Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to begin by condemning the violence in Palestine and Israel. I have stood in the West Bank and in places like Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. I have crossed the border at Kulandia and gone through the checkpoint alone in the darkness of night.

I stood in Hebron during Passover when hundreds of heavily armed Israeli soldiers burst out from a military zone into a Palestinian town. I watched helplessly as those Israeli soldiers banged on the doors of Palestinian homes, gained entry into people's houses and illegal access onto the roof in order that their snipers could, from afar, police what was going on below. And why? To watch over a religious tour to a holy site in a Palestinian town. We estimated there were eight Israeli soldiers for every one of those tourists.

I recall standing on a side street in Hebron under a caged roof that was burned through in places by acid thrown down from the settlement. I remember standing there and counting seven snipers who were aimed at me and my cousin, who worked for a NGO in Palestine. The tension, fear and intimidation is something I will never forget.

The difference between those Israeli soldiers and soldiers I have come across elsewhere in the world is that I knew instinctively they were not there to protect me or the people around me.

They were there to protect a certain faction of society and to hell with who got caught in the crossfire. It is easy to get caught up in the legalities, the legislation and the big news stories about what is going on right now, but this is what is happening in Palestine and, in fact, it is a million times worse in Gaza. People are living in fear and hopelessness and that is absolutely wrong.

There are no simple answers. If there were, they would have been found by now. However, that does mean we can give up. We must continue to use our position to find a path to a peace process and a credible solution. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been very clear that much of what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories is against international law. Expanding settlements is illegal. Demolishing the homes of Bedouins is illegal. Forced evictions in East Jerusalem are illegal. All of these actions have contributed to rising tensions in an already tense region. It is up to us and countries like us to stand up for the people who are caught in the crossfire. We must use our platform on the UN Security Council to find a path to lasting peace and put an end to people dying needlessly every day, children dying because of a war that has been going on since before they were born, families being torn apart and communities being destroyed.

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