Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When Donald Trump stood yesterday and declared he wanted to essentially ethnically cleanse Palestinian land, forcibly transfer tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians from their homeland, replace them with others and essentially create a new society, many people were shocked, except that is essentially the story of Palestine for the past century. The Palestinian story is a story of displacement and confiscation, of international law rendered meaningless, of suffering and of misery. It has continued because the world has never said stop. Introducing the occupied territories Bill to the Dáil in 2019, Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins, now a junior minister in this Government, righteously challenged anyone who detracted from it. He said, "To those who have tried to dissuade us from supporting the Bill ... I say if this is not the time to act, when will that time come?" When will that time come, indeed?

What has changed since? Fianna Fáil entered government and essentially adopted the language and critique of the Bill that had been articulated by Fine Gael when it opposed the original iteration of the occupied territories Bill. What has happened since has been an escalation of the misery and suffering. The year 2022 went on to be the deadliest year on record for children in the West Bank. Thirty-four were killed. The year 2023 surpassed that record. Long before the horrendous actions of 7 October, Israel had killed 39 Palestinian children by mid-September. Since then, we have borne witness to a genocide in which the latest toll of those murdered stands at 61,800, including at least 12,000 women, almost 18,000 children and 808 under the age of 12 months.

Since then, the International Court of Justice has ruled on the legal consequences and implications of Israel's occupation. The ICJ has ruled that states have a duty to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory. It also said that states must take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ICJ further found that all states are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. That is as clear-cut as international law gets. Ireland should not be engaged in trade, either through goods or services, that supports Israel's illegal occupation. It is as simple as that. To do otherwise is to be complicit in Israel's breaches of international law and to economically support its occupation, apartheid and, unfortunately, its genocide.

As has been said, the leaders of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael committed to supporting the occupied territories Bill in advance of the recent general election. The Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, told an Oireachtas foreign affairs committee meeting I was at that the ICJ ruling was "an authoritative statement of applicable international law, which is binding on all states and international organisations". The Tánaiste and leader of Fine Gael, who is here, told the nation during a general election television debate that he would support the occupied territories Bill, not a watered-down version of it. What has changed since that? Any commitments to uphold international law seem to be just rhetorical devices to be used when seeking a mandate from the people and to be discarded when they actually really count. There have been six years of moments when this could have been progressed.

Today, as Mary-Lou McDonald has just said, there is not a single person in this Chamber who would not denounce the apartheid-era regime of South Africa. I am too young to recall most of it, but I expect there is not a single person among the great and good of today who would not claim to have opposed apartheid in South Africa and to have advocated against it, but we know that was not truly the case. There were those who equivocated, frustrated and delayed meaningful action against the apartheid regime. Tonight, I appeal to Deputies of every party and none across the breadth of this House, if not for the beleaguered, displaced, maimed, orphaned and ethnically cleansed Palestinian people, if not for the tens of thousands murdered who will never know a ceasefire, let alone enjoy lasting peace, then for yourselves and your own legacy, because decades from now, every Member of this Parliament will claim to have done everything they could. Tonight, we can prove it. We can reject the Government amendment which, make no mistake about it, is a tool to delay and reduce the provisions of the occupied territories Bill. I hope the Tánaiste will explain why his amendment, like Government statements of the past couple of weeks, continually removes references to services and limits potential trade restrictions to goods. The reality is that no explanation can excuse a position that is clearly contrary to the letter and spirit of international law and the ICJ determinations.

Our strength as a neutral state with an independent foreign policy must be our consistency in upholding the principles of international law and the UN Charter. That consistency is required now more than ever, regardless of who is in the White House or the position of other EU states. We must speak up. We must act. We must sanction Israel. We must pass this motion.

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