AN Ennis man who has been held at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers in Hebron, witnessing first hand what it is like for those living in Palestine, is among the organisers of a protest by EU civil servants in Brussels calling out the “inaction” of the bloc.
Manus Carlisle, who grew up in Roslevan, and describes himself as a “proud Clare man” is an organiser of the ‘EU Staff for Peace & Justice’ campaign in Brussels. The campaign is made up of a large group of EU civil servants “who have been horrified by the violence taking place in Palestine and the inaction of the European Union in the face of the violence”, he explains.
The group have collected over 1,700 signatures from EU civil servants expressing their growing concern over the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
They have also demonstrated outside of their workplaces in the EU institutions in Brussels demanding an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, for the EU and its Member States to support the cases in the ICC and ICJ, and for the EU to take a constructive mediator role to put in place a Two State Solution. 
Manus, who went to Knockanean NS as a child, has been living in Brussels since his mid twenties working in international affairs. He has previously worked for Ireland South MEP Grace O’Sullivan (GP), whose constituency included Clare, recalling, “we ran a number of human rights campaigns for Palestine and for human rights, including advocating for the Occupied Territories Bill”.
He has travelled extensively in Palestine, spending his last two summers studying the Arabic language in the University of Bethlehem.
He tells us, “My time spent in Palestine was formative, witnessing first hand the discriminatory practices used against Palestinians, the land grabs and the daily violence. My friends and I were held at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers in Hebron, we witnessed Israeli soldiers targeting Palestinian children in the street, and we saw the work of amazing organisations on the ground such as Aclaí, an Irish-run gym in one of Bethlehem’s refugee camps.”
He describes the most recent outbreak of conflict as “devastating to watch from afar”.
Explaining the idea behind the campaign he says, “now that I am working in the European institutions, it was frustrating to see the continued inaction of the European Union and its Member States as the death toll in Gaza rose into the tens of thousands.
“The EU is built on the values of human rights and human dignity, which is why I am proud to work here, but I couldn’t see those values being applied when it came to stopping the violence in Gaza. And so, with hundreds of likeminded colleagues in the European Commission, Council and Parliament, we started a new group called ‘EU Staff for Peace and Justice’ to call on our political leaders for more action to bring about peace in the Middle East. The demonstrations began in December 2023 and have continued outside the European institutions in Brussels now every fortnight.”
There are usually between 100 and 200 people at every demonstration he tells us.
“We have now raised signatures from over 1,700 civil servants calling for action and we intend to continue as long as the war continues.
“In particular, we are calling for an immediate ceasefire, for the EU and its Member States to support the cases in the ICC and ICJ, and for the EU to take a constructive mediator role to put in place a Two State Solution for Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace.”
The reaction from colleagues and from the public “has been strong and positive”, he says, however he adds, “Unfortunately, many civil servants feel like they cannot make their voices heard for fear of hurting their career prospects.
“Indeed, the rules of our employment say that as civil servants, we must be ‘loyal’ to the European institutions.”