Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Deputy Seán Crowe, is in the United States on behalf of the committee so he sends his apologies for not being here today and has asked me, as a Sinn Féin Senator, to convey those apologies and to ask some questions, if that is okay. My party supports BDS. In Ireland, we are very proud of the Dunnes Stores workers. Many years ago, they worked for Dunnes Stores here in Ireland and took a stand against apartheid in South Africa. We celebrate them today because they were absolutely vindicated. It strikes me that the boycott campaign internationally, against the apartheid regime in South Africa, had a successful impact eventually. It was a successful campaign. It was a way of peacefully conveying our opposition to what happened. The efforts that the Israeli state has gone to with some of its allies, to undermine a peaceful and dignified opportunity for those in the international community to express their opposition to what has happened to the Palestinian people, are remarkable. There is also their frustration at their own political leaders for their failure to take decisive action on behalf of the Palestinian people. I believe that the overwhelming majority of the Irish people are in solidarity with the cause of the Palestinian people. I believe that the overwhelming majority of Irish people believe that we should do what is dignified and peaceful to support the Palestinian people.

We hoped to bring legislation through the Upper House, the Seanad, relating to the banning of goods from illegal settlements internationally, which would obviously also include the occupied territories in Palestine. That legislation has been deferred and will, I believe, come before the Upper House later this year. I want to get Mr. Barghouti's views on that legislation. What would that mean to the Palestinian people if it was passed? On events in Gaza, and the shootings and killings of Palestinian protestors, what is the mood relating to that? Can we get an update on the imprisonment of Ahed Tamimi and other Palestinian children and on what we can do in Ireland? On the wider issue of Jerusalem and the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital by the American Trump Administration, what are the reactions and repercussions in Palestine? What is the current mood among Palestinians? I am conscious that BDS is an initiative of the Palestinian grassroots civil society as distinct from the political leadership. There have not been elections in Palestine for a long time so how can we really assess who the political leaders in Palestine are if there have not been elections in a long time? I would look at Palestinian civil society as being representative of the Palestinian people. What are the views of all of these matters among civil society?