Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The ambassador said he was still hopeful that there could be some chance of a two-state solution and a negotiated settlement with Israel, but also hinted that hope was running out in that regard. Why does the ambassador have any hope that Israel is serious about the two-state solution or has any interest in a peaceful solution? A large number of people think Israel has shown nothing but contempt for the two-state solution. Since Oslo it has, as the ambassador said, accelerated illegal settlements and continued them in a brazen manner, while totally disregarding international law, provoking the Palestinians at every single turn and engaging in three massacres in Gaza, claiming thousands of lives. It has shown not a whit of interest in serious, meaningful negotiations about a two-state solution.
I agree with Desmond Tutu, who is a Nobel peace prize winner, that the time has come to draw a line and say that Israel is not interested in peace and we should no longer contribute to a sense of normalcy by doing business with it. He said the time had come to break all relations, not just with the settlements but with Israel, at economic, political and cultural levels. Should we ask the Irish Government and European governments to isolate Israel until it behaves like a civilised member of the international community?
Is the ambassador, like me, enraged at how, when Israel is criticised for its appalling actions against the Palestinians, including massacres and mistreatment, instead of responding to the substantial allegations it tries to cover them by calling anybody who criticises it anti-Semitic? It is an absolutely outrageous accusation against such people, 99% of whom are motivated by opposition to racism. They abhor racism, and that is why they abhor what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. Yet Israel continues to call people who criticise it anti-Semitic. I would like the ambassador to comment on that because it is a point that needs to be repeated ad nauseam. The representatives of the Palestinian people are not anti-Semitic because they themselves are Semites. It makes no sense and is a disgraceful and dishonest allegation for Israel to make. For Israel to allege that those who criticise its policy are anti-Semitic is dishonouring the memory of the Holocaust in the most appalling way. Does the ambassador agree?