The idea that we should quantify the compensation for the damage done by Putin's brutal and illegal war against Ukraine and that the bill should be sent to Putin and the Russian regime is absolutely right and proper. It is an imperialist war being waged by Putin and has been from the outset. It is criminal and without justification. As well as the immense human damage done - probably in excess of 100,000 lives have been lost - there has also undoubtedly been huge damage done for which the Russian regime and the people who preside over it should have to pay the bill. I certainly would have no problem if the assets of the oligarchs and Putin's coterie of hangers-on had to pick up the bill and that those assets would be used to pay the bill due to ordinary Ukrainians who suffer the consequences of this terrible war. It is an entirely reasonable proposition. However, I must say that when you see the determination with which the Irish Government and all the members of the European Union pursue the rightful demand for accountability for the Russian regime for the crimes it has committed against the Ukrainian people and yet see it fail, in the most brazen way, to do the same when it comes to Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people, you cannot help but be absolutely infuriated at the hypocrisy and the double standards of the European Union. You call into question whether they are even concerned about the crimes done to the Ukrainian people. If it is a crime to launch an illegal war against the people of Ukraine, which it is, and if it is a crime to occupy their lands and kill nearly 100,000 people, surely it is the same when Israel does it to the Palestinians. Such is the extent of the crimes that Israel has committed against the Palestinians that it is now in the dock for genocide, the greatest of all possible crimes, as well as for multiple breaches of international law, the commission of crimes against humanity, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, instigating yet another war against the people of Lebanon, bombing Iran and putting the entire region on fire to such a degree that even ordinary people in this country cannot pay their bills because of the crimes that Israel is committing. Yet, the same European Union that professes to be horrified by the crimes of the Putin regime not only does not impose sanctions on Israel for crimes that are as bad or worse but gives favoured trade status to the Israeli regime and gives economic privileges to the regime that is committing those crimes against the Palestinian people on an ongoing basis. The hypocrisy and double standards are staggering. They are beyond belief. The Minister of State might be interested to know that I was just on the phone with an Irish citizen who is on the flotilla and who is very scared. He asked me to tell the Minister of State that he is scared. He is on the same boat as the sister of President Catherine Connolly. He said they are frightened about what is coming down the line. Two of the leaders of the Global Sumud Flotilla are being kept in detention in an Israeli prison. We are talking about a regime where the wife of one of the Ministers gave him a cake in the shape of a noose to celebrate the idea that they are going to hang lots of Palestinians because they are Palestinians resisting the Israeli occupation. Think about the horrific nature of this regime. The man on the flotilla asked me to ask the Minister of State what the Government is doing about these violations of international maritime law, where there is kidnapping, piracy and so on, to add to all the crimes that Israel is committing. Yet, the European Union does not sanction Israel for it and does not seize its assets. Why are we not seizing its assets for those crimes against our citizens? We have often given money to Palestinians and then Israel blows to bits schools and all sorts of infrastructure into which European money has gone. However, we do not sanction Israel even though we are required to under the Genocide Convention. We continue to extend favoured trade status to Israel. It is absolutely unbelievable. It makes me think that the motivation of the people who run the European Union has nothing to do with the things they say motivate them when they talk about how horrible the occupation of Ukraine is. It is horrible. It makes me think it is not morality that is driving them because if it were morality or concern for the innocent victims of war, illegal military aggression and crimes against humanity, surely it would extend to other people but it does not. Then you ask what is the real motivation here. Is it that Europe is only concerned with its sphere of influence and is guilty of exactly the same crime as Putin is guilty of and that it is now very obvious that Donald Trump is guilty of? It has a policy of saying that it has the right to control South and Latin America, Cuba and Greenland because that is its sphere of influence and it will take out governments if necessary and threaten to attack people in its sphere of influence. Putin does it. Israel, a US ally and an ally of many in the European Union, is doing the bidding of certain European powers. Therefore, not only will we not sanction them, we will extend them favoured trade status. It is all hypocrisy. All of the moral outrage expressed about Putin is actually nonsense because what is actually motivating the European powers is their own strategic self interest. It does not suit them to impose sanctions on Israel because in the twisted world they inhabit, they see Israel as essentially a colonial outpost. That is, of course, what it is and always has been. It is a colonial outpost to serve the interests of western powers and if the Palestinian people have to suffer genocide because of that sort of colonial project to control and dominate the region, so be it. The people of Ukraine deserve compensation but so do all victims of the same crimes, including the Palestinians. It is very obvious that the European Union is not concerned or motivated by a humanitarian principle or moral principle. It is riddled with double standards and hypocrisy.

Sentiment score: -0.23