By Liz Kearney
A DONEGAL student has been praised for her “profound empathy” after winning first prize in the Third Year and TY Flash Fiction Category in the prestigious Allingham Festival Secondary Schools Competition held last November.
Rachael McGee, a Junior Cert student in Crana College, won the prize for a fiction piece she wrote based on the crisis in Palestine.
Following her win, Rachael was invited to the Palestinian Embassy in Dublin last Monday. She and her parents spent an hour with the Palestinian Ambassador, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid.
Rachael said she wanted to promote the situation in Palestine “in any way I could,” and felt Ireland and Palestine had “a common history.” Rachael’s story, called “The Dove,” was written from the perspective of a child living in Gaza.
“Your words capture the unimaginable suffering endured by Palestinians, especially the children,” said Dr Abdalmajid. She praised Rachael’s “immense talent, deep awareness, empathy, and a keen understanding of the ongoing reality in Palestine.”
She presented Rachael with a beautiful handmade box made by deaf children in Palestine, and a traditional keffiyeh scarf.
Rachael’s work will now be included in a new book of poetry and writing being compiled by the Palestinian Embassy that Irish people have written in response to the crisis in Palestine.
Afterwards, Rachael said she felt it was important that Irish people take a stand in support of the people of Gaza. She thanked her teacher, Mrs Sylvia McSheffrey, for her encouragement.
The Ambassador plans to visit Donegal, and hopes to make a visit to Crana College as part of her visit. She told Rachael that it was very important that young people learn to have empathy, and was concerned that they might be afraid to speak out because they oppose the actions of Israel in Gaza. She expressed her gratitude to the people of Ireland, and said that the support of the Irish people was “so important” to the people of Palestine.
Spokesperson Miriam Killiney of Inishowen Palestine Solidarity Group said “We feel that it’s very important for young people to be able to show empathy when the international community isn’t carrying out their responsibility to uphold international law. We hope that this encourages more young people to investigate what’s going on in Gaza.”
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