I acknowledge the work that Senator Black has done on this Bill over the past number of years. I commend her on getting it this far because she ran into so many obstacles on the way. In 2022, I was lucky enough to visit Palestine. I spent a fair bit of time there as part of a sports and cultural exchange. There were boxers from Belfast and Dublin taking part in the Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project with the shamrock being from Ireland and the olive tree being from Palestine. I saw the settlements at first hand. I could talk about how I was treated over there, but it is not about me. There is this idea of settlements and we think of the wagons across the prairie. They are not like that. They are fortified. They are on high ground. They have military members of the IDF armed looking down like imperialists on the Palestinian population below them. They have separate roads. There is not even a bump in the roads they are that well put together that only Israelis are allowed to drive on. Palestinian civilians are not allowed to drive on these roads. The Palestinians have restricted movements going from A to B because they are in these occupied territories. The thought of doing any business with these occupied territories, fortified institutions and these robbed and stolen lands sickens me to the core of my stomach. I do not just mean goods; I mean goods and services. We have spent eight years on this Bill. The Government dillyed, delayed and blocked. Now, in my opinion and most people's opinions, the Government has completely gutted this Bill. This is a cynical act by the Government. A total of 70% of trade between Ireland and the occupied territories is in services. What we are asking for is something very simple. We are asking for no trade in goods and services that originate in the occupied Palestinian territories, lands that have been stolen by military force by Israel.

Sentiment score: -0.04