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

We should have long ago recognised the Palestinian state. We might not be in this horrific situation had the world acted sooner on the crimes of Israel against the Palestinian people. Let us be clear. In the face of the genocidal assault and massacre taking place in Gaza, belated state recognition will not stop the horror. Recognition is welcome but it is not going to stop the horror. The question the students in Trinity College are asking is the same one Palestinians and others are asking. I handed letters to the Taoiseach yesterday from medical workers and Mothers Against Genocide. Palestinians are asking for sanctions to prevent the commission of further massacres and genocide by the apartheid state of Israel. Another question for the Tánaiste is about what Palestinian state we are recognising. Should that recognition not accompany the derecognition of the apartheid State of Israel, which is built on the ethnic cleansing and apartheid system inflicted on the people of Palestine?

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