Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I first thank the Ceann Comhairle for his words of leadership in this matter, which I wholeheartedly endorse. Last Wednesday, with the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, I announced that Ireland, alongside our partners in Spain and Norway, was recognising the State of Palestine.

Today, the Government gave formal effect to that decision, and now Ireland has formally recognised the State of Palestine. Colleagues in Madrid and Oslo have also taken the same step. This decision fulfils our commitment in the programme for Government to doing so when the time was right. We have said many times that our goal was to offer recognition as part of a process that could lead to peace on the basis of a two-state solution. As the House knows, unfortunately, three decades on from the Oslo process, we are perhaps further than ever from a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace settlement, one that can bring peace and security to the people of Palestine, the people of Israel and the people of the wider region. In these circumstances, it would not have been right to withhold our recognition when we were convinced it was the right thing to do. It was not unreasonable to ask, if not now, then when?

Today is an historic day but it takes place in the most sombre of circumstances as we witness an humanitarian catastrophe continuing to unfold in Gaza and Rafah. We see children starving, we see children going to bed not knowing whether they will wake up and we see that new despicable trend where every now and again, an event of particular horror takes place and the Israeli Prime Minister then apologises for the “tragic mistake". As I said, April’s tragic mistake was the bombing of aid workers providing food to starving Gazans. May’s tragic mistake was the bombing of displaced children, parents and families who had fled to a designated safe zone in truly apocalyptic scenes. What will June’s “tragic mistake” be and, more important, what are we all in this world going to do to stop it?

As I have consistently said, there is an onus on every country and on the European Union to use every lever at our disposal to bring about a ceasefire. It is no longer enough just to condemn or be repulsed. That is why I welcome the decision of the Belgian Presidency to convene a meeting on the EU-Israel association agreement. The human rights clauses in the agreement are and must be meaningful and when they are not being adhered to, that must have consequences. We need to look at all the levers at our disposal to bring about a cessation of violence before Netanyahu’s next tragic mistake. Formal recognition of the State of Palestine here today is an act of powerful political and symbolic value and I hope it sends the Palestinian people a message of hope that in this, their darkest hour, Ireland stands with them. It is an expression of our view that Palestine holds and should be able to vindicate the full rights of a state, including self-determination, self-governance, territorial integrity and security, as well as recognising Palestine’s own obligations under international law.

Generations of Palestinians have endured occupation, dehumanisation and humiliation. In today’s West Bank, an extreme form of Zionism fuels settler violence and the appropriation of land, illegal actions that largely go unchecked. In Gaza, since last October, we have seen tens of thousand die, many of them children, and many more suffering life-changing injuries. We have seen schools, hospitals, cultural institutions and religious buildings reduced to rubble, vital civilian infrastructure destroyed and millions turned onto the road, dislocated from place to place in search of safety. The very least we can do is let them know their suffering is not going unnoticed and that it will be acted on.

Last week, I said recognition is a message to those in Palestine who advocate and work for a future of peace and democracy that we fully respect their aspirations to be living freely in their own country, in control of their own affairs, under their own leadership. I said that, moving in lockstep with our European colleagues, we sought to be bearers of hope. We wanted to reaffirm our belief that peace is possible, that justice is achievable and that recognition of both states, Palestine and Israel, is the only cornerstone on which that peace must be built. We cannot have a two-state solution without two states. We have long recognised the State of Israel and its right to exist in peace and security within internationally agreed borders. Today we say we equally recognise the State of Palestine and its right to exist within internationally agreed borders. When I spoke to President Abbas last Wednesday, he thanked Ireland, Spain and Norway for our leadership in recognising the State of Palestine and praised our decision as a beacon of hope to the Palestinian people, but our historic decision is not just about hope and symbolism, notwithstanding their importance.

