Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to refer to a matter to which a number of Members referred, namely, the Middle East. We all agree on one thing, which is that diplomacy is a very strong weapon. Unfortunately, diplomacy is often under-used. As we are aware in this country, that can be due to party political considerations, upcoming elections or the need for someone to prove himself or herself to be a strong leader. It is unfortunate that when diplomacy is not used, it is generally replaced by terror. When the latter comes into play, it exacerbates the position and moves the possibility of achieving a solution to one side. Worse than that, the victims are generally innocent people. I refer, in particular, to women and children. The three innocent people in Israel who were killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip are not just a statistic, as they were deprived of the human right of life. In addition, their surviving family members will be condemned to mourn them for the remainder of their lives. Similarly, the slaughter of the innocents in Gaza cries out for a halt to hostilities and for justice.

We are all feeling frustrated and helpless. At times, we are extremely disappointed by the very cosmetic press conferences we are obliged to watch on television.

The bottom line is that unless we look after the Palestinian people in a just and right way, give them an identity of their own, allow their nation to function and stop the idea of power politics, quietly in the background, supporting Israel, we will condemn both sides to continuing episodes of terrorism as we are now seeing. We have a proud record of standing up to be counted. We saw that over the years when we stepped out of line with the other powers in order to do that. I hope that we do not acquiesce in some way with what is now happening. Let us stand up and say that the brutality which has been directed towards the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people is not acceptable under any circumstances.