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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 May 2018

Vol. 969 No. 3

Palestine: Statements (Resumed)

The refusal of the Cabinet to do no more than issue a call for an independent investigation into the dreadful events in Palestine is in reality a call to do nothing. We are all aware of the dreadful mass killings of Palestinian protestors and the Government has rightly repudiated the Israeli Government actions.

The Taoiseach claims that to expel the Israeli ambassador is against the principle and imperative of dialogue but that is not true. Recently, the Government expelled a Russian diplomat, not for any alleged wrongdoing in this State but in solidarity with the British Government. The Taoiseach and the Minister should stop finding excuses for not taking positive action that gives meaningful expression to the rejection by the Irish people of the treatment of the people of Palestine. There is no excuse for the Government not formally recognising the state of Palestine as agreed by the Dáil and the Seanad. If the Irish do not stand by the Palestinians, who will? Who will stand by those people if we do not? If we, as a former colony, still occupied in part by a government we do not want, and with our history of freedom struggle and freedom fighters and our peace process, do not uphold the rights of the Palestinians then who will? Their land is being slowly stolen from them. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers live on Palestinian land in violation of UN resolutions. Their water rights are taken. They live in poverty and disadvantage with no rights of movement. The Government’s stance is a cop-out. Sinn Féin is asking the Government to demand that the international community upholds international law.

I visited the Middle East region five times in recent years. I have spoken to Israeli leaders and citizens and Palestinian leaders and citizens. I have been in the Gaza Strip, Gaza city and the West Bank. I have been in the refugee camps and spoken to children released after years in prison. I have spoken to their parents. I walked along the separation wall that cuts Palestinian families off from their lands. Palestinian academics and others have organised a recent series of protests to mark 70 years of Nakba. They took as their example the non-violent campaigns of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. The protests in Gaza were the Palestinian equivalent of the march to Selma, a peaceful mass protest at injustice ignored for 70 years.

The Government’s options are clear. It can talk a lot but do nothing. It can expel the Israeli ambassador. It can stop ignoring the democratic will of the Dáil and recognise the state of Palestine, as it recognised the state of Israel, and stand up for peace in the Middle East by standing by the Palestinians.

People right across the world were shocked by what they witnessed on their television screens this week. A total of 58 people were killed in one day and 2,800 were wounded, including 228 children and a man in a wheelchair, on the pretext that they were trying to invade Israel. Most of the killings were done by Israeli snipers who were located 300 m from the border.

I was part of a parliamentary delegation that visited Jordan about four years ago. We visited the camps that had developed following the Syrian conflict. The first camp we went to is just outside Amman and has been there since 1948. Three generations of Palestinians have been born into it. We then went to the 1967 camp which is half way between Amman and the Syrian border. That was one of the most depressing places I have ever seen. People live in makeshift houses with no sanitation or running water, and they have been there since 1967. The other camp for Palestinian refugees who were run out of Syria was located on the Syrian border. There were tens of thousands of them. The world looks on and allows that to happen. Nothing has been done to alleviate the pain of generations of Palestinian people.

Another sad fact is that a third generation of Palestinian people who have been born in Jordan are stateless. They are not accepted as Jordanian citizens and one of the consequences of that is that they are not facilitated with third level education.

Approximately five or six years ago, prior to the election in Israel, Mr. Netanyahu decided to bomb Palestine. A total of 2,200 people were killed in Gaza by indiscriminate bombing from the air and attacks on the ground by Israeli forces. Again, the powerful nations in the world did absolutely nothing to help the Palestinian people.

Gaza is denied necessary hospital facilities coming from Egypt. Saudi Arabia is in cahoots with the Israeli Government and what it is doing at the moment. The powerful in the world order are doing absolutely nothing to try to alleviate the suffering and pain.

The Government has let down the Palestinian people consistently over the years. It let them down because it had the opportunity to recognise the state of Palestine that would give recognition and a state to people who are deserving of it. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, to use his power within the Government to ensure recognition of the Palestinian state is forthcoming and also to convey to the Israeli ambassador that he is not wanted in this country.

I do not know if the Minister of State saw the grotesque pictures last Tuesday from Jerusalem of the American Embassy, the Israeli authorities and an entire parcel of rogues – Zionists, right wing Christians and all sorts – celebrating the move of the embassy to Jerusalem. It was grotesquely triumphalist on a day that 60 people were murdered in Gaza. Those 60 people were unarmed and included eight children. One child was only eight months old. It was ultimately depressing to see 60 people murdered. That quantifies the level of desperation experienced by ordinary Palestinian people at their situation. Occupation affects the mind and body and makes one desperate but the will of the Palestinian people will not be mown down by Israeli bullets.

