Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for introducing this motion, which we fully support. That the last Private Members’ business of the Thirty-third Dáil, a motion by the Social Democrats, and the first Private Members’ business of the Thirty-fourth Dáil are on the issue of Palestine sends an important message out from this Parliament on how important the issue of genocide in Gaza is to the Irish people and their Parliament. In the debate on the last item of Private Members’ business of the Thirty-third Dáil, my then colleague Brendan Howlin, an outgoing TD, in commending the work of Senator Frances Black, warned about the presidency of Donald Trump, as we all did, and the moral and economic pressure that would be placed on Ireland under his presidency to bow to the Israeli demands. We are concerned that the first bit of pressure the current Government will bow to will be the pressure to water down the occupied territories Bill.

Neither Brendan Howlin nor anybody else could have foreseen the press conference that took place yesterday with US President Donald Trump, in which he stated the US would take over Gaza, clear it of its people and buildings, and redevelop it. This was not some contribution made in some pre-election rally in some part of the United States; this was a White House briefing, a White House press conference. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Trump was the Prime Minister of Israel, who commended the American policy. It is beyond absurd that these words and policies are coming out of the Oval Office, notwithstanding the US’s support historically for the Israeli project. What was said yesterday brings it to a whole new level of abhorrence, and this is why small Ireland needs to act, as it is done in the past.

When we talk about genocide, the phrase "Never again" is often used. We know that phrase’s 20th-century origin. Instead of "Never again", we seem to have "Again and again", because the West will continually turn a blind eye to genocide and war crimes if it deems doing so to be in its economic or political interest. We cannot allow this country to follow that. We in the Labour Party, like many in this country, are unequivocal in our unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine. Their struggle for self-determination, basic human rights and, for now, food, water, electricity, heat, safety and freedom of movement should demand the commitment of every person in the world with a shred of decency. The consistent Israeli bombardment Gazans saw since the awful attacks on 7 October was massively disproportionate. The likes of it we have never seen. This was at a time when most independent eyes had been denied access to the horror on the Gaza Strip. We need to pay tribute to journalists who risked their lives to ensure the world could see the truth for what it was, to the 137 journalists and media workers who lost their lives in Gaza. Since the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPG, began to collect data, Gaza has been the deadliest spot for journalists to work.

Today we have a shaky ceasefire – a ceasefire that has come with 61,800 people having died in the past 15 months. We should always welcome an end to violence and we have a duty to help facilitate a lasting peace in the region, but when we see press conferences like the one we saw in the US yesterday, it feels the ceasefire is on shaky ground. This violence is generational. The stories the world has seen since 7 October, of families devastated from indiscriminate bombings and assassinations, are absolutely heartbreaking. The failure of the international community to stand up and act is a damning indictment of us all.

For the United States, the self-identifying, supposed beacon of freedom and justice, its continued indifference to the plight of the Palestinian people is utmost failure. It is a moral stain on a country that identifies itself as the leader of the western world. Well, it is not the leader of Irish foreign policy and Ireland’s position on Palestine and the Palestinian people. Donald Trump is a fundamental danger to the very existence of Palestine and its people. We now know, moving forward, what the US policy will be: to forcibly displace 2 million Palestinian people from Gaza so the US can, de facto, own it and redevelop it. It is shocking that we could be contemplating another Nakba.

The truth is that this world has become more fractured and more unstable in recent years. Our country’s reliance on foreign direct investment from the US must not lead our foreign policy in its entirety. This is the test that the Irish Government now has. We cannot allow global tech bros to dictate our values when it comes to Palestine. It greatly concerns me that there have been indications that the Government is willing to do just that. Reports have indicated the occupied territories Bill will be, line for line, reworded and watered down so as not to damage Ireland’s corporate and diplomatic relations with the US. This is something we cannot tolerate.

This is our Dunnes Stores workers moment. It is something on which we must, as a country, step forward in unison, led by the Government and by what the previous Government said leading up to the last general election. I shared a media engagement with Senator Frances Black just before the election and, at that engagement, the outgoing Government said it would support the Bill, not that it would be reword it line by line. It is not following through on that. There can be no greater signal of solidarity with the Palestinian people, whose country is the size of Ireland, than delivering on the occupied territories Bill. Ireland is a small country and I do not think what it has done thus far to recognise a Palestinian state is unimportant. That was an important move and I am not denying it, but this is the moment and this is the Bill. This is what the Irish people want. They know the Bill about and they want their Government to support it and deliver on it.

We in the Labour Party believe our Government should work within the EU also. We have worked with some partner states but know the likes of Germany, the Netherlands and many other countries are standing firm. Ursula von der Leyen visited Israel in October 2023, after the events of 7 October, and stated, "I know how Israel responds will show how it is a democracy." No democracy should respond to an act of terrorism and violence in the way Israel has done since that day up to the ceasefire. If a country is to be a democracy and fly the flag of democracy, it needs to lead by example. That does not mean allowing itself to become insecure, nor does it mean disproportionate venom, vengeance and, indeed, genocide. Israel remains outside more international agreements than any other state. It is, by any measure, a rogue state. This is something Ireland has called out for many years, and it must continue to do so. However, we are now at a point where we need to take one step further and call the Israelis out.

They are a huge military. They are an active military inspired by vengeance. They are a nuclear power. They make the Middle East more insecure, not more secure. We in this country have power. We have a historical record of punching above our weight to use that oft-quoted phrase. We can do it by passing this Bill and building on the work we have done. This is an important moment for this new Government. If it follows what this motion and previous motions and what the Opposition and Senator Black have been saying for seven years, we could bring Irish foreign policy into a new better and braver space.

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