Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The events in Jenin refugee camp were an appalling reminder to the world of the brutal nature of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. When the bullets had been spent and the debris settled, there were 12 Palestinians, including children, and one Israeli soldier dead. While this vicious attack on a heavily populated tiny area, with 14,000 people living there, was reported across the world, it reminded us all of the conditions that Palestinians have lived in every day, every month and every year for generations.

Israel has also literally made refugees out of refugees. I am proud that Ireland is amongst the strongest supporters of the Palestinian people but we can go much further. We can and must lead. Whilst words are important, action is what is needed. Ireland should not wait for consensus within the EU. We should call the Israeli actions for what they are - war crimes.

Palestinians are locked in their local areas. If they wish to travel to other areas of the occupied territories they must face the scrutiny, degradation and humiliation of presenting themselves at Israeli checkpoints. Because of these checkpoints, the people are mainly confined to their own areas of residence.

Those who wish to travel abroad are also at the whim of the occupying power - an apartheid state. It was only in January of this year that the state of Israel banned the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, from leaving the occupied West Bank. The occupying power revoked Dr. al-Maliki's travel permit because Palestinians had the temerity to stand up for themselves and ask the UN to give its opinion on the Israeli occupation.

The Israeli regime is brutal and acts with immunity. It violates UN resolutions on a constant basis. It imprisons without charge. It raids and kills with impunity. We, in Ireland, remember the terrible impact of internment, how it ripped the innocents from their families and imprisoned them. It is a despicable practice that Israel continues to implement. Currently, there are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons with 1,000 being held without charge. Perhaps the most despicable measure of this occupation is that there are 160 children currently languishing in Israeli prisons.

There is a litany of oppression. There is a history of violence. There is a history of plantation on the occupied lands.

We remember journalist Ms Shireen Abu Akleh deliberately murdered last May be an Israeli sniper. We remember at least 160 Palestinians killed so far this year by the occupying power. The situation continues to go and the longer it does, the further we move from the prospect of a two-nation solution.

The Government must take a stance against this brutality. There are things that we could do and should do now. First, we must progress the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. I call on the Government to stop being cowards, take a leadership position immediately, respect the mandate from the Dáil and Seanad, and recognise the state of Palestine.

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