I know the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade met the Israeli ambassador a few days ago. He said he was shocked and dismayed.

These are weasel words. This Government does not have the bottle to say what is required to the Israeli ambassador. People want to know what it will take for the Israeli ambassador to be told to pack his bags. Will it take 100, 1,000 or 10,000 Palestinian deaths? Where will the line in the sand be drawn? Israel is not a normal state. It is an apartheid and racist state. It was built on blood and it survives on blood.

The Irish Government can do something about this situation. Sometimes these debates can be quite abstract in terms of what we can do but there are a number of practical steps that the Government can take. Since 2012, the Irish Government has bought €5.6 million worth of Israeli armaments, including €1.2 million worth of Israeli drones. Most people would be shocked to hear that the Irish Government is buying arms from Israel while the Israeli army is killing thousands of Palestinians. That is one practical measure the Government can take. It can stop purchasing military hardware for the Irish Army from Israel. The other thing the Government can do is support the Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 proposed by Senator Frances Black. It is a very sound Bill which would end Irish trade with and support for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that he will look at that Bill again in June but I urge the Government to support it. These are two practical actions the Government can take although I am not sure it will do so. We will have to wait and see.

In 1987, this country was the first in the world to ban all goods from apartheid South Africa. It can be done if the will is there. People are horrified to see what has happened and what will continue to happen. As a country we have shown amazing support for and solidarity with the Palestinians and the least we can do now is to tell the Israeli ambassador to get the hell out of here because he is not welcome. If the Government does not do that and if it keeps buying arms from Israel, then it is complicit in this murder and mayhem. Our support is always with the Palestinian people and never with the Zionists because they are murdering bastards. That is what they are - murdering bastards.

I repeat the condemnation of Israel's brutal and murderous policy against unarmed protesters in Gaza. It is an outrage that should be met not just with outrage but with action. The moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem is a green light for the Israeli state's policy of Zionist expansion and colonisation. Israel claims that it is defending its borders from terrorism but these borders were established by military occupation in 1967 and are not agreed borders.

I support the concept of an Israeli state, given the history of discrimination, pogroms and the horrors of the Holocaust for the Jewish people. This must be a state with agreed borders, however, and not those determined by military might. It must be a state that treats all of its citizens, Jews and non-Jews, equally. It must recognise the rights of Palestinians driven from their homes and lands in the Nakba of 1947-1948. It must also offer the right to return or full compensation, end the siege of Gaza and enter into meaningful talks.

The status quo cannot be accepted but that is what is happening. The problem is not just with the US and President Trump. The EU wrings its hands but is Israel's main trading partner. One third of all Israeli exports go to the EU. A boycott of settlement goods is not sufficient because it will affect only 2% of Israeli exports. We need boycotts, divestments and sanctions on all Israeli goods and services. The arms trade must be ended. Since 2005, we have bought €16.6 million worth of ammunition, drones and other military equipment from Israel. This is dwarfed by EU states which bought €9.5 billion of Israeli arms and so-called battle tested military equipment between 2005 and 2009. This equipment was developed and then tested on Palestinians. That is what the term "battle tested" means.

Ireland must lead the way, not just with words but with actions. We should recall our ambassador to Israel and expel the Israeli ambassador. We must support the passage of the Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 which was put forward by Senator Frances Black. We must immediately end all military co-operation and trade in arms, military components and so on, commence a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions to force Israel to abide by UN resolutions, formally recognise the state of Palestine, and enter into real and meaningful talks for a two-state peace process.

President Trump tweeted on Monday last that it was a "great day for Israel". The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, declared several times that "we will remember this day". Indeed we will, but not for the crass and inappropriate moving of the American embassy to Jerusalem. As Israeli and American dignitaries openly celebrated the transfer of the US embassy as a "step towards peace", dozens of Palestinians were being gunned down by Israeli snipers just 40 km away. Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on 6 December 2017 and the moving of the US embassy have reignited tensions within Palestine and Israel. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem since 1967 has never been recognised by the international community. The consensus has always been that the city's status must be negotiated between Palestinians and Israelis.

