Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 28 May 2024

Goel maaigat, Laos Cairn Comhairle. We teach life, sir. We Palestinians teach life after they have occupied the last sky. We teach life after they have built their settlements and apartheid walls after the last skies. We Palestinians wake up every morning to teach the rest of the world life, sir. These are the words of Palestinian poet Rafif Zayada, words that powerfully capture the cry of Palestine to the world. A cry that has reverberated for generations. See us, hear us, stand with us, vindicate our nation and our people, recognise us. Today, the Irish government at last responds to that cry for justice and becomes one of the first Western European countries to recognise the state of Palestine. The people of Ireland have always stood with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, self-determination, human dignity and peace. Conscious of our own history of colonisation, of oppression, dispossession, famine and partition. A history that has ingrained in the collective consciousness the impetus to confront injustice and inequality and human rights abuse across the world. So today we say again to the Palestinian people, you are not alone. Ireland recognises you, your people and your right to nationhood. We stand on the side of justice, of freedom, on the side of a just and durable, lasting peace. Ireland's recognition of the Palestinian state comes as the people of Gaza endure the darkest of moments, as they continue to endure horror on an unimaginable scale. As world leaders continue to draw a false equivalence between the impoverished occupied and the oppressive occupier. By recognising the state of Palestine, we recognise the right of Palestinians to their homeland. The right of Palestinians to a future free of oppression and war. We recognise the human rights of the Palestinian people to exist as equals in this world. Today's announcement has been a long time coming, too long. Ten years ago, the Dáil voted unanimously in favour of a Sinn Féin motion to recognise the state of Palestine. A decade ago, we had cross-party support for this. It shouldn't have taken us this long to get here. But of course, it is never too late to do the right thing. And this is the right and the just thing. I want to welcome and to acknowledge the incredible work of the current Palestinian ambassador and of all her predecessors. Long before I was ever elected to the Dáil, I stood with so many others outside the gates of Leinster House, calling on, imploring the government and the European Union to deliver justice for Palestine and its people. Activists have been constant in their commitment to Palestine. Relentlessly pushing, standing their ground, standing up for what is right, never giving up, slowly and surely changing the conversation. So I want to pay special tribute to activists the length and breadth of this country and beyond, who for decades have marched, protested and rallied in solidarity with Palestine and whose steadfast effort has brought us to this day. The Palestinian struggle has gone on for generations. The catastrophe of Nakba was only the start. 76 years, the story of Palestine has been one of colonisation, occupation, apartheid, violent, brutal human rights atrocities at the hands of the Israeli state and its ferocious military. Daily oppression that saw Palestinians killed, jailed, tortured and forced from their lands. Homes, schools, health facilities bulldozed to the ground as illegal settlers violently overtake Palestinian lands and villages in direct violation of international law. Palestine is a nation threatened by annihilation. The world was always going to face a moment of reckoning on Palestine. As Israel continues its brutal onslaught on the refugee population of Gaza and launches horrific missile attacks on Rafa, I believe the moment of reckoning is now. Rafa is the place where hundreds of thousands of Gazans were forcefully displaced in the wakes of Israel's initial bombardment. There is nowhere left for them to flee, nowhere left to go. They are trapped. And on Sunday, Israel bombed a refugee tent camp and took countless lives. They described it as a tragic mistake. Today, we have reported that seven more lives have been taken in Israeli airstrikes in Rafa. And there will be more slaughter unless Israel is confronted by the world. The life of a Palestinian child is worth the same as a child anywhere else in the world. But we ask, where is the protection of international law for every child killed in Gaza? For every child who will be killed in Rafa? We have all seen the images of heartbroken Palestinian mothers inconsolably weeping over their dead children. Their entire world collapsed forever into tiny white sheets. Fathers desperately digging their children out of rubble, knowing that they have breathed their last. Little boys and little girls horrifically injured, covered in debris, being rushed to hospitals that are overwhelmed with the maimed and the dying. This is a criminal war on the young. Half of Gaza's population is under the age of 18. If you are a child of the age of 11 in Gaza, you have already endured four Israeli military bombardments. For eight months, Netanyahu has conducted a war on children, and the world has looked the other way. This annihilation is the cruel crescendo of 76 years of occupation and apartheid. Since October, almost 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, 15,000 children. So, this is not a moment of an intense disagreement between states. Rather, this is a moment of catastrophe, of savagery, of an Israel that has brazenly, repeatedly broken every international law, has acted with impunity, and as of yet, has not been held to account. And for this to stop, the international community has to act. The European Union, Britain, the United States of America must remove political support, end preferential treatment for Israel as it perpetrates crimes against the Palestinians with impunity. They must stop funding and arming the Israeli military machine as it commits genocide in Palestine. The ordinary of people of Europe, I believe, do not want a European Commission that shamefully endorses Israel's action. And I am conscious we will have a new European Parliament and a new Commission. And I do not believe that a European Commission or a President of the Commission can condone the actions of Israel. Rather, they must confront them. And Ireland must insist, all of us, insist on that point. Today, along with Spain and Norway, we take a lead. But recognition of the Palestinian state can't be the end. It has to be just a beginning. A new departure in pursuing freedom and justice for the Palestinians. The Irish government must now follow recognition by enacting the Occupied Territories Bill. And we have Senator Francis Black joining us here. And the Israeli illegal settlement divestment bill brought forward by my colleague Deputy Brady. We also have to take the lead in the European Union pushing for sanctions against Israel. Holding Israel to account by joining the ICJ genocide case. Israel, for now, turns its case face not alone against peace, but against the rule of international law. And therefore, a movement against apartheid in Palestine with the same momentum and the same drive as the movement against South African apartheid is, I believe, essential. I believe it is vital to secure the enforcement of international law. We need, of course, an immediate ceasefire. We need the return of all hostages. The renewal of a peace process grounded in international law. This is the only way the children of Palestine and Israel can have the future of peace they deserve. Young people in particular have stepped forward, standing for the cause of Palestinian freedom. They have marched in cities and towns throughout Ireland and the world, calling for an end to the slaughter and an immediate ceasefire. On college campuses throughout the world, they have stood together against Israeli war crimes. And world leaders must now listen to the voices of the young, because this generation is right. Our recognition of the Palestinian state is an important moment, but the real power of today will only be defined by what happens next. This must be Ireland's first step in pushing for an end to Israeli occupation, apartheid, an end to their human rights violations. Because Palestinians wake up every day, not knowing if it will be their last. Palestinians wake up every day to teach the rest of the world life. They cry out for freedom, for justice, for human dignity. They cry out for life. And Ireland and the world must see that they have it. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.