Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt. I also welcome Mr. Ali Halimeh, the Delegate General of the Palestinian Authority, who is in the Visitors Gallery. He is working closely with all of us to try to bring justice to the Middle East.

I take this opportunity to again condemn the activities of the Israeli Government and the atrocities it carried out in Rafah last week, which resulted in ten people being murdered and 40 injured. Israel is constantly carrying out atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and it is time we took serious action in that regard.

I call on the Minister to review the European Union agreement with Israel, which was signed in 1995. That agreement gave preferential treatment to Israel to export their products to the European Union and it is now one of the major exporters to the EU. That action is in the hands of the Irish Government, as President of the European Union, and I ask the Minister to consider intervening at this time. Article 2 of that agreement states that relations between the parties, as well as all the provisions of the agreement, shall be based on respect for human rights and the democratic principles which guide their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of the agreement. The Israeli Government has broken that agreement and it should be reviewed and renegotiated.

The Irish people have a right to boycott all Israeli products and goods because Israel's illegal activities indicate that it does not have any respect for human rights. As many as 3,500 Palestinians have been murdered in the last three years.

I also condemn suicide bombings, which have ceased for some time. President Arafat and the Palestinian Authority do not support the activities of Hamas or Islamic Jihad but those organisations are thriving as a result of the atrocities which are being carried out.

This is a David and Goliath situation, but David will win in the long term and Palestine will be recognised as an independent state. Ireland was one of the first countries to recognise Palestine. The late Mr. Brian Lenihan, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, was the first European Foreign Minister to recognise the self-determination of the Palestinian people. We have a proud record in this regard and we continue our support for Palestine and for the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.