Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Is mian liom filleadh ar mhuintir na Palaistíne agus an cinedhíothú atá ar siúl ag Rialtas Iosrael faoi láthair. I ndáiríre, is sléacht gan trua gan taise atá ar siúl. Inné, bhain an Taoiseach úsáid as focail láidre, cáinteacha maidir le hIosrael agus cuirim fáilte roimh na focail sin. Ar ndóigh, dúirt an tAire, an Teachta Coveney, gur stáit bradach é Iosrael agus cuirim fáilte roimhe sin freisin. Tá rud eile ag teastáil go géar áfach, agus is é sin leadership. Is é sin an rud atá ag teastáil go géar anois agus bearta le dul leis na focail láidre, cáinteacha sin.

I return to the issue of Palestine. I welcome the strong words the Taoiseach used yesterday. He talked about go bhfuil Rialtas Iosrael dallta le mire agus roimhe sin dallta ag díoltas - blinded with rage and blinded with revenge. I have a different opinion on that. I think they have a full and comprehensive plan. I welcome the Taoiseach's strong words, however, and I welcome the words of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, that we are dealing with a rogue state. What we need now are actions. What are we going to do now as an independent sovereign State and a Republic? We stood idly by when the Amnesty report was published in February 2022. We were uncomfortable with the word "apartheid", were we not, and did not like to use it, so we ignored the Amnesty report. We did not join in with South Africa when it took its case to the International Criminal Court. We stood by when six Palestinian organisations that carry out vital work on the ground were designated as terrorist groups. In the past four months, we have stood idly by while genocide is perpetuated in our name. We have stood by while UNRWA has been demonised, although I welcome the decision not to withdraw funding. We have stood idly by as Israeli settlements have increased in the occupied territories. We have overwhelming evidence from the ground up and trusted organisation as to what is happening in our name. Action Aid, which is the latest organisation to contact us, tells us that Israel has created an unbelievable hellscape in Gaza and people are starving and so on. It is all there. I am sure the Taoiseach has received that letter.

I am asking for leadership. First, the EU-Israel agreement has to be stopped. We have a mechanism for doing that and I need to hear the Taoiseach will lead on that. We need to stand with South Africa. We need to stand with Amnesty International, which has clearly stated that Israel operates an apartheid regime. We need to recognise the state of Palestine. If not now, when? We need the Taoiseach to make clear to President Biden what he has said in the Dáil, that is, that Israel is a rogue state and America must stop sending arms to Israel. We need to stand up and be counted. How many more deaths will we read out here as if they are simply numbers? On occasions, the Taoiseach has said very strong things. I agree with those, but he has not made his words mean something.

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