Monday's death toll brings the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza to well over 100 in seven weeks of protests against the continued decimation of their country. One of the key points that may arise from the events of this week, as others have said, is that the US action may indeed mark a watershed in Palestinian-Israeli history. It may mark the end of the proposal for a two-state solution. A two-state solution is clearly not viable and will not provide a solution to the intense suffering of the people of Palestine. Effectively, there is a single territory which encompasses about 13 million people, including both Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens and around 6.5 million Palestinians, in the occupied territories and Gaza. This is an area that is roughly the size of Leinster and half of Munster, at 11,000 to 12,000 square miles. Everyone who wants a peaceful, secure and happy future for all of those 13 million people must call for full civil and political rights for the citizens of all of those countries. The ambition of this House should be to do everything possible to bring about full civil and political rights for all of the people who live in Palestine and Israel. That is the only way forward. As others have said, any kind of apartheid type solution is an anathema that cannot and will not stand the test of time.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is only right and proper that this Parliament expresses its total and utter condemnation of one of the most violent periods in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has resulted in the death of 58 Palestinians and the injuring of thousands more. The severely disproportionate response of Israel to a legitimate protest is quite simply appalling.

In 2016 I took the opportunity to visit some of the affected areas, including Hebron, Jerusalem and along the Jordan Valley. While there I witnessed at first hand the total disparity between the quality of life of Palestinians and Israelis. I saw farm land with walls built right through it. On one side was rich, arable, good quality agricultural land while on the other side was barrenness. The vast majority of land, at approximately 93%, was under Israeli control. One of the biggest issues in the region is the lack of water. Palestinians, on average, only have access to between 20 and 30 litres of water per day which is 70 litres less than what is recommended by the World Health Organization. I also saw forced relocation and the appalling treatment of Palestinians in prison.

People ask why the Palestinians are protesting. They are protesting because of illegal borders and infringements on their property and human rights.

One of the most basic human rights is the right to water. In recent years tens of thousands of people took to the streets of this country to protest about water charges. We should not question why people are protesting when they are not even getting access to quality water. By any measure, the Israeli response was totally and utterly indefensible. It was a blatant massacre of defenceless civilians. Questions should be asked of a country that acts in this manner, flouts international law and continues to ignore UN resolutions. The Fianna Fáil Party has always respected and celebrated the establishment and progress of the state of Israel. We have never questioned the right of the Israeli people to exercise their right to self-determination and self-defence. However, this should not be done at the expense of the Palestinians. As a party, we will continue to speak up on behalf of the Palestinian people. We will use our voice on the international stage to advance a resolution. As previous speakers said, it is quite hard at this stage of the game to see how a two-state solution can be achieved.

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel which is referred to by Palestinians as "Nakba", which means "catastrophe". For them, the anniversary marks a time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians left or were forced to flee their homes. On Monday, 14 May, the United States followed through on the decision it made in December 2017 to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Fianna Fáil does not support this hugely controversial decision. How can the United States continue to see itself as an honest broker in this conflict which has been ongoing for decades? While recent years have seen a focus on the Syrian war and refugee crisis, the Palestinian refugee crisis is one of the longest lasting cases of forced migration in modern history. The recent massacre highlights more than ever the need for an urgent international intervention. We can no longer sit by and hope the conflict will be resolved. We need a greater international intervention. It is apparent on a daily basis that Palestinians are suffering significant infringements of their human rights. Following the escalation of violence and tension in recent months, the United Nations, the European Union and other international bodies must accelerate their efforts to find an equitable solution. We need to know what came from the meeting that took place after the Tánaiste summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Government needs to live up to its "commitment to recognise the State of Palestine", as set out in the programme for Government. That needs to happen now to show the people of Palestine who are living in unbearable conditions in their homeland that people in the international community are supportive of them.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest massacre of unarmed Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces. Last Monday, 14 May, was the single deadliest day for Palestinians in the occupied territories in over four years. The Great March of Return protests took place on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the expulsion - perhaps it might be better explained as ethnic cleansing - of over 750,000 Palestinians, or two thirds of the indigenous Arab population, from their homes by Israeli forces between 1947 and 1949. On Monday 60 unarmed Palestinians were shot dead and over 2,000 wounded. In the previous six weeks another 45 unarmed Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli state forces. The slaughter of unarmed Palestinian protesters carried out by Israel on Monday as part of its response to the Great March of Return in the past six weeks was cold blooded murder. As we all know, it was the very same as the shoot to kill policy implemented by British state forces in the Six Counties in previous years. The conduct of the Israeli state forces can rightly be compared to the outrageous and despicable campaign of murder and mayhem visited on this country by the infamous Black and Tans.

