There’s been a call for the Tánaiste to come before the Seanad to answer questions on what action he is taking to help protect the lives of innocent people of Gaza and Irish humanitarian aid workers.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly says
“Last December, Simon Harris stated in an interview that he thought that pretty much all parties in the general election were committed to passing the occupied territories Bill, or a form of the occupied territories Bill, but despite his comments, we wait in limbo as no material action has taken place. Israel is committing war crimes by bombing hospitals in Gaza and an Irish Doctor has spoken of the atrocities he has witnessed”.
“Cavan native and surgeon, Dr. Morgan McMonagle, has thankfully returned home safely following a term in Gaza acting as a humanitarian worker in Nasser hospital. He has spoken about the horrors he witnessed. He is a brave and fearless man , who put his own life at risk to help others suffering in horrendous circumstances.
Dr. McMonagle spoke graphically of how the majority of those who were killed by these Israeli strikes on hospitals were children. The youngest child he pronounced dead was four or five months old. The latest figures we saw this week were that 40% of those killed were under the age of 14”.
“Civilians are coming to these hospitals looking for aid and safety. Instead, they are being met with sustained airstrikes and threats to their lives. Dr. McMonagle described, after a recent airstrike, how he and his colleagues spent 20 minutes pronouncing people dead. How can we stand by and allow this bloodshed to continue?
“This is just horrific and sadly, some people are becoming desensitised to the abject misery, suffering and horrendous injustices being meted out to the helpless people of Gaza. Some 20,000 little children have died which is unconscionable. The people are being absolutely slaughtered and the world watches. The feeling of helplessness is horrendous.
Simon Harris has made several pronouncements about the situation in Gaza. I would like to hear concrete evidence from him on just exactly what he has done to try and help end the horrors in the region.
We need to use our own experience in peace negotiations to try to bring an end to the conflict between Palestine and Israel. We should be actively using that record as a catalyst for a just and sustainable peace.
