Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I attended the two very large demonstrations in Dublin city during the last two Saturdays along with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and many Palestinians who live here. I also have a friend who lives in one of the towns that was under attack for ethnic cleansing by the Zionist militia when the latest phase of ethnic cleansing broke out. I telephoned him to see how he and his Palestinian wife and children were. He said: "It is unbelievable, Bríd. If you could imagine, in your homes in Ballyfermot, marauding gangs that are armed to the teeth, with American, Russian, French and Canadian accents, coming down your street, protected by the police who will allow them to do anything, and running into your homes, throwing your family out and claiming your homes and gardens, that is literally what is going on." That is what ethnic cleansing means. I thought about that a great deal. What in the name of God would we do but scream for international support?

This is a new phase in the battle by the Zionist militias and the Netanyahu Government to make that country a Jewish-only country. When I say that, some will point the finger and say I am an anti-Semite. There is no way that I am an anti-Semite. As a young woman, I spent many months of my life defending the Jewish population against Holocaust denial, which was creeping into this country in the form of the far right. There is no way one can equate an attack on the Zionist pogroms against the Arab people with being anti-Semitic. That is what people tried to do to Jeremy Corbyn and others, but they will not do it now. This is a new phase, and a new phase internationally. We must wake up, smell the coffee, be absolutely 1,000% with the Palestinian people and call for the ultimate sanctions - the ultimate sanction of expulsion of the ambassador, the ultimate sanction of imposing boycott, divestment, sanctions, BDS, on Israel and the ultimate sanction of full solidarity.

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