In the face of seven decades of consistent failure by the international community to enforce the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Palestinian civil society has taken it upon itself to assert its UN-mandated right of return. Unarmed protesters who are seeking to do this are being met with Israeli sniper bullets. Nothing has been done to punish Israel for the slaughter of over 100 unarmed Palestinians in the past two months. Instead, the United States has moved its embassy to Jerusalem and blocked UN Security Council resolutions condemning the killings, while the European Union has continued to reward Israel with increased co-operation. The entire situation is utterly shameful and sickening. The massacre of unarmed protesters while the world, including the European Union and the Government, stands idly by is utterly shameful. The protestors are simply demanding their rights under international law. They include the right to return, as set down in UN Resolution 194; the right not to be the subject of the collective punishment of an entire population, as is happening with the 11-year siege of Gaza; and the right not to have their lands illegally annexed for Israeli settlement expansions.

While it is all very fine for the Government to call in the Israeli ambassador, talk is cheap and action is needed. We need to expel the Israeli ambassador and his staff. We need to recall the Irish ambassador from Tel Aviv, just as South Africa has recalled its ambassador. Ireland must end the bilateral arms trade with Israel. It should call for an international military embargo on the state of Israel on the basis that it is murdering vast numbers of Palestinians in cold blood. Ireland must call for the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement on the basis that Israel is in clear breach of the human rights clause in the agreement. Furthermore, the 11-year siege of Gaza must be lifted. We must commence an extensive boycott of Israeli goods and services. In 2014 both Houses of the Oireachtas unanimously called for the formal recognition of the state of Palestine. The Government must formally recognise it immediately. I commend all of the organisations, including the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, that are supporting the Palestinian people. I commend all of the people from Ireland who have visited the Palestinian territories in support of the cause. My own daughter has just returned from such a visit. She and her companions were blackguarded at the airport. They were held and interrogated for six hours. Some in the group were refused entry. It is time the international community, including the Government, stood up to Israel and supported the rights of the Palestinian people.

We have witnessed one of the most violent periods in the Middle East conflict. The violence has resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians and left thousands of others injured. Frankly, it is appalling. The number of deaths shows that there is a need for an urgent international intervention. As other Deputies said, this week marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel which is referred to by Palestinians as the "Nakba", which means "catastrophe". The decision of the United States to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was ill judged and resulted in a significant increase in the level of deadly violence and tension in the region.

We have the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister telling us it is a great day for them and for the world - extraordinary statements from people who clearly have blood on their hands. The United States, once the great brokers of peace in this conflict, have now only exacerbated it. The difficulty now is that they cannot be negotiators of peace.

The disproportionate use of force by Israeli forces is only serving to compound the situation. Fianna Fáil fully supports the calls for an independent investigation into those incidents. At this juncture, peace seems to be an aspiration that is unlikely to be fulfilled. The situation is becoming increasingly untenable. It is therefore imperative that the Irish Government, the EU and the international community redouble their efforts to restart this peace process. Fianna Fáil has always respected and celebrated the establishment and progress of the state of Israel. We have never questioned the right of the Israeli people to exercise their right to self-determination and self-defence. However, coupled with this our party has long advocated and supported a two-state solution in the Middle East, although I acknowledge that it may be difficult to achieve given the crossroads we are at. When in government, Fianna Fáil led Ireland to be the first EU member state to declare that the solution to the conflict in the Middle East had to be based on a fully sovereign state of Palestine, independent and coexisting with Israel. My party is deeply frustrated about the lack of progress in advancing peace talks, the continued expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, which are illegal under international law, and the deterioration of the humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza and the West Bank. This simply cannot be allowed to continue.

Ireland has a long interest in the challenges in the Middle East and we have always acted out of the experience of our own troubled history and out of our overriding respect for and belief in human rights for all people across the world. Successive Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Trade have consistently spoken in favour of a peaceful, equitable and lasting settlement in the Middle East. We have to be deeply concerned about the plight of men, women and children. Children have been brutally killed. It is in everybody's interests to try to bring this terrible conflict to an end.

While recent years have seen a focus on the Syrian war and refugee crisis, the Palestinian refugee crisis is one of the biggest lasting cases of forced migration in modern history. Today there are millions of Palestinians living in exile from homes and lands their families had inhabited for generations. They are without a state. Many still suffer the legacy of their dispossession, destitution and insecurity. Human rights violations including house demolitions, land confiscation, forced displacement, restrictions of movement and violence against civilians occur on a regular basis. Approximately 70% of Gaza's 1.9 million people rely on humanitarian assistance. The blockade on land, air and sea imposed by Israel following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, which is exacerbated by Egypt keeping its own border with Gaza largely sealed, continues to have a devastating effect as access to markets and people's movement to and from the Gaza Strip remain severely restricted. This is a deep crisis and I urge the Government to do everything it can to try to stop this terrible violence, which is causing outrage and devastation to the Palestinian people.

