Mr. Alan Shatter:

Thank you, Chairman. There was a couple of questions directly put to me. I listened carefully to the contributions, particularly what I would describe as the toxic contributions from Deputies Brady and Boyd Barrett which are regrettable. They included nothing positive to contribute to a peaceful resolution and will do nothing to benefit the welfare of Palestinians or to end conflict. I have heard the same speech for many years delivered by Deputy Boyd Barrett. Deputy Brady regularly produces the type of commentary I heard this morning in the toxic tweets that he engages in. Let me deal with the particular questions.

Deputy Brady asked me do I believe that Israelis and Palestinians should be treated as equals. I have a simple answer to that. The answer to that is, "Yes". I believe that Israelis and Palestinians should be treated as equal. I would like to see the implementation of a viable two-state solution. I would like to see Hamas ceasing to be a terrorist organisation that oppresses Palestinians.

It is noteworthy that not a single contributor who is critical of Israel referenced the oppressive nature of the Hamas regime in Gaza, the arrest by Hamas of Gazan peace activists, their imprisonment for daring to talk peace to Israelis, the persecution of the gay community in Gaza and the threats Hamas issues to those who may take to protest on the streets in Gaza against Hamas. There is a selective concern on the part of Deputies Brady and Boyd Barrett in particular for the welfare of Palestinians. I have stood in Gaza following one of the conflicts talking to business people who before conflict had provided products, both to the people of Gaza and exports into Israel, who were terrified to publicly express their views but who wanted nothing but peace, wanted to restore their businesses and who were complaining about the corruption within Hamas in exploiting the tunnels to charge people tax to bring in product that they could not otherwise get because some of these products the Israelis were not allowing in because they were used to build weapons or tunnels.

I said what I heard on Tuesday was depressing. What I have heard today is no less depressing because this is not about implementing a two-state solution or a peace process. What this is solely focused on is something that Deputy Brady's party and, indeed, Deputy Boyd Barrett and some others have been engaged in for many years which is a campaign to de-legitimise and demonise the Israeli state. Ironically, Sinn Féin, that advocates the self-determination of the Irish people, is apparently entirely opposed to the self-determination of the Jewish people and both Deputy Boyd Barrett and Deputy Brady strenuously seek to avoid the reality that the UN resolution of 1947 envisaged the creation of Israel as a Jewish state, the one and only Jewish state in the world that has 52 Muslim states, and in a world in which many of those states exclude other religions and do not display the level of religious tolerance and understanding that applies in Israel to all of those who want to say prayers or worship within their own religions.

Deputy Gannon put a question to me about some election video by Mr. Benny Gantz in 2018 being the provocation that has produced the current conflict. There are moments in time when propositions presented are so ludicrous that one really has to step back. One of the depressing things on Tuesday was no reference at all at any stage in a single question put to a single speaker to the then 800 rockets that had been fired into Israel. As we stand this morning, there have been in excess of 1,300 rockets indiscriminately fired into Israel. What it appears some members of the committee, including Deputy Brady, are advocating is that Israel has no right to defend itself, that Jewish people have no right to defend themselves, that the Israeli Government has no right to defend all the citizens of Israel, be they Jews, Christians or Muslims, and that, simply, it is open season for Hamas to fire as many rockets as it wishes and to rely on Iranian expertise and finance to process that.

I reject that as a proposition. If I could say to Deputy Brady, who spoke at some length, one of the big tragedies is that Sinn Féin has learned nothing from the peace process. Sinn Féin as a party, through its militant proxies in the Provisional IRA, was engaged in death and mayhem on this island for 30 years. We eventually had the Good Friday Agreement which John Hume described as Sunningdale for slow learners. What was learned was the need to understand the background to conflicts in their totality and the different understandings of those engaged in conflict who disagree. Sinn Féin has something it could offer to those engaged in militant terrorism, namely, explaining the importance of ending violence, talking, people learning to live with each other and understand each other, and creating trust and moving to reconciliation. What Sinn Féin, in the context of Deputy Brady and other members of his party who regularly tweet do, including Deputy Andrews who has tweeted regularly the words "From the river to the sea"-----