Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree, particularly regarding the EU-Israel aviation agreement. We should not be party to such an agreement, as it rewards Israel despite that country's continual flouting of international law and its ongoing blockade of Gaza. In 2001, the Israelis destroyed Yasser Arafat International Airport in Gaza. Run by the Palestinian Authority, it was opened in 1998, then bombed by the Israeli army. Ironically, it was built with funding from EU member states and others to the tune of $86 million.

In this context, it is extraordinary that the Government would ask the Dáil to approve such an agreement on the nod and without debate. Let me state clearly that I do not believe that the Dáil or the State on behalf of our people should in any circumstance support such an agreement and give a pass to Israel and its brazenly illegal maltreatment of Gaza and Palestinians. To ask us to do so without debate is extraordinary.

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