Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)

Thank you. As I was saying, hospitals, homes and humanity itself have been reduced to dust and they will read about a world that watched. They will ask every one of us, "What did you do? What did Ireland do?" I ask every Deputy here what they will say in response. As a mother of four, I really struggle to watch the television. I struggle to see those dead children and babies wrapped in cloths. I saw a photograph of a mother in a newspaper today. I thought I might break down crying here today but I will not. The look on her face not only reflected the death of her child but the death of humanity.

We should be under no illusion - what is happening in Gaza can happen here. It can happen in this country and we will be pleading with the international community, saying, "Please God, do something for us. Do anything." They will be despairing. We will be despairing. We will be desperate and the deaths will continue, just as they are continuing in Gaza. This motion is not symbolic. It is very clear that we do not want our money to be used for this. We do not want the silence to continue. To facilitate Israeli bonds is to invest, quite literally, in the machinery of occupation, apartheid and annihilation. We have a choice; the people of Gaza do not. I ask that every Deputy vote with their conscience this evening and support this motion.

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