Dáil debates

Thursday, 25 January 2024

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Middle East

9:50 am

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

I hold Israel responsible for the violence we have seen. That is my view. From 1948 onward. It is not just me who is saying that. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and every decent Israeli historian, including Ilan Pappé - we could go through the list - acknowledges this. You can go through the list, about decades of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, illegal occupation, apartheid, illegal settlements and a 16-year siege of Gaza. Inevitably, that produces violence. Now we are seeing the absolutely genocidal logic of the apartheid state, and the Irish Government stands by and does nothing. Whatever the Tánaiste may think about who is to blame, what is clear is that there is a genocide happening. It was clear in November when he was asked about the matter. He has obligations. He is still dancing around the obligation on states to act, including unilaterally, to prevent genocide. In two years’ time, it will be too late for the Palestinian people.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.