Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Any observer of what is happening in Palestine would probably be pretty depressed about and despairing of the position. It has been an annus horribilisfor the Palestinian people, as it is every year. This year in particular has been absolutely horrendous, with 200 people having been murdered by the Israeli armed forces on the border in Gaza and the recognition of Jerusalem for the Israeli state. There is a toxic mix of Netanyahu, Trump and Bolton, out and out racists who want to humiliate the Palestinian people on a daily basis. I was there 20 years ago and I was struck by the artifice and out and out racism of Israel. One must go there to experience it and see it on a daily basis.

This comes down to appeasing racism and apartheid, and this is what the European Union does. As Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney does not have the stomach for this. He pays lip service to a two-state solution and he kind of condemns the Israeli state but in reality he does not do anything. For example, the Bill from Senator Black makes sense, as it means an occupier cannot trade with partners. Although it is extremely limited, the Government will not support the Bill, and that action is absolutely gutless. In the past ten years, Ireland has imported dual-use arms worth more than €11 million from Israel for the Irish Army. If Israel is a state that is reckless and racist, why would we buy arms from it? There is daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.

There is hope and the boycott, divestment and sanctions, BDS, campaign has gained momentum over the past two or three years. It is the solidarity of others and such small things that will give the Palestinian people hope. The constant appeasement by the European Union and Ireland is adding fuel to the fire, propagating the idea that Israel is just a normal state in the Middle East. It is not a normal state. It is a racist and apartheid state, and once the EU and this country recognises that, things might change in the Middle East. I do not know if the witnesses wish to comment on the small things that add to the bigger argument. The Eurovision song contest will be in Jerusalem next year and this country should not send any artist to the competition. We should send a statement from Ireland to say we are boycotting this because of the continuing occupation of Palestine.