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

"Trump is a pig" ran the banner at the Roger Waters gig last night in the 3Arena. The audience at the gig erupted in applause and cheering when it saw the words emblazoned behind Roger Waters. The visual imagery conveyed the horror of Trump's racist, anti-migrant policies, his plans for walls and his incarceration of children. It was then followed by another banner that highlighted the rise of the far right across Europe, naming Orban in Hungary, Kurz in Austria, Le Pen in France, Farage in the UK and the Lega in Italy. One can go through the frightening list of racist and, in some cases, openly fascist forces. Deputy Paul Murphy is absolutely right to point to the fact, as Roger Waters did at the concert last night, that the horror of Trump is being echoed in the growth of terrifying far-right and racist forces across Europe. This is impacting on the policies of the European Union in the creation of its own version of the racist wall and the vast expansion of fortress Europe, the budget of which will be multiplied by five between 2021 and 2027.

The previous budget for frontier officers, which was €4 billion for the previous five years is now going up to €25 billion. There will be more officers to keep desperate migrants coming from North Africa, Syria and elsewhere out of Europe with the consequence that 35,000 men, women and children, including babies, have drowned in the Mediterranean because Europe, while often condemning Trump, rightly, is doing the same thing. It is hatching agreements with authoritarian, brutal, despotic regimes in Libya and across the Middle East, co-operating with regimes such as the one in Egypt and so on, which are involved in vile policies that are creating the refugee crisis that is leading thousands of people in desperation to try to enter Europe from where they are repelled. It worries me that in the Taoiseach’s references to the discussions about what is to be discussed, he used the slightly sanitised language about the need for investment in maintaining Europe's external borders. That is sanitised language for fortress Europe and for all those people who are drowning and for those rotten cynical deals with regimes such as that in Libya and others, which are treating human beings coming through their countries seeking asylum and sanctuary like animals and slaves. They are abusing them, which is leading to the deaths of many.

The other theme highlighted by the Roger Waters concert, which is also relevant to the coming conference, was the plight of the Palestinian people and their treatment at the hands of Israel. Waters has taken the very commendable stance of refusing to go to or to have concerts in Israel and has joined the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel because of its horrific treatment of the Palestinians. The latest instance of this crisis, because of what Trump has done, is that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, budget is about to collapse so there may be no schools in Gaza and 5 million Palestinians who depend on that budget are now in serious trouble. Save the Children has stated Gaza is now uninhabitable for many children.

I warned the Taoiseach before the great return march took place that Palestinians would be killed, as more than 100 of them were. I appealed to the Taoiseach to speak to his European colleagues about what Israel was planning to do. Let me again warn him: on Tuesday, 3 July, women in Gaza will be marching demanding an end to the siege which is strangling their habitation and destroying the lives of their children. They will be marching to demand the right to return, the right to justice and an end to the siege. I hope we do not see another unleashing of ferocious attacks by Israel on women who will march next Tuesday but I appeal to the Taoiseach once again to raise the plight of the Palestinians and demand from his European counterparts that Europe does something instead of mouthing words of concern to alleviate the suffering and plight of the Palestinians.

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