Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The People Before Profit-Solidarity motion is very different from that of the Government or any of the Opposition parties but it is very much in line with the view of the overwhelming majority of Palestinians. What it attempts to convey is the truth about the nature of the Israeli regime, which is not a legitimate actor or a normal state. It is a terrorist state and an apartheid state. It is a state that has been built from its inception, on the day in, day out ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the establishment of an apartheid system, theft of Palestinian land, illegal occupation, denial of the most basic rights to Palestinians, ongoing war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international law.

The war crimes and the barbarism that Israel is now inflicting on Gaza are not the exception in the state of Israel, they are the rule. The only reason Israel can carry on these war crimes, this barbarism and savagery, is the United States and the European Union, including our Government, grant Israel impunity for those crimes and never, ever sanction it. That is the problem. It is very simple: they never sanction it, even though Israel has been accused by every single human rights organisation in the world, with evidence, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations. Then, in front of the world - and we see it now - the veil drops and Israel declares its open intent to commit crimes against humanity and carry them out. There is ethnic cleansing, the 17-year-long siege and the turning off of water, the food supply and electricity, but the world does nothing.

We say expel the Israeli ambassador and impose sanctions on Israel. Frankly, motions in here will not do it, so we need masses out on the streets here and across the world to achieve it.

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