Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in today. First, I express my sincere condolences to the families of the dead, and I include people on both sides of the border in that. It is important to recognise loss is loss no matter the geography, age or religion. However, we are not talking about equal partners in destruction, occupation or violence when we speak about the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime in Palestine. The state of Israel has deployed air strikes in residential areas, attacked a building housing the offices of an international news agency and driven families from their homes. I cannot stand up in this Chamber having seen the footage over recent days and describe it as anything other than bombardment. That has been echoed by many people in the Chamber today.

There are political, cultural and religious sensitivities to this decades-long conflict. I do not even like to use the word "conflict" because that implies there is an equal balance of power and I do not think there is. Let me be clear that my motivations for speaking today are driven by a commitment to peace and a belief in the power of people to learn to live side by side in a respectful manner in which we all fulfil our duty to one another as humans. We have a duty to show each other love and understanding, to be fair, compassionate and open, and to ensure peace for ourselves as well as for children, the elderly, the sick and the next generation.

As a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement I am privileged to hear weekly from those in Northern Ireland who lived through the Troubles and worked with the communities on both sides over recent years. Their voices have been ringing in my ears and I would suggest they were ringing in many people's ears over the past week as we watched what has been unfolding. Those people speak of channels of communication, of shared pain and joy, of a culture, community and identity which are not polar ends of a spectrum but rather two sides of one coin. Peace on our own island no doubt often felt as unlikely and as far outside the reach of the peacemakers in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as it does today for those living through this hellish experience in Palestine.Yet even in a place so fraught and divided, there is always hope for peace. So many countries stand in solidarity with Palestine because they are informed by their own history and experiences of oppression and their own struggles for freedom from a colonising or oppressing force. We know oppression when we see it and we stand in solidarity with Palestine because it would be a dishonour to those who fought for our own freedom not to do so.

Change, however, comes more often through external influences. Senator Black put it frankly and accurately this morning when she mentioned Ireland's response to apartheid in South Africa. I also welcome the Minister's comments in recent days when he acknowledged that the UN Security Council cannot jointly agree to condemn the slaughter of children who, he rightly pointed out, are never a legitimate target. We really have reached a very sorry and fearful crossroads in international diplomacy. When the Palestinian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, addressed the UN Security Council on 16 May 2021 he asked:

What are the tools the international community is ready to deploy to ensure compliance by Israel with its obligations and an end of its occupation, tools it uses regularly in other conflicts? Military intervention? Sanctions? Suspending bilateral relations? Prosecuting perpetrators of crimes? Deploying protection forces? Imposing an arms embargo? Or will it simply rely on the possibility of convincing the occupying Power to end its colonial occupation while history has proven that Israel is not willing to listen?

The time for rhetoric and statements is long past. Action, solidarity and a collective response in the face of violence, oppression and human rights abuses are the avenue we must head down if we want to use our position as a UN Security Council member and leading member of a small group of neutral, peacekeeping nations in the world to the utmost effect. I ask the Minister to ensure that Ireland's response is the right one, befitting the Palestinian people who are suffering unduly.