Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I was lucky enough to be in Roe River Books in Dundalk on Friday night. If it were not for the subject matter, I would say Fintan Drury provided a great show. He was there to talk about his new book, Catastrophe - Nakba II. It starts with a quote from Benjamin Netanyahu on 29 December 2022: "The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the land of Israel ... Galilee, the Negev, Golan, Judea and Samaria."

We should not be surprised by what we have seen. While it depends on what figure we look at - whether it is 58,400, as it was about a week ago, or if we are now talking about something far closer to 60,000 - the figure is widely contested, but we know that the death toll is astronomical in the modern age. We all believed that things like this could not happen. Some people even bought into the idea that Israel sold itself as the friend of the West in the Middle East.

In fairness, the author finished the book with an acknowledgement:

My hope is that Catastrophe – Nakba II will be a credible and readable account of Israel's determination to wipe Palestine from the map and how it was sponsored in that endeavour by powerful nations in the West.

I do not have a lot of time to deal with the next point. Omar Khalil Al-Balawi was a teacher who was killed in northern Gaza by an Israeli drone on 7 October 2024. He wrote:

After a year of this ongoing crisis, we ask: Who is listening to our plight? Who cares enough to intervene? Who will stop this war and prevent further loss of life? Who will hold Israel accountable for these actions? Who will ensure our survival in the midst of this catastrophe? Despite everything, we remain resolute. As the indigenous people of this land, we will stay. This is our home – Palestine. WE WILL NOT LEAVE!

That is the disaster that they face but it is also the hope. That is why we welcome what this Government has done in recognising the State of Palestine. We also welcome that we are on the right side of the argument in regard to the EU-Israel association agreement, but we need to see movement. The occupied territories Bill must be delivered with services. We must ensure that we no longer allow the Central Bank to facilitate Israeli war bonds. We must ensure that we are that voice, that we are part of that voice, and that we provide a voice to others so that the Palestinian people know that people are with them but, beyond that, that Israel is held to account.

See this speech in context