Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The only thing that brings about peace is a political settlement - a settlement that means people can coexist regardless of their creed. That coexistence cannot exist under a system of oppression and occupation. In fact, it is an affront to the concept.

Nobody wants to see anybody die, regardless of whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Christian or of no religion at all, but decades of brutal oppression and of the international community overlooking Israeli impunity and apartheid have led us to this situation. What does it take to conclude that Israel is not a normal state? Its very existence sees it exist in perpetual conflict that inflicts further barbarity on the Palestinian people.

Over the past ten days, Israel has murdered 4,000 people in the Gaza Strip, including 1,000 children. As legislators and members of the public, we can send our solidarity to the Palestinian people, call an end to the siege, expel the Israeli ambassador, which other countries have done, and call out the crimes of the Israeli state.

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