Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. Obviously, the attacks on innocent Israeli citizens have to be condemned by all right-thinking people. I echo this condemnation. However, I am acutely aware that while we sit here debating the correct language to use and the correct diplomatic approach to take, genocide is unfolding before our eyes. Israel's defence minister described the people of Gaza as human animals in order to justify his decision to ignore international law and pursue a policy of collective punishment through the bombardment of civilian and medical infrastructure and the cutting off of all food, water, electricity and power to Gaza. The Israeli Prime Minister's office tweeted that this is a struggle between "the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.". This is racist, unhinged, genocidal language which is being expressed publicly. Make no mistake, to me this sounds like the Israeli Government is announcing its intention to commit war crimes and to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip. While we are very sympathetic towards the Israeli families who have lost loved ones, that sympathy should not be used to generate misinformation and to manufacture consent for an unprecedented, brutal assault on a captive civilian population of over 2.5 million people, half of whom are children.

My concern is that powerful politicians in Europe are claiming to speak for us as Europeans. The actions of European Commission President, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, are absolutely disgusting and extremely unhelpful. They are aiding and abetting war crimes and acting outside of their mandate.

The ultimate goal of this assault is the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. Israel has always sought to claim the maximum amount of Palestinian land with the fewest number of Palestinians living on it. It has achieved this historically through massive, indiscriminate violence. In 1948, Zionist militias ethnically cleansed 750,000 people from 522 villages in what is now Israel. They did this by massacring almost the entire population of villages like Deir Yàssin near Jerusalem and Tantura near Haifa and used the ensuing panic to incite Palestinians to flee across the border.Most Palestinians expected to return in a few weeks and kept their house keys to prove their ownership. They were never allowed to return. Most of the people driven out in 1948 died in refugee camps or were scattered to the four corners of the world. Palestinians call this period the Nakba, which means the catastrophe. Some 80% of the population of Gaza are descendants of these 1948 refugees. Now Israel wants to remove them from historic Palestine permanently. It truly is an atrocity. Israeli bombing is levelling entire Gazan neighbourhoods, mosques, ambulances and the Islamic University of Gaza has been targeted. Entire families are being wiped out and in fact one of our own colleagues here in the Oireachtas has lost ten family members. They are being crushed together in the rubble of what was once their family home. People are writing their names and dates of birth on their hands so that they can be identified if their house is being bombed next. Hospitals are ceasing to function and are running out of medical supplies and power. Staff members are collapsing due to exhaustion and the mental torment they are enduring. Israel is demanding that some entire hospitals evacuate or face bombing, which the World Health Organization has called a death sentence for the people receiving care there.

The massive civilian death toll and the huge amount of disinformation underscores the necessity of a rigorous and expansive International Criminal Court, ICC, investigation. Such an investigation will obviously address the war crimes committed by the Palestinian armed resistance factions as well as those of Israel. It must be noted though that Palestinian activists have been campaigning for this for years and the court has been obstructed and threatened at every step by Israel and the United States. These actions have ground the process to a halt. Both sides of this conflict have committed war crimes but only one side is seeking to impede attempts at investigation and accountability. Soon we may not be able to find out what is going on in Gaza as power shortages and bombardment make the work of the heroic Palestinian journalists reporting on the ground impossible to transmit. Israel is trying to create an information blackout so that they can wage war on the civilians of Gaza with their lies intact and without the eyes of the world on them.

I have to mention the antidemocratic oppression of peaceful Palestinian solidarity demonstrations across Europe. France has banned these demonstrations. Germany is doing the same and young schoolchildren are being reported to the police if they speak about Palestine or wear traditional Palestinian garments. Solidarity is not a crime. World leaders need to be put on notice that the people they represent care about the people of Palestine and will not stand idly by while they are being massacred and displaced. The people marching for Gaza are marching to save lives. That is why I encourage anyone listening to join any protests in their areas which are coming up over the next few weeks.

For years there are those of us who have pleaded with the Government to recognise Israeli apartheid and to take actions to punish it with reasonable and moderate measures like the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill. The arguments against the occupied territories Bill do not stand up. We are told that it would need a money message. I absolutely believe that is not true. The other argument is that it is not compatible with EU law. Let us ask the question: is this Bill compatible with EU law? Allow me just to say this. Trade rules are generally uniform across all EU member states. Exceptions, however, are granted where they can be "justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, ...". The legal basis of this Bill and its permissibility under EU law are confirmed by many legal opinions, one of which is from Michael Lynn, a senior counsel in Ireland, and the second is from Professor James Crawford of the University of Cambridge, who was a senior counsel in the UK and was one of the most eminent authorities on international law worldwide. I would like to see the Attorney General's legal opinion on this as soon as possible and would like it to be published because it is vital now that we pass the occupied territories Bill and let us argue against the argument which the Government is putting. I call for that today.

If Ireland acts others will follow. The illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a war crime and are one of the biggest barriers to a just and lasting peace. Ireland cannot continue to be complicit in a violation of international law and of Palestinian sovereignty and territorial integrity. We must stop the slaughter in Gaza and we must work for a free Palestine. As Nelson Mandela once said: "...our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.".