Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

These killings are connected to Israel's attempts to outlaw Palestinian human rights organisations, like Al-Haq, by smearing them as terrorists. They are connected to the brutal beating of Hani Nassar, a researcher for Defense of Children International, a Palestinian NGO, who was violently attacked a few days ago, first by Israeli settlers and then by IDF soldiers near the illegal Israeli settlement of Homesh, south of Jenin. This is a concerted attempt to use violence, intimidation and repressive legislation to silence dissenting voices and to impede the documentation of Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coveney’s strong condemnation of the attack on Shireen’s funeral. However, I must ask what has our condemnation ever achieved. What is stopping us from taking tangible, material action? The people of Palestine are asking us. How can we look the Palestinian people in the eye and tell them we recognise the crimes being committed against them but that we still will not act? What are we going to do? How are we going to change this? I ask the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to brief the House on the State’s advocacy for the rights and safety of the Palestinian people, particularly human rights defenders, at the EU and UN level.