For me, recognition also serves three fundamental purposes. First, it is our view it is time Palestine took its place among the free nations of the world, that it could pursue self-determination, self-governance, fulfil its obligations and avail of its rights under the UN Charter, and that it might have territorial integrity and sovereignty. Second, it expresses our belief that Israelis and Palestinians alike have an equal right to self-determination, safety, security and dignity, and that no child, no matter his or her nation, is worth any less than another. Third, it cements our fundamental conviction that the only just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian generations-long conflict is a two-state solution. Ireland, Spain and Norway are not alone in recognising Palestine; three quarters of UN member states already do. The two-state solution is not a new idea; it has long been endorsed by the vast majority of nations, including through several UN Security Council resolutions. Palestine has long been seeking to take its rightful place among the free nations of the world and has already joined international organisations such as UNESCO and the International Criminal Court. The free countries of the world agree, and 143 of them voted earlier this month in the General Assembly for full UN membership for Palestine.

The ever-increasing number of illegal settlements and displacements of Palestinians has left the viability of a Palestinian state hanging by a thread. If countries do not now take this formal step now to recognise Palestine, I fear there may not be an opportunity in the future. Now is the time to act. The 1967 borders have slowly been eaten away, and this cannot continue. Recognition says to young Palestinian people growing up in Gaza and the West Bank, or in refugee camps around the region, that there is a viable political path to achieve their dream of a Palestinian state, and that there are people of goodwill in Ireland and elsewhere who will stand with them and work with them shoulder to shoulder to get there. We want to encourage and reward those who want to walk the political path, however difficult the journey. We on this island know how vital that support can be.

The current Government of Israel, the most right-wing in its history, has said it will never accept a Palestinian state. The Israeli Government has been strongly critical of our decision. It has wrongly sought to portray it as a reward for terrorism and a boost for Hamas. This could not be further from the truth. We have been clear, time and again, that we utterly reject Hamas and all it stands for. As I said last week, Hamas can bring nothing but pain and suffering to the people of Israel and the people of Palestine. I am disappointed by how Israel has decided to conduct its interactions with the ambassadors of Ireland, Norway and Spain following our decision. Mutual diplomatic respect is something we should always aim to uphold. I want, on the record of the Dáil, to praise the ambassador, Sonya McGuinness, and her colleagues for the dignity and professionalism with which they conducted themselves and to thank her for the way in which she conducted herself in representing the views of Ireland and the Irish people. Lines of communications must be kept open if we are to be able to explain and understand decisions. That is why I welcomed the recent opportunity to speak directly to President Herzog.

Pursuing a peace based on shared fundamental values, as enshrined in the UN Charter, is the ultimate way in which we will defeat Hamas, evil terrorist ideology and those that share their way of thinking. Let me be crystal clear once again: Ireland unreservedly condemns the despicable actions of Hamas on 7 October. We cannot begin to understand the immense pain and suffering of those held hostage and the families who desperately wish to see them returned to their loving arms but recognising Palestine does no harm to Israel. We wish nothing for the people of Israel but security, peace and friendship and that is what we wish for the people of Palestine too. We are obliged to speak up when we think others are taking the wrong path. We have long called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and urgent and unhindered access to Gaza for humanitarian aid. On Friday, the International Court of Justice said Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. The situation could not be more grave. The stakes could not be any higher. The ICJ’s orders are legally binding. Israel must immediately comply.

We are not naive. We know recognition of Palestine alone will not resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine, but it can make a real and meaningful contribution. We must be on the right side of history.

It is a single step in a long and difficult path, a path Ireland is ready to walk with the people of Palestine, towards a future where there are two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security together.

We want to see Israel and Palestine both take their rightful place on the world stage as equals. We want Israelis and Palestinians to know that there can be an end to this conflict, that peace is possible. We know that most Israeli people and Palestinian people want their children to be able to live in peace and security. For all of this to happen, the fighting, the killing and the barbaric actions need to stop.

I wish to conclude be reiterating my statement from last week to the people of Palestine in the West Bank, in Gaza, in refugee camps, in Ireland, those who have joined us in the Dáil today, and around the world. We here in Ireland see you, we recognise you, we respect you and today, Ireland formally recognises the State of Palestine.

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