Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his new portfolio. I thank the Leader for recalling the House. I cannot understand why the Dáil did not see it fit to return. If it had, it would have sent a strong message to the EU, the Israelis and the USA that we care and will speak out about this.

I came to the Chamber with facts and figures but all Senators have made powerful contributions and I will not regurgitate everything they have said. I will note, however, that there is no doubt that the situation in which the innocent people of Gaza and Israel find themselves is a terrible one. Today is not about who is right and who is wrong. Some believe that depends on whether one is a Muslim or a Jew. This is about the death toll among innocent people and the oppression of the Palestinian community by Israel as outlined in clear detail by Senator O'Donnell. She has left the Chamber but made a powerful contribution on the oppression and what it is like to live in Gaza. I congratulate the Senators who visited the area and the communities over there and found out for themselves what life is like. However, Bashar al-Assad has killed more than 180,000 Syrians, most of whom were Muslims, in two years, which is more than the number killed in Palestine in two decades. In Iraq and Syria, thousands of Muslims have been killed by ISIS while elsewhere tens of thousands have been killed by the Taliban.

Up to 500,000 black Muslims have been killed by Arab Muslims in Sudan. Why has the world only woken up to how many people are dying now? The answer is children. Since graphic pictures and stories of the death of children in Palestine have emerged, the world has woken up and is at last saying, “Enough is enough”. Innocent children cannot continue to be persecuted and murdered. It must stop. These children did nothing wrong, did not cause the conflict but are the victims of a religious war and war crimes.

It has struck me and moved me how a 16 year old girl, Farah Baker, has put into words how terrifying life is in Gaza via social media, tweeting at night what life is like for her and her six year old sister whom she is trying to protect. Her words could not but have a profound effect on the people of the world. In one tweet, she stated, "Whenever my 6 yrs old sis hear the rocket falling she covers her ears and shout while crying in order not to hear the bomb". Another tweet read, “I AM CRYING AND CAN'T STAND BOMBS SOUND! I'M ABOUT TO LOSE SENSE OF HEARING”. The most heart-wrenching of all was a tweet that read, “This is in my area. I can't stop crying. I might die tonight”.

No child, be they Palestinian or Israeli, should ever be subject to such terrorism. No child should ever be trapped in a situation with no escape route. No child should have to live in fear of not surviving the night. This is the message coming out of Gaza from a 16 year old girl. Can we back away from this and not take a stand? Should we remain silent? I do not think so.

In 2013, a 16 year old boy from Kerry, Donal Walsh, lost his battle with cancer. Before he died, he promoted the message to live life to the full and spoke about the devastation of suicide. Since his death, he has undoubtedly saved lives through his message which has done more to prevent suicide than any other campaign. The 16 year olds of this world can easily tell adults exactly how it is from their eyes. Yet we do not open ours enough. We cannot stand by and let the amazing youth of this world suffer. We must act and protect their future. When I was 16, I worried about romance, music and pocket money, not cancer, suicide, being shot or bombed, or worrying would I die at night. Of course it is not just the children but every man, woman and child that must be protected.

In 2008, Egypt brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas which provided for an immediate cessation of hostilities on both sides and that Israel should move towards ending its blockade of Gaza. Had the terms of that agreement been honoured, there could have been peace across the border to this day without any of their people dying. What can we do? We are one House of Parliament. We can let the world know that Ireland does care, can and will speak out. The message must go out of here today that Ireland is calling for an immediate ceasefire of hostilities and hostile activities on both sides; that diplomatic talks take place and both Hamas and Israel honour the obligations of these talks; that we, as the people of Ireland, condemn war crimes by both sides, the deaths of innocent children, women and men; and that we commit to help rebuild the devastated territory in Gaza, rebuild their schools, hospitals and their community plundered and torn asunder by war.