Joe Conway (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by addressing the several truckloads of words that have been used in this Chamber and in the other House with regard to the horrific happenings in the Middle East over the past couple of years. The problem in that regard, as it is manifested in parliaments and societies all over the world, is that we somehow get inured to the sufferings of people in the Middle East. It almost anaesthetises us from the horrific state of affairs there.

In respect of our own performance as a country and a sovereign nation it is said, "By their fruits shall you know them". If one was to look at the fruits of our efforts with regard to Israel over the years, I do not believe that any country would bear a riper fruit than ours. Let us consider the vilification that has been done to Ireland by the Israeli Parliament, leaders and state. I do not think there is another country in the world that has had its mission closed and ambassador withdrawn because of the stance taken by its government. That is not just the present Government. This goes back significantly, back into the beginning of my memory of politics anyway. We should maintain a sense of balance here. There is so much that a government can do. They are in a cleft state because they have to feed their own population, they have to negotiate their own deals and the world is a very pragmatic place. I do not know a whole tonne about international financial affairs but I know this much: if we stopped dealing in Israeli bonds tomorrow, the next day somebody would take up the slack and we would, apart from what would be a manifestly empty gesture, be just that bit poorer. I sympathise with the Government that it has to take those things into consideration.

A few minutes ago, Senator Black referred to a "descent into darkness". More than that, I believe Europe as a continent is sleepwalking into doom. It is often said that the only thing we appear to learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. Looking at the history books, what we have at the moment is a shocking replication of what happened between 1933 and 1945. Sovereignty is belittled by the aggressors all over the world but it is very close to us now in Europe and on our borders in the Middle East. It is a frightening vista because we are manifestly unprepared or unwilling. We have had such a sybaritic prosperity over the years since the end of the Second World War that we are unwilling or unable to stand up to aggressors, and we do not have the stomach to do so. That is profoundly dangerous for Europe.

I commend the Government. Countries in the EU are basically divided into two categories: the former colonisers and the formerly colonised. As a formerly colonised country Ireland has a rich pasture to till in the other nations that were colonised. Even Spain, one of the countries that was a coloniser, is very close to us in our stance on Israel. We should in Europe be tilling the field of goodwill in like-minded countries so that we can build up this head of steam in the European Union.

When we read about the historical happenings in France, for example, during the Second World War, when there was an atrocity such as a Gestapo soldier being shot, the usual knee-jerk reaction was to take out 20 people from the village and execute them the next morning. This is the very same thing that is happening with people in the Middle East bombing schools and hospitals. There may be a Hamas leader in there sheltering but the approach is "So what? Let us kill off those around him." It is just an horrific repetition of history that this is countenanced.

We should continue to call out Israel but we should really work very hard in the European Union to build up the head of steam so that we are not just on our own shouting in the wilderness but, rather, have people at our side who can make the call more strongly.