Paul Murphy: Demands Legal Observers as UN Finds Gaza Genocide
Paul Murphy condemned Israel's actions in Gaza, saying the UN Commission has found genocide and accusing the government of verbal recognition without meaningful action. He urged the government to send a legal observer to the Global Samud Flotilla, noting over 20 Irish citizens are aboard and that boats suffered two drone attacks.
The speaker said the UN Commission has now found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that this has been obvious over the last almost two years. He described the ongoing so-called ground offensive into Gaza city as meaning the murder of men, women and children and pointed to the slaughter of children and the destruction of housing, schools and health facilities.
Paul Murphy said the government has recognised the genocide in words but failed to act like there is a genocide, accusing it of "hearing no evil and seeing no evil" about thousands of tons of munitions allegedly transiting national airspace. He also accused the government of trying to water down the occupied territories bill and of prioritising political division over focusing on atrocities in Gaza.
The speaker described the Global Samud Flotilla as a people's attempt to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza and said there are over 20 Irish citizens on board. He noted two drone attacks on boats in the flotilla and asked whether the government would send a legal observer to observe and provide some security for those Irish citizens and others.
Paul Murphy acknowledged that the government has taken initiatives to try to create leverage and pressure on Israel to stop the war and on Hamas to release hostages, saying the condition of those hostages is shocking. He reiterated that the scale of civilian slaughter and destruction described by the UN Commission amounts to genocidal behaviour and pressed for stronger action.
UN findings and allegations of genocide
The speaker said the UN Commission has now found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that this has been obvious over the last almost two years. He described the ongoing so-called ground offensive into Gaza city as meaning the murder of men, women and children and pointed to the slaughter of children and the destruction of housing, schools and health facilities.
Government response criticised
Paul Murphy said the government has recognised the genocide in words but failed to act like there is a genocide, accusing it of "hearing no evil and seeing no evil" about thousands of tons of munitions allegedly transiting national airspace. He also accused the government of trying to water down the occupied territories bill and of prioritising political division over focusing on atrocities in Gaza.
Global Samud Flotilla and Irish citizens
The speaker described the Global Samud Flotilla as a people's attempt to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza and said there are over 20 Irish citizens on board. He noted two drone attacks on boats in the flotilla and asked whether the government would send a legal observer to observe and provide some security for those Irish citizens and others.
Pressure on parties and the hostages
Paul Murphy acknowledged that the government has taken initiatives to try to create leverage and pressure on Israel to stop the war and on Hamas to release hostages, saying the condition of those hostages is shocking. He reiterated that the scale of civilian slaughter and destruction described by the UN Commission amounts to genocidal behaviour and pressed for stronger action.
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Transcript
The UN Commission has now found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, which was obvious to anyone with eyes to see over the course of the last almost two years. At the moment, the so-called ground offensive into Gaza city is continuing. It means the murder of men, women and children. This government thankfully has recognised the genocide in words, but you have failed to act like there is a genocide. You continue to hear no evil and see no evil when it comes to thousands of tons of munitions illegally going through our airspace on the way to Israel, and you continue to try to water down the occupied territories bill. Because of the failure of Western governments and because of the complicity of many, it is people themselves who are taking matters into their own hands. The Global Samud Flotilla is an attempt to do that, to open a people's humanitarian corridor to Gaza. There are over 20 Irish citizens on board at the moment, and yet the government said nothing when there were two drone attacks on boats in that flotilla. Will you send a legal observer not to participate in the flotilla, but to observe it and provide some security for those Irish citizens and others? I don't accept your assessment of the government's response to the genocide in Gaza and the appalling carnage and slaughter of innocent children and innocent civilians. I think you have from the get-go, it seems to me that your primary focus has been to drive a wedge between the Irish people and the government as opposed to focusing on the atrocities within Gaza themselves and the responsibility of the Israeli government in respect of those atrocities. You throw a language about with a carelessness that I think is unacceptable, complicit in this, complicit in that, you say. This government has, on a whole range of fronts, taken initiatives in respect of endeavouring to create leverage and pressure on Israel to stop the war, and also on Hamas to release all of the hostages, which should be done. The condition of those hostages now is quite shocking. But the slaughter of innocent children and the slaughter of residential units, of housing, of schools, of health, all point, as the UN Commission has said, to genocide behaviour. Deputy Michael Collins, Deputy Michael Collins.