https://uspcn.org/2020/02/15/uspcn-honors-memory-of-dick-reilly/
USPCN honors the life and memory of Dick Reilly, adopted son of Palestine
A pioneer in the movement for Palestine solidarity in the U.S., Richard “Dick” Reilly passed away of complications from lung cancer on the evening of Tuesday, February 11th, 2020, in his Chicago apartment. He was 67 years old.
Known across the U.S., and even internationally, as one of the core leaders of national formations like the November 29th Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Dick dedicated over 40 years of his life to supporting our fight for the liberation of Palestine.
The working class son of Scott Reilly and Catherine Freeman, he gravitated as a young man to join the struggle for workers’ and oppressed people’s rights by organizing for a period with the Industrial Workers of the World. Soon thereafter, he was introduced to the Arab Community Center (commonly known as the Markaz, “Center” in Arabic) and began his lifelong activist passion.
It was the perfect fit. Progressive, social justice-minded Arabs and Palestinians who ran the Markaz uniting with a progressive, social justice-minded Irishman who wanted a united, liberated Ireland and saw in the Palestinian struggle his own.
Last year, USPCN organized an important event, a debka performance by Wishah, one of the top troupes in the Arab World, and there we explained why our institution is a legacy of the Markaz. The solidarity organizations Dick helped found, worked with, and inspired also had the same political affinity with the Markaz, and today’s Palestine solidarity movement is one of his own powerful legacies….
And so, Dick Reilly, after 40+ years of your commitment to us Palestinians, it is time for us to make a commitment of our own: we pledge to the proud Irish Republican our solidarity with you – that we won’t rest until your people are truly liberated in a united Ireland, “when they own everything from the plough to the stars,” as one of your heroes, James Connolly, once proclaimed.
And we also pledge that there will be no rest until your beloved Palestine is free “From the River to the Sea”!
Dick Reilly, ¡PRESENTE!
U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), February 15, 2020
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