Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé i gceist agam mo chuid ama a roinnt. Is dócha go bhfuil an cúig nóiméad agam. Gabhaim buíochas.

I welcome the opportunity to take part in the post-European Council debate and contribution to the Dáil. I was listening to the Taoiseach's speech today and I have it here in front of me. He said:

Tá cúrsaí dofhulaingthe agus is scannal don domhan é. Leanfaidh Éire ag obair ar son sos cogaidh láithreach.

This situation is intolerable and a scandal to the world and Ireland will continue to work for an immediate ceasefire. I totally agree with the Taoiseach that it is a scandal to the world. It is even more of a scandal to us because we are not one of the big boys. I will repeat again, over and over, that we are an independent sovereign State and a Republic and we should now make our rhetoric mean something.

For the record, a Cheann Comhairle, I would not tolerate anti-Semitism on any level or be in anybody's company in that respect. It is a false argument to put that up because criticising the Israeli Government, its army and what it is doing is utterly and completely different to being anti-Semitic. What is happening now is absolutely shocking. The Government backbenchers have stood up and I have to admire them except what they said amounts to rhetoric really when they are part of a Government that is not following through. One cannot have it every way with the level of death and destruction in Gaza. It is now different and appears different from the sky if one reads the genocide submission. The destruction means that there is no country for the Palestinians to go back to and so when we talk about a two state solution, where is the state? Can we not stand up as a small country and as a proud Republic to tell Israel that this is simply wrong, shocking, and in my opinion is genocide? I will await, however, the outcome of the court in that regard.

The figures, however, speak for themselves. I have mentioned it three times already but one needs to look at the figures. I have cited the submission and given the pages and we take our quotations from the President of Israel, the Prime Minister of Israel, from Israel's various army officials, and so on, and from its members of parliament. There is no room for greyness or for anything here. They are telling us clearly what they are doing.

Deputy Whitmore mentioned stepping outside of the Dáil last week, as other TDs have done, to list the names of the people. I went out to do that thinking it would be easy. It is far from easy and I have not suffered. I am reading out the names of people who have died, of babies one, two, and three years of age, and I would appeal to anyone, including the Ceann Comhairle, to actually try that and not to cry. These babies are aged two, aged one, aois a cúig, aois a sé, and it does not take a very brave army to kill children like that.

At some stage this small Dáil in this small country should come together and tell Israel - who we regard as a friend and where we have not thrown out the Israeli ambassador - that it cannot do this and that this is utterly wrong. We call it genocide and Israel can call it what it likes but it is totally wrong and we will not tolerate it.

The whole point of the Genocide Convention was to ensure that what happened to the Jewish population, as well as to other people, would never happen again. It is happening in front of our eyes. It is being verbalised in front of our eyes and still we stand here.

We come to the European leaders coming together and talking about increasing the European community and looking at tightening up the borders, and so on. To me that is utter madness at the moment when we are facing the existential threats we have now. Then we have the duplicity and the hypocrisy of our attitude on Ukraine. We have no problem using condemnatory language over and over again. Last night, I watched the questions and I participated in them and I did so again this morning. There was absolutely no hesitation in condemning what Russia has done, in bringing in sanctions and in giving any amount of money, and yet when it comes to the people of Palestine, the Government stands up here and says that it is giving money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, and that we have given money here and there, while the country is being destroyed. We are allowing that to happen, a Cheann Comhairle.

What do we do with her friends, the US? We allow them to back Israel to the hilt with weapons, money and with support. Germany is doing the same thing as is England. Are we going to tolerate that? Are we going to stand idly by as those three countries support Israel in its genocide and in its destruction of a country? The more I read and try to understand, I realise that the Palestinian people never had a chance with the big boys when they carved up and gave a nation to Israel, and let the Palestinians, 750,000 of them, leave with not a chance of coming back. They never had a chance. Do you know what impresses me? "Impress" is the wrong word here but they are still fighting and still there. The very least they deserve from us is our support in a unified fashion.

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