Newbridge School Project Sparked Global Journey: Kildare Lawyer Tells Of West Bank Land Grabs

Thursday, 22 May 2025 12:35

By Martin Osborne

Maria Butler: LinkedIn - Nobel Women's Initiative

Executive director of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Maria Butler recently visited the Middle East with three Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

A Lawyer from Kill is now a leading human rights campaigner who has just returned from the West Bank.

Maria Butler, who went to secondary school in Newbrige, said it was a school project on the Omagh Bombing and Apartheid in Africa that sparked her interest in human rights.

Executive director of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Butler recently visited the Middle East with three Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

She told Kildare Today how she came "face-to-face" with the reality of what is happening on the ground.

In one small village, she heard from community members about how armed settlers have taken 95% of their land.

She said community members also received notices stuck to the front doors of their homes, informing them that they have two weeks to appeal to the Israeli system or their home would be occupied or demolished.

She also highlighted how a young girl was shot in both legs, with no justice served.

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