Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an Teachta as an cheist phráinneach agus tábhachtach seo a ardú. Níl an tuarascáil léite agam ach tá a fhios agam faoin idirdheighilt sin agus na deacrachtaí atá ag na Palaistínigh, go háirithe ag teacht ó pholasaithe an rialtais atá ann faoi láthair.

I fully acknowledge that there are serious issues in how Israel treats Palestinians and how it is dealing with the Palestinian question and, in my view, the right of the Palestinians to their homeland and their own state. It is depressing that this litany of measures continues each year. I believe it was 2009 when I visited Gaza after one terrible conflict. Not much has changed in terms of segregation and the routes Palestinians have to take in the occupied territories as opposed to others. What is happening in East Jerusalem is not satisfactory by any yardstick. It is injustice after injustice. There is a better way of doing this. We have appealed to the Israeli Government to work towards a two-state solution. The Minister for Foreign Affairs was in Israel between 1 and 5 November and he set out our continued support for the two-state solution.

We have raised this at the UN Security Council. Indeed, the Secretary-General of the UN last year thanked me for Ireland's constructive contribution on this issue at the Security Council and for raising it consistently. We want to get a settlement and a resolution of these issues. The settlements and the demolitions are unacceptable, as is the way people are treated. In addition, civil society must be respected and supported. Ireland has supported various civil society organisations that raise human rights and we believe Israel should facilitate their unfettered access to people. They should also be allowed to continue their work in an uninhibited way on human rights within Palestine.

Is that report the Amnesty International report?

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