I begin by saying that the genocide in Gaza and the resulting inaction and silence by the EU made it quite clear to Israel and Trump's America that they had a free hand to do whatever they liked in the region, causing an unprovoked war of aggression that has caused chaos right across the Middle East and left an untold number of dead. Yes, we have seen horrifying reports of crackdowns on recent protests in Iran, and any loss of life when protesting for greater democratic rights and freedoms is to be condemned. That does not justify the slaughter of further innocents by foreign airstrikes, however. There can be no moral high ground in this regard, especially when three generations of a family were wiped out to take out a foreign leader. This took place against the backdrop of negotiations to achieve a new nuclear deal, something which the world had been crying out for since Donald Trump tore up the first deal to appear strong on foreign relations to his audience on Fox News. Just three days before US-Israeli strikes, the Omani foreign minister said that significant progress had been achieved but then bombs landed in Tehran and across Iran. That included the bombing of a school, as the Minister mentioned, in Minab that left at least 160 innocent children, and their loved ones waiting to collect them, dead. Days later, the Americans and Israelis still collectively deny their hand in the slaughter. We are supposed to believe that these killers are investigating the source. They only have to look at their high-tech satellites that were covering Iran that day and they will know in minutes. That is what we have created by standing back and being too cowardly to say, "Stop. No more". We have allowed a normalisation of this behaviour that has eroded international norms and literally blown apart any semblance of the observation of international law. A decapitation strike against the Iranian leadership is not an action of countries interested in reaching a peaceful resolution to nuclear proliferation. Rather, it is the action of an emboldened and rogue nation that thinks it can do whatever it wants because there will be no real consequences. If a country is truly serious about negotiations, it does not wipe out the negotiators or as many of the leaders as it can find. For decades, Israel wanted a US President to launch these types of attacks against Iran, and now Netanyahu has one. An Iranian frigate was torpedoed off the Sri Lankan coast, despite posing no threat to Israel or the US. The US sunk it with all hands and the submarine responsible did not even pause to help the survivors. It was decided that leaving sailors to drown was a war crime a long time ago, yet Trump's spokespersons are bragging about it now. The Spanish have shown us real moral leadership in the past few days. The refusal to be a part of the killing shows a backbone entirely absent when it comes to the use of Shannon Airport. An Taoiseach travels to Washington in one week. It is imperative that Ireland is not used to lend legitimacy to this war of aggression that has brought destruction across the Middle East. There can be no repeat of last year’s laughing and carry on in the Oval Office while civilians right across the Middle East, including many Irish expats and holidaymakers, are waiting in suspended terror for the next air raid siren to blow. We must use whatever leverage we have in both the EU and UN to bring an immediate end to this conflict before more lives are lost. We must bring the apartheid State of Israel to account for its destabilising influence across the whole region by a cancellation of the association agreement that allows it to trade with the EU. We failed to do so when it murdered over 100,000 innocent people and children in Gaza or when it levelled and ethnically cleansed villages and towns. When was the last time the Government spoke about the man-made famine in and blockade of Gaza? A peace deal is broken every day when people go without the basics, like water, food and shelter. Israel has now drawn the whole region into the conflict. Who is next? What is next? We cannot afford to stand back this time. We cannot afford to wash our hands of it when we will be standing in the midst of an American President who has facilitated a genocide so that a holiday resort can be erected on top of Gazan graves. We must work in the UN to achieve a resolution for an immediate ceasefire and do what we can to show Israel that its actions are unacceptable.

Sentiment score: -0.13