I want to reflect on an interview I watched on "Prime Time" during the week, when David McCullagh interview the former Israeli MP, Dr. Einat Wilf, about the use of force by the Israeli defence forces. It was an extraordinary engagement. She was asked if she felt their response was proportionate, to which she replied: "I assume you would have been more pleased if more Jews had been killed in the process." Rightly, David McCullagh took exception to this. He further pressed Dr. Wilf as to whether the IDF was justified in slaughtering the Palestinians, to which she responded:

The Israeli public and the defence forces defending it will not allow people to breach its borders. These are not unarmed protesters. There is no question of proportion in defending our borders.

She also spoke about the internationally agreed 1967 borders and Israel's retreat to them, which it has not done to date. In concluding, she disputed facts as to whether what the media have seen in the form of dead children were even real and called half of those who were massacred terrorists. I could hardly believe what I was hearing or the narrative that was being spouted. Unfortunately, it has been quite typical of the views of the Israeli establishment and Government for some time now. They are putting forward arguments that are scarcely credible to any of the world although perhaps they are credible to a proportion of their own audience. They have become apologists for the complete disregard for the human rights of Palestinians and view them as a problem rather than a people.

Internationally, their track record has been one of disregarding international norms. In the 1980s alone, 82 amendments were passed in the UN relating to Israel, the majority of which have been ignored. In the last decade, the situation has become demonstrably worse. Last December, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the status of Israel's capital null and void, supporting an international consensus. That consensus has clearly been breached by the United States in a move that is problematic and provocative. The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, announced that the US would move its embassy to Jerusalem. She claimed that no vote in the UN would make any difference and stated that the US was by far the greatest contributor to the UN, warning that the US might cut funding to the UN. This is an unfortunate reflection of the distance the United States has travelled; it is now very clearly a partisan actor in this conflict. Monday's move was rightly globally condemned. It displays a complete disregard of international law. We see this contempt reflected in Monday's statement, when the US and Israel claimed it to be a historic day while 70 km away the IDF was busy massacring Palestinian people, using live rounds with a policy of shoot to kill.

I also want to raise the issue of recognition. This is entirely within the gift of the Government. It could be delivered tomorrow if the Government wished. It is in the programme for Government. The Irish Government and Parliament are committed to it. I believe the vast majority of the Irish public favours it. Page 144 of the programme for Government states that we will continue to play a role in advancing a stronger role for the EU in the Middle East peace process, having regard to the stalled nature of the process at present, and that we will honour our commitment to recognise the state of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict. Certainly in the last few days, the Government has put a great deal of emphasis on those last nine words. Most people would read them as putting such a commitment in context. They would read them as suggesting that Ireland favours a two-state solution and a recognition would be viewed in that context, without prejudice to a peace process and with a desire for such a process.

Since 2014 and the votes in both Houses, Government statements have been cautious and delaying, yet ultimately accepting the desirability of recognition in principle. I am concerned, however, that some of the statements made more recently indicate that the Government may be moving further away from recognition of Palestine, which would be quite shameful. On Tuesday, the Taoiseach said the programme for Government commits the Government to recognising Palestine as part of a two-state peace solution and that, while we stand over that Government commitment, we do not yet have a peaceful solution. That is an absurd position. What does it mean? What will the Government require? It is clear that the peace process is moribund. The programme for Government commitment recognises that. What does the Government require before it will move? It can hardly require a fully fledged peace process in which the Israeli Government clearly has no interest.

Ultimately, making the recognition of Palestine conditional on a fully functioning peace process is in the interests of one side alone, namely, the State of Israel. I hope that is not the case and that recognition will happen. I hope the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will bring pressure to bear as much as possible to end the blockade and the slaughter, as well as the casual disregard for the lives of Palestinians.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. I sometimes wonder if debates such as this mean anything to anybody. One hopes that somebody somewhere is listening.

This week 58 demonstrators were killed in Gaza doing nothing other than demonstrating, while 2,800 were injured, of which 228 were children. The response of us as a nation and the Government is to condemn it. A few weeks ago, a former Russian spy and his daughter were suspected of being poisoned by agents of the Russian Government. Following on from the response from the US and many other European countries, we expelled a Russian diplomat from its embassy in Dublin. I do not understand how one can compare the proportionality of our response to the suspected involvement of a government in the poisoning of a former spy to the shooting dead of 58 demonstrators in Gaza. Ireland is a small nation but, sometimes, a small nation can take a big stand.

