Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Black for all of her work, and that of her colleagues, in initiating this Bill. At its most basic, this Bill is about upholding international law and surely that is something that we should do. If passed, Ireland and our Parliament will be sending a very strong message to the international community that we condemn the occupation of territories which is deemed illegal under international law. I was fortunate many years ago to visit Israel and spent some months there getting to know the Israeli people and, indeed, some Palestinian people. One of the kibbutzim I was on was six miles from the Gaza Strip and, thankfully, there was a strong relationship between some of the Palestinians who worked on the kibbutz and the kibbutzniks themselves. I found the Israelis to be very welcoming and kind to me as a traveller there.

Since then, I have always retained an interest in the politics of the region and always hoped a peaceful resolution to the conflict would come. Alas, that seems further away than ever. In 2004, the then Newbridge Town Council, of which I was a member, worked hard with the Newbridge branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign on twinning Newbridge and Bethlehem.

As we reflect this week on 100 years of our independent democracy, it is a good time for us as a nation to reflect on who we are, what we stand for and our place in the world. We may be a small country but our voice carries significant weight internationally, sometimes disproportionate to our size. Accordingly, the Bill is important in stating our opposition to illegal occupations that take place in the world. It is a moral imperative for the Irish people to protest against the infringements of the rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. The Minister spoke earlier about the Bill’s financial implications. I feel strongly that the need to oppose injustice absolutely outweighs that. We cannot be content to buy products from settlements which deprive the Palestinian people of their homes, farms and livelihoods. Ireland needs to be a world leader in refusing to countenance illegal settlements built on Palestinian land. This historic Bill is an important message from us as a small nation, expressing our solidarity with the Palestinian people who are living in dreadful conditions in the occupied territories.

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