Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

A large majority of the people have great sympathy for and are in solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza who are suffering mass unemployment, the malnourishment of children and extreme penury as a result of the blockade by the Israel. If the Taoiseach knows this and says he knows what the situation is in Gaza as a result of his visit, why did he agree to such a gutless communiqué from the EU leaders' summit meeting on the flotilla to Gaza? Why did he agree to the inclusion of a mealy-mouthed sentence that put the onus on those trying to deliver aid to the people of Gaza by calling on them to desist as they would endanger lives? Who endangered lives? Who carried out a massacre the last time people tried to deliver aid to Gaza? Can the Taoiseach understand why Israel is encouraged in its imprisonment of the people of Gaza by this mealy-mouthed sentence from the EU leadership?

See this speech in context