Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The murder of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military must be condemned in the strongest terms and called out for what it is, namely, cold-blooded murder. Her murder was barbaric and there are no other words for it. She was present at a raid by Israeli forces at a Palestinian refugee camp wearing a clearly visible blue flak jacket that identified her as a journalist when she was brutally murdered. She was shot in the face and another journalist was shot in the back. Israeli forces claim they came under attack but journalists who were present have said this is categorically not true. The whole world knows this and that Israeli forces were shooting journalists to kill.

The scenes at her funeral were outrageous and disgusting and should never have been allowed to happen. Israeli forces are so brazen that they attacked the pall-bearers at the funeral, in full view of the world, in the full knowledge they would never be held to account for this act or any other act of violence against Palestinian people. Their blatant lies about the circumstances of her death and the attacks at her funeral were reminiscent of how the RUC treated republicans in the North. We have left that behind us, thankfully, but this barbarism continues in Palestine in 2022. The Israeli state carried out this murder as part of its ongoing efforts to eradicate all reporting of its human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. We all know about its propaganda machine. Truly, it is something else. Preventing reporting of its actions in Palestine is part of this, even if it means cold-blooded murder. Civilised nations should never accept this.

The question needs to be asked why world leaders turn a blind eye. It is because Israel is bankrolled and supported by the United States. The Irish Government should use our position on the UN Security Council and our position in the EU to demand that the international community take action to bring an end to the outrageous human rights abuses Israel continues to perpetrate against the Palestinian people. As my colleagues have said, what happened to Shireen Abu Akleh needs to be investigated by the International Criminal Court as a potential war crime. What is the point of our seat on the UN Security Council if we are not going to speak up and request that real action be taken this time and hold states such as Israel to account? The policy of forced displacement of Palestinians continues to this day. Israel’s disregard for international law continues and the rest of the world gives it a free hand to do so. It is time world leaders and the international community took action against Israel and its terrorist acts.

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