the house, \u201cbroke everything\u201d, and traumatised her young daughter.<\/p>\n

In November 2023, teenager Mohammed Ali Ezia \u2013 whom Lajee Centre staff say had taken part in their activities \u2013 was killed by an Israeli sniper in one of the watchtowers while standing on the roof of his family\u2019s building during another raid. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Israeli military accused the teenager of attempting to \u201copen fire\u201d at security forces \u2013 claims that residents of the camp strongly deny. The spokesperson said the military only operates in Aida camp because there are \u201cclear indications of terrorist activity threatening the security of Israeli civilians\u201d, saying, \u201conly those directly involved in terrorist activity are arrested\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AinleAinle \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in inside Aida refugee camp \"IrishIrish vocabulary on a whiteboard in the ACLA\u00cd Palestine community gym \"AA boy on a scooter passes a mural honouring Kneecap in Aida refugee camp <\/p>\n

The Lajee Centre itself has been broken into repeatedly, with a video<\/a> posted on ACLA\u00cd Palestine\u2019s Instagram page showing Israeli soldiers inside the gym itself at the end of September. In December 2023, staff say Israeli soldiers used an electric saw to cut down the flagpole on their building\u2019s roof, which was flying a Palestinian flag, and repurposed the same pole to fly the Israeli flag from a nearby military base. Another time, they say, soldiers stole camera equipment. An Israeli military spokesperson denied this. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe occupation forces use the Aida camp like a training ground,\u201d \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in says. He accuses them of practising \u201chow to use weapons, how to do home invasions, how to fire tear gas, how to arrest people, how to interrogate people\u201d. The Israeli military spokesperson also denied this, saying Israeli forces only enter the camp \u201cbased on prior intelligence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in notices trauma reactions in children. \u201cThere\u2019s kids that, when they hear the army coming in, they put on their clothes and their shoes because they think they\u2019re going to be taken away … It\u2019s not a friendly knock on the door, like they blow the door in. And they\u2019re in full combat gear … you\u2019re talking to 10 soldiers in your house at three o\u2019clock in the morning to arrest a 12-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Palestinians say Occupied Territories Bill would give them hope: \u2018We are really in a big cage\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in says it feels important not to paint Palestinians as a \u201ckind of perfect victim\u201d: he says those he spends time with are \u201cdefiant in the face of occupation, no matter what\u201d. Instead, he would like to see Ireland and Irish people doing more to address what he terms \u201ccomplicity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople generally have in Palestine an affinity with Irish people because there\u2019s an understanding that we have kind of a shared experience when it comes to standing against occupation. For us in Ireland it\u2019s our responsibility to live up to that \u2013 it definitely goes beyond empty words from the Government and settling for symbolic gestures.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says \u201cthe depth of complicity that we have in the ongoing genocide in Palestine is something that I think has really come to light\u201d over the past two years. He references US military flights passing through Shannon Airport, and the delay in passing the Occupied Territories Bill<\/a>. Yet Irish people \u201chave become more politicised in Ireland for sure, become more aware of companies that are maintaining and sustaining the occupation here\u201d. <\/p>\n

This means, \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in says, \u201cwe all kind of have our part to play. People have different spheres of influence. People have different skills. People have different opportunities to be involved … We all need to just take stock of where we\u2019re at individually and collectively, figure out what we can do, and then do it.\u201d<\/p>\n