Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with my two colleagues. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday was a glorious day. US President Donald Trump said it was a great day for Israel. It was a horrific day for Palestinians as the toll of dead and injured rose. Today is the 70th anniversary of the Nakba or "catastrophe", an annual commemoration of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were forced from their land and homes by the Israeli army and become refugees. This year, the Nakba has been marked by a new catastrophe. On Monday, the Israeli army murdered at least 59 Palestinians in Gaza and more than 2,700 were wounded. An eight month old baby died as a result of inhaling gas. There are 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza and many have been protesting for the past seven weeks for the right of return for Palestinian refugees forcibly expelled from their homes in 1948. Since the protests began on 30 March, Israeli forces have killed at least 109 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded approximately 12,000. The brutality and savagery of the Israeli army, which indiscriminately fired live ammunition and gassed protesters, has once again been laid bare for the world to see.

The Government must make a strong and unambiguous statement that there can be no immunity for Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian citizens and continued illegal occupation of Palestine. The Tánaiste stated that he will not expel the Israeli ambassador in protest at the latest killings nor recall our ambassador from Tel Aviv. Nothing will change in Gaza or the West Bank until the international community moves from empty rhetoric and applies real pressure on Israel. Ireland must stop sitting on the sidelines watching in horror. When real, concrete, tangible steps are proposed, the Government fails to show leadership. Sinn Féin supported Senator Frances Black’s Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill in the Seanad in January. It would end Irish economic support for Israeli settlements in the West Bank that we have long condemned as illegal. However, the Government again refused to take any real action on the settlements.

I listened in disbelief to the Israeli ambassador on the RTÉ "Six One" news yesterday. He stated that Israel was doing its best to minimise its fire and there was no link to the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. Some 109 Palestinians are now dead and 12,000 have been injured but the ambassador claimed that Israel is limiting its firepower. We must be clear that they were not clashes yesterday but, rather, a massacre. I was sick to my stomach on watching the television footage. I know that many Irish people share my horror. Thousands of people across this island will take to the streets tonight to protest the massacre and send solidarity to the people of Palestine. During this period of national mourning we could send a strong message of solidarity by acting on the Sinn Féin motion that called for Ireland to recognise the state of Palestine.

7 o’clock

This motion was also unanimously passed by the Dáil. During Leaders' Questions today the Taoiseach repeatedly stated that we cannot recognise Palestine because it does not exist yet. Perhaps he should chat with his Swedish counterpart, as Sweden recognised the state of Palestine more than four years ago. Perhaps he could visit the UN and chat with the leaders of the 135 other countries that recognised Palestine. More than 70% of the countries that are members of the UN recognise the state of Palestine. Ireland's recognition, he said, is dependent on a successful peace process. We know Israel has for decades used the peace process as a convenient cover in an attempt to destroy the two-state solution by massively increasing the building of illegal colonial settlements in Palestine.

The Taoiseach's approach today effectively gives Israel a veto on Ireland's recognition of Palestine. If it is dependent on a successful peace process and if Israel continues to sabotage attempts to create a successful peace process, then using the Taoiseach's logic, Ireland can never recognise Palestine. That is wrong on so many fronts and it must be urgently corrected. In my opinion recognising the state of Palestine would bolster the chance of peace. As long as we continue to hand the Israeli Government impunity to impose apartheid, continue its illegal occupation, and violate international law it will never make the necessary compromises to create a just and lasting settlement in the region.

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