Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and put forward several points which I passionately believe need to be discussed broadly in this Chamber and across the international community.

The Bill does not reference Israel or Palestine. However, in the context of illegal occupied territories the case is obviously one of the most high-profile and significant on our globe.

I have seen first-hand the impact that the occupation is having on Palestine as a state and on the quality of life of Palestinians. It is difficult for us to continue to pretend that we are sending out condemnation through the UN and the international community since nothing is being done to advance the cause in terms of promoting the two-state solution. There is no use in making that point if we continue to prevaricate as an international community or if we continue to deny the fact that the Palestinians are living in an open prison. If we continue to deny that, then by the time good minds come together the Palestinian state will no longer exist. Time is of the essence. There is extraordinary pressure on the Palestinian people, including those in the West Bank, which I visited, as well as those in Gaza. Other Members visited Gaza and relayed their testimony. It is incumbent on us to try to keep this very much to the fore. UN resolutions are all very fine, but if we continually allow a state to ignore and flout international law by illegal occupation then the international community does not stand for much in terms of condemnation alone.

I urge people to consider this Bill and look at it. It sends out a message. Although it is from a small nation, it is a powerful message. It is from a country that has a history of major difficulties and political turmoil. We know full well that eventually dialogue and discussion will have to take place. Talking to people on an equal footing is the only way to bring about a lasting peace in the Middle East. I am not naive enough to believe that it is easy to do. This is probably one of the most protracted difficulties and has been with us over many centuries. It has been problematic not only in the context of Israeli versus Arab but Christian versus Arab as well. For many years this has been a fault line between religion, civilisations, ways of life and how we view the world. At this stage as a small nation I believe we owe it to the people of Palestine and other occupied areas to declare that international law must be supported and upheld. Otherwise, we stand for nothing as a parliament, a people or as an international community.

We are aware of proposals on the table from the United States on the Middle East peace process. There have been many initiatives but the initiative most supported - it was put forward by this State initially - is the two-state solution. I am firmly of the belief that if we delay and prevaricate then the two-state solution will cease to be a means to an end. This is because the second state, Palestine, will no longer exist. It is now at a crisis point. Humanitarian issues relating to water, refuse and the breakdown of social order are to the fore. Spitefulness is something that I have seen in terms of the cutting of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and others. The agency was providing educational facilities for Palestinian children. I appeal to the Tánaiste to use his good offices. I know he is a champion of the Palestinian people. I urge him to support this Bill and send out a strong message from a small nation expressing solidarity with a people who are oppressed. The Tánaiste should support this Bill and allow it to frame the discussions across the European Union and elsewhere in the context of the occupied territories.

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