David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There was a jubilant celebration of President Trump's ill-advised move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem yesterday, at which the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Jerusalem had been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years. We have had fake news; now we have fake history. That is absolute, utter rubbish. Sixty people were mown down. These were peaceful civilians protesting. The use of dumdum bullets, which should be internationally outlawed, was another part of this outrage. I do not know why they do not declare Israel to be the 51st state of the US, because that is basically what it is; it is a US colony in the Middle East.

It was nothing other than murder. We need action, not words. I call for the withdrawal of the Irish ambassador to Israel; for the stopping of the acceptance of settlement-produced goods and for the recognition of the state of Palestine. We really need action. There are decent Israelis. I was listening to the former head of the Israeli foreign office on the wireless the other day. He said the Israeli policy towards the Palestinians is an outrage and he is 100% right.

Some 2 million people are confined in an area that is ten miles wide by 40 miles long with inadequate water and sewerage services. These are actively bombed by the Israelis. What is the point in bombing a sewerage system unless they really want to degrade the people to the position of animals? There is enormous unemployment there. If they would only share the land, with Israeli technology they could bring some of these areas up to full agricultural production. I just do not know why the hell they do not just share the land.

One of the saddest aspects is that is a gross violation of the Jewish ethic which says that "If you save one life, you save a universe." The corollary of that is that "If you kill one person, you kill a universe of people."

If the Sinn Féin Members will allow it, I would like to second the Sinn Féin amendment.