Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While I praise the Taoiseach for his initiative and leadership, we stood idly by for a long time in relation to Israel and we are complicit in that. When Amnesty released its report in February 2022 stating that Israel was operating an apartheid regime, there was no response from Government. There are many examples. When six human rights organisations were designated as terrorist organisations, apart from condemning the act and expressing concern, we did nothing. When the refugee camp in Jenin was attacked, we did nothing other than express concerns and condemnation. There are things we can do. When the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 was brought before us, the Government went for a pregnancy nine-month adjournment rather than grasping the issue, deal with it and do something practical. It was the same thing with the illegal occupation Bill, whose title escapes me.

If the Ceann Comhairle will allow it, I will quote Amnesty remarks on the report that came out nearly two years ago:

The scale and seriousness of the violations documented in our report make it clear that the international community must drastically change its approach ... Through its failure to take any meaningful action to hold Israel to account for its systematic and widespread violations, and crimes under international law, against the Palestinian population, the international community [including Ireland] has contributed to undermining the international legal order, and has emboldened Israel to continue perpetrating these crimes with impunity. Apartheid is a crime against humanity and the international community has an obligation to hold the perpetrators to account.

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