Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This is the first time I have had the pleasure of addressing the Minister in this House. I thank him for the presentation he made today, which was measured, as one would expect from him.

I am aware of the fact there are representatives from both Israel and Palestine here, so I want to say I have no idea what it is like to live in a place where, at any moment, a suicide bomber can take people out or a rocket can be fired from some place. However, I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to live on the other side where, at any moment, a fleet of bombers will come in and flatten an entire area. The reaction by Israel, particularly this summer, is reprehensible. Having said that, the actions of Hamas are reprehensible.

The Israeli Defence Force and the politicians who control it really have to step back and see what they are doing. We live in an era where it is possible to take out a specific house. I was told recently that the satellite system is so good that it is possible to pick out a man on a street corner picking his nose, and more importantly, it is possible to see what he picked out of it. I do not believe there is any justification for flattening entire streets. For people who migrated largely as a result of the horrors of what went on during the Second World War in Europe, it is absolutely unbelievable to see them turn an entire geographic area into what they themselves suffered in Europe, in particular in Poland. I just cannot believe it. I cannot believe that it has been going on and that, at no stage, the people who vote for the Parliament in Israel have not been able to turn around and say, "Do you know what lads, the response here is a total overreaction".

I would have to say, from this side of the world, looking at what has happened, particularly last summer, the Israeli Defence Force has become the greatest recruiter for ISIS and Hamas. Even somebody like me would find myself swaying towards the other side when I see the reaction. I agree with Senator Mooney that there are two sides to this issue. However, I do not see a real willingness on either side to actually engage in dialogue. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors but I do not see any real dialogue. If there were a real desire to enter into real peace negotiations, surely the settlements would have stopped by now. We in Ireland know what it means to have property grabbed by a foreign state and we know what it led to in this country for several hundred years.

Some years ago, as president of the Teachers Union of Ireland, a motion was passed at our annual conference setting up an academic boycott of Israel. At the time, I had misgivings about it and I did not propose the motion. However, immediately the motion was passed, I was subjected to several hundred threatening e-mails with some of the most outlandish threats I have ever heard. Having said that, I received several hundred e-mails congratulating the union on the brave stance we took. I do not believe either side was right. Certainly, if I receive e-mails as a result of what I have had to say here today, bring them on - I do not care. At some stage, we are going to have to speak out and stop what is going on in this part of the world. It is time for this country to recognise the sovereign state of Palestine and I would ask the Minister to bring that forward as quickly as he can.

I want to make two final points. I want to recognise the tremendous contribution that has been made by this country, in particular by our Defence Forces, many of whom have lost their lives in the pursuit of peace in countries all over the world. I want to recognise the job the Defence Forces have done in maintaining peace in countries we have really nothing to do with.

Finally, given the representatives from Palestine and Israel are here, I plead with them, in the name of the children that are being born, would they please respect human rights, start some serious dialogue with one another and stop the constant incursions onto each other's lands?