Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted we are having this debate on Gaza. We cannot have enough debates on this matter for as long as the travesty happening there lasts. As one of the older Members of this House, I can remember the atrocities we have seen in the world down through the years. I remember Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge and the 2 million people slaughtered in Cambodia. I remember other, more recent events in Europe: the Croat war, in which 20,000 people were lost, Srebrenica, where 8,000 people were slaughtered, and the upwards of half a million people slaughtered under Assad in Syria. Despite all those travesties, there is something about this particular conflict that has touched the hearts of Irish men, women and children in a way no other conflict has done.

We are horrified by what we see happening. Deputy Fitzmaurice spoke a lot of common sense in his contribution. The public is horrified by the failure of international agencies to take action against the Israelis and provide support to the Palestinian people. I am horrified to think aid was sitting on the border waiting to be delivered to starving people and it was beyond the ability of the United Nations, NATO, the EU or any of the other wonderful and phenomenal organisations we admire, support and, in some instances, subscribe to, to go in and do something to provide food to starving people. Not only am I horrified by the international agencies, but I am horrified by those governments and those supposed leaders who supply support and succour to the monster that is Netanyahu and his Government. The people who have supported him, provided his Government with arms or provided him with any sort of encouragement might as well have pushed the buttons or pulled the triggers that exploded the lives of the men, women and children in Palestine. It is a travesty. We now see the flotilla trying to do something about the situation and raise public awareness. Those participating deserve admiration. I have great admiration for Senator Andrews and Deputy Heneghan for their participation in that effort.

When we look at the Gazan situation, the greatest and longest lasting problem has been the illegal settlements in the West Bank. I have had engagement with successive Israeli ambassadors to this country, most of whom could not understand why Ireland was so supportive of the Palestinian people. They did not understand that our concern was based primarily around the issue of illegal settlements. That is one of the reasons the occupied territories Bill needs to be enacted immediately, as a matter of extreme urgency. The idea that people continue to talk about a two-state solution while the possibility of establishing a second state is steadily and inexorably being eliminated for the lack of space, as Palestinian people are driven out of their homes, the homes demolished and the land taken over, is appalling. Will the international community see the light and let us, please, have peace?

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