Coastal communities across Ireland and Scotland will host screenings of the documentary Shanshula, which focuses on the struggles endured by Palestinian fishermen and fisherwomen in Gaza.
Directed by Palestinian filmmaker and human rights activist Musheir El Farra, the film due to be screened here on February 20th follows the Palestinian fishing community’s struggle for survival under Israel’s decades-long blockade and now genocide of the Gaza Strip.
Originally from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, El Farra is author of "Gaza, When the sky rained White Fire" and is chair of Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
"Shanshula" is local slang for a type of fishing net used in Gaza, a symbol of the enduring spirit of these families despite overwhelming adversity.
The film provides a harrowing insight into a community whose lives and livelihoods have been under attack for decades by the Israeli navy, which lethally enforces restrictions - pitching gunboats against rowing boats.
It includes interviews with fishermen who have been displaced or disabled, or who have lost loves ones to Israeli navy attacks, and documents the seizure and destruction of boats and fishing equipment. It also tells the story of one of the few Palestinian fisherwomen in the Gaza Strip.
The film was about to be premiered in Gaza in early October 2023. Following Israel’s invasion, it was extended to document the forced evacuation of the fishing community from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian people under the Israeli genocide.
Shanshula was produced in cooperation between Sheffield Palestine solidarity campaign, where El Farra is based, and a Gazan media organisation providing training for youngsters called the Palestinian Vanguard Station, which was bombed and destroyed by Israeli F16s in January 2024.
The international screening is part of a global initiative for World Social Justice Day where Shanshula is being shown in coastal communities worldwide, with the aim of developing a solidarity campaign among fishing communities.
Community groups along the Atlantic seaboard and islands from an Daingean, Kerry and north to Árainn Mhór, Donegal, as well as Scotland, will host the screenings simultaneously.
The screenings will be introduced live online by Musheir El Farra, accompanied by some of the fishermen in Gaza, who have returned to their devastated neighbourhood.
The screenings are free, with donations invited to a solidarity fund that will be sent directly to the displaced, maimed and bereaved fishing families of Gaza via the Solidarity Campaign in Sheffield.
List of venues on Thursday, February 20th at 7pm:
- Armada Hotel, Spanish Point, Co Clare
- Seanscoil Sailearna, Indreabhán, Co na Gaillimhe
- Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, Co na Gaillimhe
- Inishbofin Community Centre, Inishbofin, Co Galway
- Ionad an Chrois Bhealaigh, Fal a Gabhann, Árainn Mhór, Co Donegal
- Ardboe Community Centre, Ardboe, Co Tyrone
It will also be shown at 8 pm on February 20th in The Mechanics Institute, Middle St, Galway and in Coláiste Naomh Éinne, Cill Rónáin, Inis Mór
It will be shown on February 20th at 7 pm at :
- Kerins O’Rahilly’s GAA Club, Strand Road, Tralee, Co Kerry
- An Diseart, Green Street, Dingle, Co Kerry
- Mike’s Beach Shop & Cafe, Main Road, Fenit Without, Co Kerry
- Additional screening in Castlegreory
