'Some had siblings that died': A tale of friendship between Palestinian and Irish children
Ann Devlin never imagined she'd write a children's book – let alone one about Gaza. 'Ninety per cent of the public think, 'Oh, someday when life gets less busy, there might be a book in me', but I didn't really actually think that,' she says.
However, witnessing the devastation in Palestine after October 7, 2024, changed everything. 'It horrified me,' she says.
'The way Israel retaliated from day one, it was just intense,' says the Newry-based author. 'Their government officials came on and said that they were going to flatten the place, they were going to stop the water, they were going to stop the food. Essentially, they were going to have a genocide against these people.'
Devlin got involved with local groups, and started going to protests, joining boycotts, and writing to TDs and newspapers. 'Eventually, it was, what else can I do? I need to do more,' she says. 'So I wrote a book.'
The Friendship Cup – written under her pen name Winne Clarke – is aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds. It tells the story of Irish children as they welcome visitors from Palestine into their homes for a football tournament. The book follows the children's friendships after the visitors return to Gaza, and the struggle to maintain contact when conflict erupts.
Devlin grew up in the US with Irish parents. She moved to Ireland and raised her family in Newry, where she runs a cleaning business with her husband Paddy. This is her first foray into writing.
The book came from a desire to help children understand what was going on in Palestine. 'I do think that children need to know the truth. I concentrated more on the horrors, like I glossed over them a little bit, because I don't really want to traumatise children either.'
The Friendship Cup, by Winnie Clarke.
The story was inspired by true events from 2017. 'I found out that there was a Gaza football team that came to Ireland. They were 12- or 13-years-old,' says Devlin.
The team represented the Al Hilal Football Academy in Gaza, which has since been destroyed by bombing. Proceeds from Devlin's book will go to the Academy to help them support their community and rebuild facilities. 'The whole place has been flattened, so they're not ready to build the football club. But I do see football as a good form of resistance, when they are ready,' she says.
In the book, some of the children from Gaza lose siblings. This was based on real stories, although the names were changed. 'The Gazan children that were here, some of them had siblings that died,' she says. 'That wasn't made up, those are actual cases.'
Throughout the story, Devlin highlights some of the discrimination and restrictions Palestinians face on a daily basis. 'I did a lot of emphasis on the whole apartheid system that is in Israel. How they don't let anything in, they don't let anything out. You can't use certain roads. You can't use certain airports,' says Devlin.
Finding the right language to educate children without frightening them was sometimes difficult. 'I know young people that age in my life, and you don't want to hurt anybody,' she says. 'Yeah, that was definitely a challenge.'
The book aims to show children that they can speak up too. 'I think it's important that children realise they too have a voice. Liam and Sinead in the story, they realised that they could do things, that they could go to marches, that they could boycott at McDonald's, that they could make change happen,' she says. 'I think children shouldn't feel helpless, or they just they have to know that they can be listened to and that they do have a voice.'
It's also important for children to have hope, and there is some lightness to the story. 'There's a story of a friendship, of children from Gaza and children from Ireland becoming friends,' she says. 'It's a positive ending, and it's hopeful. And that's all very important I think too.'
As a writer with dual citizenship, Devlin is concerned that in the US artists are being criticised for speaking out against Israel and in support of Palestine. 'It is terrible because they're becoming more and more fascist,' says Devlin. 'It's their bombs, it's their money, and they're not allowing anybody to speak against it.'
She admits she's concerned about getting back into the US to see family, given her public stance. 'It does worry me, but it is what it is. I'm not going to shut up. I'm not going to stay silent.'
The Friendship Cup is published by Mercier Press, €14.99, and is out now. Illustrations are by Miguel Angel Martínez and Sonia Pérez. Proceeds from the sale of each book goes to the Al Hilal Football Academy in Gaza.
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