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

I will begin by saying that I wholeheartedly condemn the violent attacks we are currently seeing in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel. Many Irish people feel a particular affinity with the people of Palestine. I certainly feel that strongly. It is truly heartbreaking to hear of the number of innocent people who have died and had their lives destroyed - children who have needlessly lost their lives in this conflict, killed senselessly in a conflict that began many years before they were born. It has been a year of particularly unstable conditions.

Israel has intensified its deadly military raids in West Bank. That has been met with rising numbers of Palestinian armed attacks targeting Israelis. More than 30 Israelis have been killed and at least 160 Palestinians have died as a result of this war in the past seven months alone. What is happening in the West Bank is nothing short of inhumane. Last week we saw what was the single biggest assault in two decades, with Israeli forces using drone strikes to kill and wound so many innocent people in a packed public area, and using armoured diggers to destroy settlements and people's homes. Utter destruction does not begin to describe it. Twelve Palestinians, including four teenagers, and one Israeli soldier were killed during the two-day incursion in the occupied West Bank last week. Israel’s excuse was that the Palestinians who were killed were combatants - teenage and child combatants. One of them was a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Abdul, who was shot in the head outside al-Amal hospital on the second day of the military incursion. He was unarmed and simply killed for no reason. Like so many others, I feel such anger for Abdul and all of the innocent men, women and children who continue to die in this conflict.

I have been to the West Bank. I stood in places like Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. I crossed the border at Qalandia, alone in the darkness of night. I was in Hebron during Passover, and that is a day I will never forget. I have recalled this story before because it really was a profound moment for me. It changed my understanding of the dynamics of the conflict. On that day, hundreds of heavily armed Israeli soldiers burst out of a closed military zone to take temporary control of the Palestinian town I was in. I watched as Israeli soldiers banged on the doors of Palestinian houses and barged their way into the home of people to gain illegal access to their roof. They stayed there, with their snipers in hand. They were doing all of this allegedly to provide armed security to a tour group visiting religious sites on Palestinian territory. We counted eight armed soldiers for every person on that tour. I clearly remember standing on a side street in Hebron, looking up through a caged roof, burnt through in places by acid thrown down from a settlement, and I remember counting eight snipers aiming at us. I will never forget the sheer tension and fear. What was different for me there, in contrast with when I see soldiers anywhere else abroad, was that I knew they were not there to protect me or to keep the peace. They were there only to protect certain people. That was an experience for me, but for people living there, innocent men, women and children, that is everyday life. In fact that was probably good day. Right now it is a million times worse than that. I can only imagine what it must be like in Gaza. People are living in fear and hopelessness. It is wrong and it is illegal. It contravenes international law to expand settlements in the West Bank, to demolish the homes of Bedouins, and to have forced evictions in east Jerusalem and violence in holy sites. These are grave and illegal crimes. Every day those actions contribute to rising tensions and what feels like inevitable bloodshed and deaths. It is up to us and countries like ours to stand up for the people caught in the crossfire and to work with our truly inspiring ambassador from Palestine to Ireland, Her Excellency, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, to put an end to people dying needlessly every day, to families being torn apart, and to communities being destroyed.

We also need to raise our voice in regard to Belarus. Last month I had the absolute honour of meeting with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the United Transition Cabinet of Belarus, who is living in exile in Lithuania. Her husband, Siarhei, is a political prisoner with no access to legal representation. Until last week she had no idea whether her husband was alive or dead. Many of us breathed a sigh of relief when proof of life was provided just a couple of days ago, proof that her husband is still alive and still strong. Sviatlana and her team are doing their utmost, from Lithuania, to represent the people of Belarus. The Lukashenko regime has become a key enabler of Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. It hosted Russian troops, allowed missiles to be fired from its territory, and Putin announced that it would become home to Russian nuclear weapons.

The EU has brought in sanctions against Belarus as well as Russia, but we need to do more if we are to protect the people of Belarus and the people of Ukraine. Our affinity with the people of Palestine must continue to be developed because we are a key ally for them in a David and Goliath scenario, and we should replicate that affinity to countless other countries across the world that are also in turmoil because of dictators or illegal occupations.

Ours is a small island nation, but our diaspora and voice is one of the strongest in the world. When Ireland speaks up, Ireland is heard. That is why we must continue to speak up for the people of Palestine and for people such as Sviatlana, who are doing all they can in the face of a very hostile regime.

See this speech in context