Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When will the west wake up and realise that Israel is an apartheid state and has to be treated as such? How much more Palestinian land will be colonised? How much longer can international law continue to be violated and how many more Palestinians will be murdered?

I recognise that the Government is a strong supporter of Palestinian people, but it is time we did far more. It is time we took the same kind of steps we did during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. We need to progress the occupied territories Bill, put forward by my colleague Deputy John Brady. We need to cease delaying this Bill, which would require the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to divest from companies conducting business in the occupied territories.

The Israelis are determined to wipe Palestinians from their ancestral lands, erase the memory of this proud people and supplant them with their own settler colonists. Well, we have news for the Israeli security state. I can do no better than quote the words of the late, great Palestinian American author Edward Said, who said, "There is no getting away from the fact that, as an idea, a memory, and as an often buried or invisible reality, Palestine and its people have simply not disappeared.” Nor will they disappear despite the constant attacks and atrocities. They will struggle on until the day comes when Palestine gets to celebrate its independence. I look forward to that day.

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