Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As a nation, we know better than many the despair and waste of pointless brutality and sectarian violence.

As the beneficiary of international support for its own peace process, Ireland has a moral duty to find its voice and to use it to oppose the continuing violence in Israel and Palestine. I reiterate that together with colleagues in government, the Minister must take every opportunity in every forum available, be it at the United Nations, the European Union or other international fora, to continue to highlight the injustice being perpetrated on innocent people in that region, as well as the need to move that peace process forward in a meaningful way. While all Members are committed to the two-state solution, the continuous annexation of lands by the Israelis makes that particular solution even more problematic. To conclude, has the Minister engaged recently with either the Palestinian or Israeli representatives in Ireland regarding the present tensions in that region and in particular, its escalation since September? Is the Minister aware of new initiatives being taken by the international community to try to progress some of the measures contained in previous agreements that would have brought some progress to different aspects of the conflict? Are efforts being made by the international community to advance or to bring into being the aforementioned agreements that were signed some time ago?

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