If the Minister of State was the manager of an under-16 team and the manager of the other team called or made a racist comment about one of his players, what would he do? He would take his team off the pitch and he would tell the other team to get their act together before he would recommence. If someone stole the land of another and dispossessed them in their thousands, deliberately starved another nation, rained artillery upon them, shot footballers in the foot, used pitches as detention centres, shot 114 children in the head with single bullets, and justified this with a concept of self-defence that is unknown to jurisprudence and that would be ridiculous if it was not so unjust and enraging, would the Minister of State compromise his players and himself by continuing to play against this team? I do not think so. In January 2024, five-year-old Hind Rajab was trapped in a car alongside her aunt, uncle and four cousins who had all been shot and killed by the Israel Defense Forces, IDF. She spent five terrifying hours on the phone with rescue dispatchers pleading and begging for her life. Paramedics were killed when they tried to help. Eventually, of course, we know that she too was murdered by the IDF who later said that their troops were not within shooting range. No outcome of any investigation was ever published. Her body was recovered two weeks later. There is no accountability in Israel and there are no consequences for its enablers. We cannot continue business as usual with Israel. Suffering and trauma continues in Gaza and the West Bank. My town of Tralee is twinned with a town in the West Bank, Beit Sahour. People are killed queuing for food. Journalists are attacked and killed. Negotiators and peacemakers are killed. There is a hideous thing to be righted. We must show our detestation of the crime that is being committed. While a strike or a boycott might cost us much, what we might lose in points, penalties or fines, we will gain in self-respect and human dignity. The Minister of State must listen to the voices of supporters, read between the lines, listen to the players, listen to the voice of Hind Rajab and stop this game.

Sentiment score: -0.31