Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)

The level of death and destruction in Gaza demands us not just to talk but to act and to do everything possible. What is happening is genocide and war crimes. Gaza is not just a warzone; it is a horror zone. The State of Israel is a terrorist state. Its Government has stooped to a level of depravity never seen before. It is shameful, and that Government will never be forgiven lightly for what it is doing: 53,000 dead, thousands buried beneath the rubble, families missing, neighbourhoods missing, hundreds of thousands of people injured and maimed, and up to 2 million starving while truckloads of food stand at the border and are stopped from entering by terrorists from the IDF. They are called the IDF but I call them a bunch of terrorists.

The Palestinians have been hunted and hounded by Israel since 1947, a refugee population within their own country. What does it take for the so-called civilised world to act? I acknowledge that the Government has joined the South African case at the International Criminal Court. I accept that we have recognised the State of Palestine, that we are sending aid to Palestine and taking in injured children and that we want a cessation of all hostilities, but we must do a lot more. We have also been part of the call for the Israeli-EU trade agreement to end. This shows what a neutral state can do when we put our mind to it.

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