Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Leader for organising this debate. I am one of the Senators who sought it. We were all utterly shocked at the appalling loss of life in Gaza, which the Minister of State acknowledged in his speech. As he pointed out, 14 May recorded the highest casualty toll in the Gaza Strip in a single day since 2014, with a total of 102 Palestinians, including 12 children, killed and an appalling number injured, some 12,500. We all remember the really tragic case of the death of little Leila Anwar Ghandoor, an eight month old baby.

Like other colleagues, I was shocked at some of the language used in the speech of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade at the time which appeared to suggest that blame lay with the victims of this appalling atrocity. We must be very clear about the complicity and the conduct of the Israeli forces in bringing about these civilian deaths. I am no apologist for Hamas and do not believe anyone here is, but it is important to acknowledge the cause of these awful deaths.

We also have to acknowledge the context for all of this. The Gaza Strip is occupied territory in which 2 million live in appalling conditions which were described so eloquently by Senator Black and others. Mr. Declan Walsh wrote a very good article in The Irish Timeswhich sums up so well the pressures of life in Gaza, a poverty stricken, crowded enclave that has been under Israeli blockade for the past 11 years. This has been well documented. I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and we have had numerous hearings on the conditions for people living in Gaza and for Palestinians living in occupied territories, conditions for Palestinian detainees, including child detainees, in Israeli prisons and on breaches of international law by Israel. All of this is well known and, like Senator Norris, many of us feel that we have been speaking about this for so long but so little has been done.

What we have seen in recent days is a new development, unfortunately, and one which was precipitated by the decision of the current US President to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. That is a new and very negative development that sets us back even further from any sort of peaceful path towards the settlement that we all wish to see.

I speak today for the Labour Party which has a long tradition of being to the forefront in advocating justice for the Palestinian people. My party has a long-standing position on the Middle East, informed by three core principles, namely: the need for a comprehensive, multilateral peace agreement between Israel and Palestine which respects international law; the delivery for the Palestinian people of a secure, viable and contiguous state of their own; and the recognition of the legitimate right of the people of Israel to live in peace, prosperity and security with its neighbours. That is a clear set of goals to which many members of the international community have signed up but, unfortunately, with the recent decision by the US President, we have seen a real step away from any path that makes that settlement more likely.

What can we do about this? I accept that an independent inquiry would be useful to establish the full facts and to establish beyond doubt what lay behind the conduct of the Israeli troops. However, we need to be more assertive in Ireland in terms of how we go about addressing this outrageous atrocity by Israel. We have to move within the EU and be more assertive there, as a stakeholder.

The Minister of State has pointed out that Ireland has provided more than €10 million annually for the Palestinian people. We provide aid bilaterally and also multilaterally through the EU, which is a major stakeholder in the region. The foreign affairs committee has also heard several times about the outrageous situation whereby the EU is providing funding to construct buildings which are subsequently demolished by Israeli forces. The EU is funding infrastructure to support education and healthcare, for example, for the Palestinians which is then dismantled and destroyed by Israeli forces. It defies logic that the EU does not intervene in a more proactive manner.

I support Senator Norris and others who have called for such intervention. The EU should take a much stronger interventionist role in this. In Ireland we should step up further by complying with the motions passed by Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann calling for the recognition of the state of Palestine. That would be a significant step forward and would exert more pressure within the EU. We must play a more assertive role in assuring greater justice for Palestinians.

The former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, addressed the UN General Assembly in September 2011 and said that Ireland would support the Palestinian bid to become a full member of the UN. At that point Ireland was taking a very proactive role within the EU in its recognition and assertion of Palestinian rights. We need to do more of that, particularly after this absolutely egregious attack on Palestinian civilians.

I was very glad to support Senator Black's Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill which points a way forward for Ireland to take a stronger stance in asserting the condemnation of the Irish people of the actions of the Israeli state.

It is also important to express support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, BDS, campaign which is led by Palestinian civil society. That campaign seeks to build on the work of the international anti-apartheid movement which played such a strong role in helping to dismantle the apartheid state of South Africa. Of course, we all recall the proud role played in that international movement by the Irish anti-apartheid movement. We could be doing more in Ireland to assert a voice for the Palestinian people through the international mechanisms to which we have access through the EU and also through asserting recognition of Palestinian statehood.

I ask the Minister of State to clarify whether the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will support and implement the motions of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann in that regard. There is overwhelming support for this among Irish people. I do not believe there is political controversy about this issue in Ireland. People here are so exercised, dismayed and distressed by the reports of what has happened in Gaza recently that now would be an appropriate time to do this.