A Bloody Sunday mural in Derry. Getty
Relatives of the victims who died on Bloody Sunday have condemned an Israeli Defence Forces tweet linking the recent Hamas attacks to Bloody Sunday.
The IDF's Twitter account posted a video of Bono paying tribute to those killed at the Nova Festival outside Re’im last Saturday during a recent U2 performance in Las Vegas.
The video was posted alongside the caption "This is Israel's Bloody Sunday", provoking a severe online backlash.
Kate Nash, a spokesperson for the Bloody Sunday March Committee, described the comparison as "beyond outrageous".
"To have the memory of our innocent dead sullied by the apartheid forces of the Israeli state will cause deep hurt and anger in Derry," Nash said in a statement.
"The IDF commit Bloody Sunday-type massacres every day of the week in Occupied Palestine. Just like in Derry, their killers operate with impunity and Palestinians receive no justice.
Nash, whose brother William was one of 14 killed on Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972, said other members of the Bloody Sunday March Committee have been left "staggered beyond belief" by the tweet.
Nash also criticized the British Government for failing to "even offer the weakest of condemnation of the Israeli state".
She said she sent solidarity to "those who fight for justice and freedom for the Palestinians living under illegal occupation".
Other social media users criticized the IDF for linking the Hamas attacks to Bloody Sunday.
"If this was Bloody Sunday, the Israeli forces would be the British Army," one person wrote.
"No matter how many times the IDF call themselves the victims, they are always the oppressors in their apartheid regime, said another person on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This is Israel’s Bloody Sunday.@U2 pic.twitter.com/EzGj9nR3kp
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 9, 2023