Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator White. A few weeks ago, Senator Norris and others raised the issue of an alleged village called Susiya in the West Bank. A number of us had received information on this by e-mail. I decided that in this instance I would contact the Israeli embassy to establish exactly what its position was. Inevitably what happens in this House whenever issues of Israeli-Palestinian relationships are raised, we hear about the Palestinian side. If the House will allow me, I will read relevant parts of the response I received. The Israeli embassy response states that Susiya is not and never was a recognised village. It states that there is an archaeological site there showing signs of ancient Jewish habitations from 1,500 years ago. In recent years, clusters of illegal structures have been built around Susiya in breach of planning and zoning laws. The embassy response also points out that it is a Bedouin settlement which is a largely barren territory that is controlled by Israel and is state land according to the Oslo Accords.