Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

We have already taken too long with the occupied territories Bill. I, like many others, do not buy the legal arguments that are made. We have often said you can get the legal advice you want on the basis of what you pay for and I do not see this as being very much different.

We have heard from many experts who say there is nothing stopping us from implementing the occupied territories Bill for goods and services now. This just needs to happen. Nearly 70,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Gaza. We have seen starvation used as a weapon of war. At least, in fairness to Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, they have been very clear. Unlike the spokespersons who are put across the world to tell us that black is white, they have been clear in relation to what they are, which is supremacist Zionists who want to remove the Palestinian people. Benjamin Netanyahu has also always been clear that there will never be a Palestinian state. We have a ceasefire of sorts. It is very difficult to call what is being proposed a peace plan. A peace plan that does not involve absolute justice, self-determination and freedom for the Palestinian people is a waste of time.

What are we going to do? Are we going to do what the Dunnes Stores workers did? They stood up and stood up properly against apartheid in South Africa. People would have asked then what the point was but those workers played a significant role in what became a huge movement and a huge facet in the anti-apartheid battle in South Africa. We need to see this happen here. We have seen the disgrace that the European Union has been. There is the EU-Israel Association Agreement and we have seen little moves but nothing significant in relation to allowing Israel to continue as per normal while it carries out absolute heinous crimes. We know what is being proposed in the West Bank. We have seen the legislation introduced to try to ensure there is no possibility of ensuring a Palestinian state. All of this needs to be fought. The allies of Israel need to be fought at this point - those that provide it with support, resources and weapons. We need to keep the pressure on. We need to ensure the EU does the right thing around the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which it has failed to do. With the occupied territories Bill, we can, right here and now, do the right thing and stand by the Palestinian people and by promises that were made by this Government before the last election.

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