Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I call on my colleagues in Fine Gael because I have had private conversations with a number of them where they showed genuine sympathy for the Palestinian people, to make their voices heard within their party because the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is simply not delivering beyond words. In the 1980s, we heard all the same excuses and reasons that we could not take action on South Africa. It is highly significant that Fine Gael is now out of step with everybody else in this Chamber. Everybody else supports Senator Frances Black's excellent Bill on the occupied territories. Is the Fine Gael party prepared to let the record show that when the genocide of an entire people was taking place, its members were prepared to sit with their arms folded and do nothing about it other than offer sweet sympathy? That is not good enough. I ask for a debate on the matter. More important, I ask Fine Gael to stand up for human rights values and stand up for Palestine.