Every day people in Gaza play what is called "the hunger games". After two months without a shred of food, milk, medicine or flour coming into the territory, they brave Israeli army bullets at feeding stations that have been set up, for the chance of a bag of flour, a tin of food or whatever for their starving families. We had indelible images from the Holocaust. These will be the indelible images from this holocaust against the Palestinians and history will record that this has been sanctioned and facilitated by the EU and US. Today, we saw the Taoiseach is at the EU summit. He will be blocked in any move to take action against Israel under the trade agreement. It is backed by bigger countries. The Tánaiste has repeatedly said we must use all levers at our disposal to end this genocide. Why does he not use all the levers he has at his disposal? We cannot wait for the EU to act in concert. The Government is introducing an occupied territories Bill, six years after it was introduced to the Dáil, just before the recess and 20 months into a genocide, but it is denuding the Bill because it does not include services. It does not have even half the power of the original Bill. Why are services not included in this Bill? The International Court of Justice, ICJ, makes no distinction between goods and services. The settlements are illegal and all trade with them should be ended. Some 75% of people in Ireland want the full occupied territories Bill to be passed. The Palestinian people need sanctions and there has been no legal advice to the contrary. Is this due to lobbying from companies like Airbnb that might be affected by this? The occupied territories Bill only covers a fraction of our trade with Israel. According to the United Nations Comtrade, our trade with Israel is worth €3.3 billion, the second highest after the US and above China. While the genocide was in full swing last year, for example, Ireland was the largest buyer of Israeli integrated circuits, while the Tánaiste was Taoiseach, €3 billion worth of integrated circuits that are used ironically in our health system while the people of Gaza were having their health system destroyed. I will not even go into the companies that are here and benefitting and part of the genocide, but I will ask the Tánaiste to use the lever of Shannon Airport and our airspace. Shannon Airport has become in effect a logistical military hub for the US.
Sentiment score: 0.06
It has become a significant transit point for the US military since 9/11. The RTÉ news data, for example, reported 2,000 applications for exemptions, of which only 0.1% were refused. Literally millions of US troops have passed through Shannon Airport in the past 20 years.
Sentiment score: -0.03
Shannon Airport is a de facto military base and the US is financing the genocide on Gaza. Will the Tánaiste pull that lever and stop the US army from using Shannon Airport?
Sentiment score: -0.15
I did not say that.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You are, but I did not say it.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Stick to the question on the occupied territories Bill.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The point of my contribution was that we are the second biggest trader with Israel. It is worth €3.3 billion. The occupied territories Bill is a fraction of that. It is a welcome step. The question is why the Government is not moving forward the whole occupied territories Bill that was originally proposed in the Dáil six years ago. It was unanimously or certainly overwhelmingly supported. Fianna Fáil brought it in and was cheering and whooping about it. The Government has the chance to bring in the whole Bill. There is no legal impediment to doing so that the Government has identified. Why not introduce Frances Black's full Bill? It would have been much quicker. The word "complicity" means that you are involved in something or you know something is wrong and do not do anything about it.
Sentiment score: 0.11
For 20 months, we have all known that what has been going on is wrong and very little has been done by Ireland-----
Sentiment score: -0.48
-----to use the levers. The levers are there, but is the Government willing to pull them?
Sentiment score: 0.00
The first lever is the occupied territories Bill. The Government needs to move it and make sure the Bill gets in before the recess. However, there are other issues such as Shannon Airport and the Bill on the Israeli war bonds, which the Tánaiste and members of Government voted down. The bar is low in the EU. There is no point in comparing yourself to them.
Sentiment score: -0.17
This is about a neutral country standing up for the people of Palestine.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You are collaborators with the Israeli regime.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You are seen as that by Palestinians.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Talk to Palestinians.
Sentiment score: 0.00