Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Táim ag díriú isteach ar mhuintir na Palaistíne agus go háirithe ar na daoine atá ina gcónaí ar an mBruach Thiar agus iad faoi ionradh ó arm Iosrael - ionradh fuilteach, mídhleathach atá ar siúl gan aon rud á rá againn in ainneoin gur tír neodrach muid agus go bhfuil ainm againn go bhfuilimid ar thaobh na ndaoine atá thíos. Tá, ar a laghad, deichniúr maraithe agus 100 duine gortaithe go dona, agus an figiúr ag ardú an t-am ar fad. Is í mo cheist don Taoiseach ná cad atá le rá aige. Níos tábhachtaí fós, cad atá le déanamh aige ar ár son mar thír a chuireann béim ar chúrsaí síochána agus a bhfuil sé de mhuinín againn a rá go bhfuil sé seo ag sárú an dlí idirnáisiúnta?

I am looking at what is happening on the West Bank. As the Taoiseach knows, there is an illegal war and an illegal attack has been launched by Israel. There are ten dead so far this week. At least 100 have been injured, 20 seriously. I am wondering what we are saying about that. We are clearly on the record as saying that Israel's actions are breaching international law, yet we have stood idly by. I have looked over all the comments and press releases from the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. They are strong words indeed, but at the end of the day, they are empty rhetoric. We have expressed concern, we have condemned and we have regretted. We were disturbed by the demolition of a school on 7 May. We are alarmed and so on, and yet the destruction and the illegal war goes on unabated. The people in the West Bank are being attacked on the ground and in the air. This is the culmination of many attacks that we have condemned this year . There is no need to exaggerate, but in the background, almost 1 million - or 750,000 - Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homes. At a minimum, 580 Palestinian villages have been completely wiped off the earth. This year, 133 Palestinians and 24 Israelis have been killed, but in reality the numbers are probably higher. In addition to that, 34 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the Gaza Strip. We stood idly by while Amnesty International produced a report and directed a specific number of recommendations at us and other governments without a response. We stood idly by when it told us that Israel is operating an apartheid regime. Almost two years ago we stood idly when Israel labelled six human rights organisations, two or three of which we fund, as terrorist organisations with absolutely no evidence, which the EU has accepted. We are still standing idly by. What does the Taoiseach have to say about that?

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