The people in Gaza were demonstrating because there are over 2 million people living on a tiny strip of land without proper water supplies, sanitation, electricity and hope. No wonder they are demonstrating. What other option have they? Without the prospect of a future, subversive groups within the Gaza Strip will come to the fore. That will just lead to a further cycle of violence and despair.

As a country, we need to reflect and ask what would be the response of the Government if 58 innocent Israelis were shot dead this week or 2,800 innocent Israeli demonstrators were injured, including women and children. It would be completely different. We are guilty of inaction. We support the two-state solution. We claim to support and recognise the state of Palestine. I certainly do. Yet, we stand idly by when atrocities, such as what happened this week, occur. By standing idly by, we are as a nation, a Government and a Parliament guilty by association.

I, like other speakers, was horrified at the latest attack by Israel on protesters last weekend, as well as other attacks in recent weeks, which have left over 100 dead and many thousands wounded. I was not surprised at all, however. I have seen how the Israeli State treats and views the Palestinians. I have seen how, over the years, it has sought to colonise, conquer and extinguish the Palestinian people. I visited refugee camps in Palestine and saw the official and unofficial settler policy. I saw how people were moved out of their own homes and how villages were made uninhabitable to ensure the Palestinians were unable to harvest their own land and forced to leave due to starvation. I saw the settler roads on which no Palestinian was allowed drive. I saw ghost towns struggling to survive. I saw Israeli troops menacing Palestinians and others who took the Palestinian side. I saw the huge concrete walls, 40 ft in height, built around Palestinian towns to ensure those who service the land in them could not get to it. I saw the buffer zone and the confiscation of water tables which meant that the survival of towns in Palestine was near impossible. I saw the queues of farmers trying to get their crops to market being forced to sit out in the sun for hours while their crops rotted away. Once rotten and no use to the market, the farmers were then let through the checkpoints.

I spoke to Palestinian fishermen in the territory of Gaza who come under regular gun attack when they try to fish, even within the boundaries set by Israel. I spoke with those who lost limbs because of the attacks by Israeli gunboats which regularly interfere with their attempts to land fish in Gaza. I saw the destruction brought on Gaza by attacks, even before Operation Cast Lead, in what is the equivalent of an open mass prison. I saw the failed water, roads, hospitals and educational infrastructure. I am proud of my meagre attempts to break the siege of Gaza. I am proud I was among those who were on the last boat to dock and last to leave Gaza Port in November 2008.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade challenged us that our call for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was no more than an empty gesture and would serve no purpose. It is not an empty gesture. It is the same call of the Palestinians. It would not be empty if it were followed by a series of other measures which the State can take. Other Members spoke about the recognition of the Palestinian state. All the Taoiseach has to say in this Chamber are five words. Can one imagine the lift that would give to the Palestinian people if Ireland, a country which was colonised and brutalised over centuries, was willing to stand up for their rights? It could be followed up by a demand by Ireland that the EU review its preferential treatment agreement with Israel and that trade cannot happen while Israel abuses the human rights of the Palestinian people. It could be followed up by boycotting the purchase of Israeli weapons and the end of dual-use goods sales between Ireland and Israel. It could be followed up by the immediate end to settler goods being brought into and sold in Ireland. It could involve the disinvestment of any Irish companies from any Israeli companies or properties. There could be no State contracts for companies which invest in or trade with Israel. As others have said, we should consider ending our participation in the Eurovision and the European football championship while Israel is still involved. These events legitimise the attacks perpetuated by Israel last week and before.

Will the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade not look at empty gestures but a whole series of gestures which will send out the message that we are willing to stand up for the rights of small nations and those under attack by other nations, as well as the dehumanising of the Palestinian people and the ending of their human rights by the Israelis? I urge the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to look at the example we gave when we were to the fore in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa.

As a small nation we can set the lead. We should not wait until some other country in the EU takes a stance. We should be out front setting the standard for others to follow rather than crawlers coming behind all the others.

I have had the opportunity to visit both Palestine and Israel on several occasions, most recently last September. I am a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The committee has met many delegations from Israel and Palestine, including those from civil society, academics, religious leaders and political leaders. The one thing that came across on every occasion was the overwhelming desire of Palestinians and Israelis to be able to live in peace as well as the need for compromise.

