Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Next month's 50th anniversary of the occupation of the Golan Heights, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula will be a massive political issue. We should be calling for an end to arbitrary arrests by the Israeli authorities. In most cases, it is utterly illegal for people to be held without trial. Military raids on homes, dozens of which take place routinely, need to be brought to an end. I commend the Israeli Medical Association - the doctors' trade union - for refusing to take part in the force-feeding of hunger strikers. This made it difficult for the Israeli Government to implement force-feeding as a threat. I support utterly the demands of prisoners for access to education, communication and family visits. We need to end the occupation and the military courts that are in place in the Occupied Territories. All political prisoners should be released. The Government's position should be to support those basic demands loudly and clearly.

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