David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House for the debate on this timely motion. I agree with him that one should, first, express one's sympathy to the relatives of the dead and the injured in what was undoubtedly an act of piracy which took place on the high seas. It was suggested Israel was in some measure under threat, but that calls into question the nature of the regime within Israel. We are always told that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. This has become the mantra. It has some democratic elements, including some that I welcome. However, one should now start to deconstruct the nature of that democracy. The Israelis have behaved in a way that had it been done by the Somalian pirates, a NATO task force would immediately have been sent to deal with them. However, because it concerned a state backed by the United States, they seem to be able to get away with it. The response of the Obama Administration has been timid in the extreme.

I welcome today's reports that a member of the Israeli Embassy staff is to be expelled as a result of involvement in passport forgery for the purposes of committing murder. These are the things that should be taken into consideration.

It would be a useful academic exercise to examine the language employed by Israeli diplomats and Ministers who have an extremely effective propaganda machine. They are the world leaders in PR, which is extraordinarily glib. They force language into the most unusual contortions. For example, this small group of tiny vessels carrying concrete, toys and wheelchairs is described as "an armada of hate and violence". I heard Mr. Ayalon say some did not like to be in the presence of Israelis; we all know what that means. It means that anybody who opposes the horrendous and barbaric policies of the regime in Israel is, ipso facto, anti-Semitic. It is, however, very difficult to maintain that the reactions to these events are anti-Semitic. I remember that one of the passengers aboard a previous convoy was an 83-year old concentration camp survivor. In what way was she anti-Semitic? Are the Hasidic Jews who demonstrated yesterday with placards at the Cenotaph in London anti-Semitic? They held up placards calling on the Zionist state to cease its criminal activities, siege and blockade. That language system needs to be examined.

The Israeli authorities are even proposing to deport certain individuals, having imported them first. Is this the new way? They kidnap people, force them to enter the country and then attempt to criminalise them for illegal entry. Surely somebody sees the contradictions.

I heard another Israeli spokesman on radio recently say that under Article 47 of the foundation document of the United Nations, a blockade was permissible. There is no reference to blockades in that article which I heard the former Irish diplomat, Mr. Noel Dorr, read out in its entirety on radio. The key point, however, is that they are not afraid of violence. Of course, the people involved resisted when they were set upon by a collection of brigands, but I thought it was a bit thick. They talked about slings and a few kitchen knives being used against the most sophisticated arms one could have in the hands of these very violent young paratroopers.

I wonder if they are aware of one of Seán O'Casey's works in which an Irish republican says in a similar situation: "Do they want us to come out in our pelts and throw stones at them?". That is basically what the Palestinians have been reduced to. They are not just afraid of the kind of propaganda coup which, despite their brilliance, they have handed the Palestinians on a plate. They are also worried that the blockade might be broken by this. It should be broken because it is illegal under international law. It is a humanitarian disgrace. It has enabled the Israelis to do things under the cover of darkness. If their own people knew about such things, they would be horrified. People are living in raw sewage. The excrement and urine of 1.5 million people is going untreated into the sea.