When we look back to the past and the Oslo Accords, we can see the potential for peace, but those initiatives came to nothing except assassinations and intifada. The Geneva accord and the initiatives in 2003 and 2009 illustrate the comprehensive solution that could have been brought into being. There was mutual recognition of both nations, the right to an independent state on both sides, and an almost complete Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders. There was recognition of a Jewish Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and an Arab Jerusalem as the capital for Palestine. There was significant support. In Palestine, support was 49%, and in Israel, support was 52% for that agreement. There was considerable opposition too. Despite this, there are non-governmental organisations on the Israeli and Palestinian sides which continue to work in an atmosphere with the belief that they can bring about some kind of compromise. I wish to acknowledge the work of the NGOs, especially in Israel and Palestine, working on human rights and justice. I was at the launch of a book on their work recently entitled Defending Hope. Those involved speak about the great difficulties under which they are working together to try to find a just peace.

We know that the roots of this come from imperialism, first the Ottoman empire and then the British empire, which gave away the homes of the Palestinians. We know the emotional, religious and cultural attachment of the Jewish people as well. The question is whether conflict was inevitable. Once 1948 came and 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes and villages, there was always going to be conflict. We saw the movement of Palestinians. It did not stop then and it is not going to stop today. Having been there, I know there is no doubt about the devastating and disastrous consequences of continued settlement building. It makes life virtually impossible for Palestinians and it is certainly erodes their dignity as people.

Let us consider the wall. The Palestinians start queuing from the middle of the night, from 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. They are herded like cattle. They cross over into Israel to work in and contribute to the Israeli economy. Then they start the journey back in the evening. Journeys that used to take ten or 15 minutes now take over an hour. Things like that make life so very difficult. Palestinians remember how they used to be able to visit their relatives and friends in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv. Israelis talk about how they used to bring their families into Gaza to the beaches and the markets there.

What always strikes me is the great resilience of the Palestinian people in cities like Ramallah and Nablus. They go to school and college. They are getting on with life and with their businesses in the midst of all of it.

I have serious criticisms of both governments because both governments have let down all their people. I have criticisms of the UN. We see the whole dysfunction of the UN Security Council and the use of the veto by America. Representations should be made to the Americans on this. We do not have an ambassador here but there is certainly one in the UK.

Israel has a right to protect its borders but the force we have seen is totally and utterly over the top. The role of the EU has been as ineffective as the role of the UN. The support for a two-state solution is like a facade. At the same time, it is like the EU is appeasing its conscience by giving funding to Palestine. It buys from and sells arms to the Israeli arms industry, which is bombing the buildings that EU funding is constructing. Israel must be made accountable for its violations of international law and human rights. Palestine also needs elections. A serious error was made when Israel did not recognise the results of the last election. Hamas representatives were elected but that was a democratic process and it needed a peaceful transition to power. So much of what we are seeing today could have been avoided.

There is also a need for honesty with the whole business of the two-state solution. How can it be viable? It is like suggesting putting two counties from Leinster with two counties from Munster, one from Connacht and one from Ulster and calling it a state. There has to be honesty. Perhaps the honesty can come about from discussing a one-state solution whereby the Palestine people would have exactly the same rights as those in Israel, including the same rights to services, infrastructure, education and healthcare.

A Palestinian academic made a point. He said the West Bank is an open prison but that Gaza is like a high-security prison. We know the statistics and the number of people who are living there. Some 1.7 million or 1.8 million people are living an area the size of County Dublin. The fishing industry is a source of food and the source of livelihood for these people but it is constantly being pushed back in again.

Two other groups always get lost in this kind of discussion. The first is the Bedouin and their right to the kind of life they live. The second group is made up of the residents in the Golan Heights. They are frequently forgotten about in all of this.

We have to start somewhere. What is happening now has pushed everything back. We know there are families and communities in Gaza who are grieving horribly. I came across a line from a Michael Longley poem I used to discuss in school called Ceasefire:

I get down on my knees and do what must be done

And kiss Achilles' hand, the killer of my son.

Something has to be done now. It is time to get back to the table to talk, listen, compromise and reach a consensus. We have the example of the Good Friday Agreement.

I stand in this House today to record once again my solidarity with the long-suffering people of Gaza and Palestine. Let me state in the most unequivocal manner that what we witnessed on our television screens from the Gaza Strip last Monday was state-sponsored murder involving the massacre of 60 Palestinian adults and children. It was a crime against humanity. The almost simultaneous images coming out of Jerusalem last Monday juxtaposed to those coming from the Israeli-imposed border with the Gaza Strip can only be described as gut-wrenching.

