Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to briefly respond to the two previous speakers and to commend every word they have said. I highlight the fact, particularly to my colleague on the Council of Europe, Senator O'Reilly, that I have sponsored a request for a report at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe into the threat to the human rights framework of the Good Friday Agreement posed by the current proposals in British legislation. It would be really important if we got cross-party support for that report so we can get it moving as quickly as possible. That will come up in the Council of Europe in the coming month. I very much appreciate the comments both Senators have made.

I also want to respond to my colleague and, indeed, friend, Senator Davitt, on the issue of Palestine which I was going to raise today anyway. I was going to raise this issue, not least because last Monday was the anniversary of the Nakba when 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced and 15,000 were massacred back in 1948, but also to reflect on current horrors there. Senators will be aware in the last few days we have seen Israeli warplanes carry out a whole host of air strikes and we know that latest aggression killed 33 Palestinians, including seven children, four women and a doctor. The number of Palestinians killed this year to date is now 148, which includes 26 children and six women. The statistics do not really tell the story. I do not know whether all Members get these postcards from Sadaqa that detail and picture these poor innocent children who have been murdered by Israeli occupation forces. Omar Awadin was riding his bicycle in front of his parent's shop when he was gunned down. Just a couple of weeks back, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy named Mohammad Farid Mohammad Haj Ahmad was fired on as he stood with several other Palestinian civilians sheltering between a mosque and a clinic. This is the reality. These young children were murdered and gunned down by the Israeli occupation forces.

It is really important to recognise that Israel is an apartheid state. Amnesty International has declared this, as have Human Rights Watch. More than 450 separate NGOs have recognised that Israel is an apartheid state and that makes a fundamental difference in terms of how we should deal with it. That is why I was very frustrated that the Government took a decision to postpone Deputy Brady's excellent Bill. Surely we can all agree that Irish taxpayers' money should not be going to fund companies that are operating illegally in the occupied territories of Palestine. This simple Bill would simply have stopped that from happening. We did not need to postpone it for nine months. How many more children are going to die in the coming nine months? We could have simply dealt with it on Committee Stage. It is a very solid Bill which has widespread support internationally. I appeal to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I know from speaking to some of the Members, so many agree that what is happening in Palestine is fundamentally wrong and that we need to do more. I ask that they please have a discussion in their own parliamentary parties, revisit this topic, and give Deputy Brady's Bill the support it deserves so that we can do something tangible. Words are not enough when it comes to Palestine. We need actions that stand up for human rights.