Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the repression of expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. In Germany, we have seen school students who wear the Palestinian scarf threatened with school discipline. In Paris, people can be fined €135 for wearing the scarf; hundreds have been. In Britain, attempts have been made in universities to ban groups that show solidarity with Palestine. These are groups that oppose racism, and that have a long history of campaigning against antisemitism, yet they face bans. The Prime Minister has said that if next Saturday's Palestinian solidarity demonstration were to go ahead it would be provocative and disrespectful. He sees to be attempting to nudge the police into banning that protest, although how the hell they will do that when up to half a million people have been on the streets in London is anyone's guess. Is the Taoiseach is concerned about this attack we see on civil liberties not just in Britain, but in European Union countries as well?

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