The Social Democrats will bring a motion before the Dáil next week calling on the Government to finally act in response to Israel’s year-long genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Party leader Holly Cairns said:
“This Government has less than a week left in office and time is running out for Ireland to meaningfully act in the face of Israel’s brutal military onslaught, which has seen 150,000 people killed or injured in Gaza.
“Despite their repeated statements of condemnation, the Irish Government won’t even use the word genocide to describe the mass slaughter of Palestinians by Israeli forces. This is despite the fact that Ireland ratified the Genocide Convention in 1976.
“The Social Democrats offered the Government our Dáil time next week to allow for the enactment of the long overdue Occupied Territories Bill. Regrettably, but predictably, this offer was declined.
“Instead, we will now bring forward a motion next Thursday – in what are expected to be the final hours of the current administration – to ask the Dáil to agree that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide, and for the Government to take action to stop it. This means trade, travel and diplomatic sanctions, as well as a complete ban on Irish airspace being used for the transfer of weapons to Israel.
“With more than 43,000 now confirmed dead since this conflict began – two thirds of whom are women and children – we are watching a genocide unfold in front of our eyes while Western leaders sit idly by. What is it going to take for the world to act?”
November 1, 2024
NOTE: full text of Genocide in Gaza motion here