Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be as brief as I can, but I note that this is not a satisfactory way to do business. I asked a number of questions of the Taoiseach about Gaza and the onslaught there and he did not answer one of them in his response. We all know that more than 2,000 people were killed by the Israeli Defence Forces, including more than 500 children, and that the Israeli Government is in breach of international law, humanitarian law and criminal law. The question is what the people of Palestine are to do. If the international community stands back and does not uphold the rights of citizens there, the Israeli Government will continue to do what it is doing.

The Taoiseach said in his remarks that the international community must be focused on this, but our Government is not focused on it. Our Government, this State and the island of Ireland could be leaders in conflict resolution and the promotion of human rights globally, but we are not. We have the shameful decision by the Government to abstain on a UN vote calling for an investigation into war crimes during the slad on Gaza. It is beyond comprehension that we abstained on that issue. Similarly, while the Government recognises the mission of the State of Palestine in Ireland, it does not provide it with the same privileges, immunities, exemptions and facilities granted to other diplomatic missions in Dublin pursuant to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In response to a question I asked, I was told that a formal recognition of the Palestinian state and the establishment of formal diplomatic relations should take place in the context of a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

That is not good enough. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that we become champions of peace in the Middle East, that we stand up for the rights of the people of Israel, particularly those who are the victims, and for the rights of the people of Palestine. He can do that by affording full diplomatic status to the Palestinian mission in Ireland and raising all those issues in a consistent and ongoing way.

I note the response to what is happening in Ukraine is markedly different from what is happening in the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the onslaught upon the people of the Palestinian territories.

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