Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I extend my condolences to Mick O'Dwyer's family on his passing this morning. He was an icon of Irish sport and football. His loss is a huge loss.

On the issue of genocide in Gaza, I would like to know why this Government has accepted the normalisation of genocide. Israel continues with a colonial settlement project and there are absolutely no sanctions for it. Those colonial settlements continue today without sanction. There are no sanctions for the starving of Gazans. There is no sanction for cutting off electricity. There is no sanction for the killing of over 18,000 children in the Gaza Strip. There is no sanction for the destruction of human rights and international law. I heard the Tánaiste say that he was concerned and that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is a disgrace. However, it is hard to figure out how that works in practice because there are no consequences. There is loads of condemnation of Israel but there are no consequences.

Francesca Albanese recently said that the first victims of Hamas are Palestinians and she is correct. I spent time working in the Gaza Strip and I know the Palestinian people there. I have lost friends who worked and lived in the Gaza Strip. They want peace and justice. If we have justice, we will have peace. As extreme and all as Hamas is, what Israel and the USA with support from EU weapons manufacturers have unleashed on the defenceless population of Gaza and the West Bank is unacceptable, disgusting and completely disproportionate. Israel is clearly out of control; there is no other way to describe Israel. The genocide of Palestine is important not just for Palestinians, but for all of us, particularly for those in small countries because Gaza and Palestine have been dismantled and are being used as a template to dismantle European international law and order and human rights. The genocide in Palestine should be important to all of us because it is being used again and again to dismantle human rights.

It is concerning that the Government is clamping down on those who are critical of Israel and critical of genocide. What happened with the Mothers Against Genocide protest on Monday is a concerning development in the harassment of those who are critical of Israel and genocide. It is also concerning that the media are increasingly hostile towards those critical of Israel and genocide. The hostile articles towards critics of apartheid Israel are having a chilling effect on those holding Israel to account. In relation to neutrality, the only time the establishment is concerned about working people is when it needs them for the front line in a war. Without working people, there would be no front line. The Irish people do not support Ireland losing its neutrality. The Government can dress it up any it wants but the reality is that getting rid of the triple lock is the first step on the road to ending neutrality and joining a military alliance. In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth €326 million including military equipment and war weapons, a tenfold increase on 2022. The establishment and those running these companies are the winners in this war. It is in their interests. European countries benefit from the arms industry. We have to ensure we stand up and the voices giving away our neutrality are challenged because our neutrality is something we have defended for years and we must continue to defend.