It has to be put on record that the current United States President has grossly enflamed this decades-long interface. The decision to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is a grave mistake. It has been condemned, rightly, by countries throughout Europe and the world. President Trump has embarked on yet another ill-considered solo run that has directly contributed to the death and slaughter of innocent Palestinian citizens. By carrying out this act, President Trump has provided the rogue state of Israel with a licence to kill. He has the blood of innocent Palestinian children, women and men on his hands. Faith and trust in peace-making efforts have now been set back, it is to be hoped not irreparably. Confidence has been utterly shattered. The present US regime has now passed the point of no return and will never again be viewed as capable of performing as an honest broker in this conflict. It has to its shame taken one side over another. In this instance, that is a fundamental error.

The behaviour of the state of Israel with the deployment of snipers along the Israeli-imposed Gaza Strip limits must be condemned at the highest levels of all decent thinking nations and international bodies. The use of live fire against unarmed civilians needs to be called for what it is: indiscriminate murder. I reiterate, the Israeli state is conducting a campaign of murder against the Palestinian people.

The Irish Government needs to take a strong line on this, far stronger than heretofore. The contemptible comments by an Israeli spokesperson calling for Ireland to move its embassy to Jerusalem as well showed the Israeli regime up for what it is: an uncompassionate and murderous state that has no respect for, and places no worth on, Palestinian lives. The Irish Government should expel the Israeli ambassador with no ifs, no buts and no maybes. The excuse of keeping lines of communication open does not hold water. Israel has no intention of negotiating a lasting peace. It has been brazenly emboldened by the United States and will do whatever it likes at this time.

Palestinian lives simply do not come into consideration.

As with apartheid South Africa, Israel needs to be isolated by the world community and forced into treating the Palestinian people with respect and on an equal basis because it is crystal clear it will not do so voluntarily.

I send my sincere condolences to the families of the 60 people slaughtered on Monday. I demand a cessation of the use of so-called live bullet rounds by Israel in such circumstances in the future. I reaffirm that Sinn Féin stands four-square behind the long-suffering people of Palestine in their struggle for basic human rights, including the right to live and prosper in peace on their own lands.

On behalf of the Government, I thank Deputies for their contributions to statements on the tragic and appalling events in Gaza in recent days and weeks. They have passionately articulated the shock and concern of the people at these events. The Government fully shares these sentiments. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, listened carefully to the views expressed and ideas proposed. They will be taken into account fully in his work and that of his Department on the issue.

The Government has made it clear that the events we have seen in Gaza, specifically the massive use of live ammunition without a clear, real and immediate threat to life, are unacceptable, must cease and be investigated. The Tánaiste set out clearly the restrictions in international law on the use of deadly force and that they have not been followed. I will repeat only his summary of these aspects of the issue. Like all states, Israel is entitled to defend itself and its borders, but it is not entitled to do what it has been doing this week and in recent weeks in Gaza. These points have been made clearly and strongly in successive public statements made on behalf of the Government in the Dáil and directly by the Tánaiste when he summoned the Israeli ambassador on Tuesday.

Many Deputies, perhaps reflecting the anger and frustration we have all heard from constituents, called for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador or the recall of the Irish ambassador from Israel to signal our anger at these events. The Tánaiste explained carefully in his remarks on Tuesday the reason this would not be a fruitful or appropriate response. Ireland's foreign policy has always been built on dialogue and engagement, however slow and frustrating they may be. Expelling the Israeli ambassador would command the headlines for a few days and we would feel good about ourselves, but it would permanently marginalise Ireland's voice on these issues in places that matter. We are seeking to persuade people in Europe, Israel and elsewhere of our point of view. I am not sure if Ireland has ever expelled an ambassador on the basis of differences with his or her government. That is not the correct approach to take.

The question of recognition by Ireland of a state of Palestine has also been raised. The position on this matter remains unchanged. The Government is committed to recognition of Palestine as part of an overall peace settlement, as has been the policy of successive Governments. The Tánaiste has stated on a number of occasions in the Dáil his view that the moment for recognition of Palestine by Ireland has not yet arrived. Recognition must be a symbolic act and could, in the right circumstances, also be an important one. However, as a symbol, the impact and timing of recognition are everything as it will not change anything on the ground. This is an issue for the Government of Ireland.

The Tánaiste has consistently stressed on behalf of the Government Ireland's support for calls for an independent and transparent investigation of recent events in Gaza and the circumstances of such large-scale use of deadly force. Ireland this week co-sponsored a request for a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to consider these events. It is expected that such a meeting may be held on Friday. At this session Ireland will support any appropriately worded motion to establish such an inquiry.

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