Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not a member of the committee so I thank the Chair for allowing me to participate. I am substituting for Deputy Cowen.

I thank Professor Lynk for attending today and for his comprehensive presentation and, indeed, for his presentations during the week while he is in Ireland. I also thank him for his supportive comments about Ireland's actions, particularly with regard to the Dáil resolution, the de factoannexation, the NGOs being declared illegal and so forth. That is much appreciated. Our actions to date have been commented on and that is good to know. I accept Professor Lynk's definition of apartheid and his finding regarding apartheid. He quoted a number of sources in respect of the definition of apartheid, but it is absolutely clear for anybody who wishes to know that Israel is practising apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Most of the questions I had intended to ask have already been posed. I will zone in on one or two, however. I am sorry if Professor Lynk has answered my first question but perhaps I did not hear the answer.

Why has the international community, in particular the European Union, not acted to date regarding this matter? Ireland has joined with some EU member states to make different declarations and so on, and initiate various actions, but why has the EU not been stronger on this question? If Professor Lynk wants, he can mention individual member states that may be holding up progress in that regard. He has answered the question of what the international community should do; he mentioned the International Court of Justice and the question of sanctions. Can anything else be done? Are sanctions the main accountability measure that can be taken in this regard? Professor Lynk answered the question about the two-state solution and stated that we have gone beyond the point of no return. That is quite stark and certainly something that I will take on board arising from what he said, and what he quoted others as saying, regarding this matter. He mentioned the four solutions and where we go from here.

On the basis it has not been asked - it may be the elephant in the room - what role has the US Administration to play in this regard? Is that a problem, traditionally, regarding Palestine? Has there been a significant change in emphasis following the election of President Biden? In an earlier presentation this week, Professor Lynk ended on a hopeful note. He quoted Seamus Heaney's "hope and history rhyme". Is he still of that view later in the week? Do we have reasons to be hopeful at all regarding these matters?