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

The Government is trying to deliberately mislead the public and this House about its shameful failure to discharge its responsibilities under the genocide convention. On 22 November, People Before Profit tabled a motion in the Dáil through which we appealed to the Government to discharge its responsibilities under the convention, which I remind the Government are not about holding Israel accountable after the fact of a genocide, but about obliging us as signatories to prevent the commission of a genocide that is ongoing. The Government voted our resolution down. That is the truth. Shockingly, when I raised the matter the week before – it was the first time it was raised in the Dáil – the Government did not know the difference between the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice and gave excuses that related to the ICC but did not in any sense acknowledge the Government’s responsibilities under the genocide convention.

At that point, 11,000 people had been murdered by Israel. There are now 25,000. That is 14,000 more people dead. There were 1 million people displaced at the time. There are now 2 million displaced. Some 75% of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed. Israel is levelling Gaza in front of the world. It is ticking every box under the genocide convention for the commission of genocide. Every single government, including our own, that signed the genocide convention and has failed to act to stop this genocide, initiate proceedings and impose sanctions against Israel for the commission of genocide should hang its head in shame. It is outrageous. What good will a case be in two years’ time when the genocide is happening now?

The Government's motion continues with the attempts to partially justify Israel's actions. It refers to hostages that are held in Gaza by Hamas. It does not mention the thousands of Palestinians held hostage by Israel, many of whom were rounded up in the past three months and thousands more of whom were held hostage in the system of administrative detention long before that. There is no word about them being released or about the three Irish citizens, at least that I know of, including Zak Hania, being held hostage in Gaza by Israel. What is the Government doing about those people? There is no reference to them or to the dozens of families who are based here or who are citizens here and who are trying to get their loved ones out. Israel is holding them hostage as well. What is the Government doing about this? The answer is nothing.

Turning to the ICJ, the Government is still talking about only possibly supporting the South African action and using all sorts of excuses to justify its failure. What has Germany done? It has made a public statement to the effect that it is backing Israel. The United States has done the same, as has the UK. Ireland has not stated that it supports South Africa's call for these measures and that it commits to playing its part, including in the context of a requirement to take unilateral measures under the convention to sanction a state and prevent it from committing genocide.

Thousands of people will be outside the Dáil tomorrow night before the Government is forced to vote again on this issue. I encourage the public to take part in that protest, the purpose of which is to force the Government to discharge its responsibility to stop genocide.

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