Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind welcome. I do not normally attend committees of which I am not a member. I welcome the delegation to the committee. I am not one bit surprised that our guests sought to come before the committee to give an alternative view to the one that seems to be most propagated in these Houses. I am not referring to this committee per se. The committee has its work to do and the Chairman does a great job. There is a remarkable pro-Palestine lobby in these Houses. I use the word "remarkable" because human rights offences are being committed across the globe, such as in the eastern bloc countries, China, Russia and Cuba, but none of those things ever seem to come up before us on such a regular basis. My view is that there is an obsession with this issue in these Houses. I do not know if that is reflected in the community. It is certainly not reflected in the community in which I live. I am proud to come from a town that has possibly the only Holocaust memorial outside Dublin or the east of the country. It was opened many years ago by a predecessor of the Chairman, former Deputy Mervyn Taylor, who was Minister at the time. I chaired the Seanad last week in the absence of the Cathaoirleach and the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I listened to two speakers challenging and attacking the Israeli position on certain issues. As I was in the Chair, my hands were tied and I was unable to contribute. On the same day, however, it was announced that a sizeable number of Israeli citizens had been massacred.

It was weird and surreal to listen to that.

I refer to what I call the obsession with Israel or being anti-Israel in these Houses. To the witnesses' knowledge, is that replicated in other parliaments around Europe and across the western world in general? Is there such a movement elsewhere? If so or if not, what is the reason for that? Why are we an outlier in this? It would appear that anything Israel does that is in any way contentious will be highlighted but things which are done to the Israeli community and public seem to be ignored. I had the great pleasure of listening to Mr. Haddad when he came here. I am delighted to see him again on the screen. He made a compelling case and anyone who went to see him was very impressed. We need more of that. The Chairman will join me in welcoming, in prospect at any rate, the establishment of an Ireland-Israel parliamentary friendship group, which is being headed up by Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I would encourage members to get involved in that. I am slightly disappointed at some of the more vocal members of the Dáil and Seanad, not necessarily members of the committee, have chosen not to be here today when there are people who are very competent to give them the answers that I cannot give.

I am grateful to be here, and those are my few words. I would like to see balance in this debate in Ireland. We are an outlier on this and it has become politicised and associated with a particular type of political campaign. I am not sure how sincere a lot of the pro-Palestinian people are. Are they concerned about the Palestinians or is it a movement which helps them get together, organise politically and get a profile? Some of these things are fronts in many ways. I am not saying all the pro-Palestinian groups are fronts by any manner or means, but there is an overlap in political behaviour there that I find objectionable.