John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Israel can only be described as a rogue state. It presides over an apartheid system and imposes punitive collective punishment on the entire Palestinian population for simply standing up for their rights. Yesterday's murder of 60 civilians and the injuring of 2,771 others should not come as a shock nor even as a surprise to anyone in this Chamber or in the international community. Israel has been carrying out the systematic genocide of the Palestinian people since the foundation of the Zionist project, namely, Israel. Israel simply does not want peace. It certainly does not want a two-state solution. The only policy that seems to drive Israel is the ethnic cleansing of the entire Palestinian population.

Let us take a brief look at Israel's track record. More than 400 Palestinian children are currently held in Israeli prisons. Nearly 800 Palestinians are currently jailed by Israel without trial. The Israelis are expanding and increasing illegal settlements. A total of 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel is responsible for the systematic destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages and the demolition of tens of thousands of Palestinian homes. Forged Irish passports were used in the killing of a Hamas official in Dubai in 2010. Israel has bombed Syria, a sovereign nation, more than 100 times in the past five years. It is estimated that Israel has 400 illegal nuclear weapons, which is the third largest nuclear stockpile in the world. Does that look or sound like a normal country, one that wants a peaceful coexistence with the Palestinian people?

Israel simply does not give a damn about the words of the Irish Government or any other government or body. More UN resolutions have been passed on Israel's continued human rights abuses and conscious breaches of international law than any other country in the world. The only language Israel understands is the language of direct action. One cannot negotiate with someone who does not want to negotiate or see the need for it. The international community needs to force Israel to sit at the negotiation table with the Palestinian people. We can send Israel a clear message by sending its ambassador packing and by supporting the boycott of Israel, something that helped break the back of the apartheid regime in South Africa. If we do anything short of that, Ireland and the EU are complicit in enabling the continuous Israeli violation of Palestinian rights. It is up to the Minister and the Government now to stand with the oppressed and not with the oppressor, which is Israel. The Government should take a stand and stand up for the Palestinian people.

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