Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We have been the first to say, and have said most loudly, and there is no doubt that the Assad regime is a brutal, callous, murderous, authoritarian regime supported by a very cynical Russia. I have no doubt about the brutalities it has committed and is capable of committing. The idea that US, UK and French missiles and a massive dose of hypocrisy and double standards from those powers will assist in the humanitarian disaster in Syria is stomach-churning. For Government representatives to talk about the attacks being understandable is shocking. Let me refer to the double standards we are talking about. In 2009, Israel rained down chemical weapons, white phosphorous, in the full view of day, on the UN school in Gaza and on densely populated areas. A report was done by Human Rights Watch afterwards called Rain of Fire: Israel's Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza. This was well-documented and proven. The shells were found all around the place. They were chemical weapons. Guess where they were produced? Louisiana in the United States. Were there sanctions? No. Were there expulsions of diplomats? No. Were there threats of military action by these politicians who told us, in the context of bombing Syria, that they could not sleep with the thought of the use of chemical weapons? They were able to sleep very soundly when Israel rained down chemical weapons on the people of Gaza. Incredibly, the Israelis said at the weekend that it was absolutely right to take military action to uphold international law but in the last few weeks, 36 unarmed Palestinians were killed who were marching to assert their rights under international laws to return to their homes as confirmed by UN resolutions. Sanctions? No. Military action? No. Expulsions? No.

This sort of rank hypocrisy is corrosive of politics and is responsible for the mess in the Middle East. There is cynical interference of big powers, whether Russia, Donald Trump, Theresa May or Emmanuel Macron, trying to shore up their collapsing popularity by diverting people's attention with a war abroad and furthering the interests of imperial powers in that region, to gain influence on the back of the suffering of the Syrian people. We have to speak out against this sickening hypocrisy and have nothing to do with this murderous assault by Trump and his gang of allies.

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