Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have listened to commentators in recent days talk about the significance of the recognition of Palestine in the Dáil. Some say this is merely symbolism and that symbolism does not matter. If people doubt the power of symbolism, I encourage them to listen to the words of the Palestinian national team player Charlotte Phillips, who lined out against the Bohemian women's team on 15 May in Dalymount. She spoke after the game with her grandparents by her side. She said, "They thought they could get rid of us and they cannot - this is proof of our existence." While we rightly mark this occasion, I cannot get the images from Rafah out of my mind - children massacred and maimed, families destroyed and people burned alive. The sheer brutality of the actions of Israel must have consequences. We can and must do more. We must do it and do it now. We hear Government spokespersons tell us we have to wait for the European Union; we did not wait in 1984. Mary Manning did not wait in 1984. She showed leadership. We need to show that leadership now. There is no hiding place any more. We can see it on our phones and it is in our living rooms. Even those who were not aware of what was happening in Palestine cannot be unaware now. We have to do more than symbolism, although symbolism is important.

In the few moments I have, I want to pay tribute to the men and women of the trade union Friends of Palestine and the work they have done. Long before we had social media to bring us our news, we had the trade union Friends of Palestine bringing the message of the Palestinian struggle to union conferences, training sessions and directly onto the shop floor. People like my friend, Mags O'Brien, a tireless campaigner and activist never missed an opportunity to remind us to keep the people of Palestine in our thoughts and actions. For Mags and all the campaigners, today is significant but what we do tomorrow and every day after is what will really matter. That means real consequences for the Israeli genocide and no votes for Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament.

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