Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Ruth Coppinger (PBP), Dublin West

I want to raise the Government's total inaction on the issue of Palestine. We have just heard the Minister talking about aid, recognising the Palestinian state and of trying to get a motion passed in the EU. These are the three things the Minister mentioned. The Minister did not mention a single sanction. I will raise a number of things the Government could be doing. In her role, it must be exhausting for the Minister trying to come up with new excuses about the occupied territories Bill with some new reason each time as to why it cannot be passed eight years on, when 350 lawyers have already signed a statement saying that it is perfectly in order.
I want to raise the plight of the people who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla. As the Minister will know, Israeli naval forces attacked the flotilla off the coast of Greece and 180 unarmed humanitarian workers were kidnapped and assaulted. Two of them, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abu Keshek were abducted and are now detained in Israel and being tortured. I would fear for their lives. Thiago's mother has just died. Some 22 Irish people took part in the flotilla, of whom seven were also abducted by Israeli forces in international waters 1,000 km off Israeli territory and near an EU state. Three are in Greece continuing the flotilla. Martin Guilfoyle aged 75 had a gun put to his head. Catriona Graham said she was cable tied, manhandled and left without adequate food or water. They were dumped in Greece and the Greek authorities would not even help them either. Why are Irish people willing to take these risks? They are willing to do it because the flotilla was a response to the inaction of the Irish Government, of the EU state and of international states.
What exactly is Ireland's position on Israel? In theory we support the Palestinian people but in practice it is a litany of inaction. Let us consider the occupied territories Bill, for which the Minister has invented new excuses. Slovenia passed a similar Bill last August and Spain has followed suit. What is the problem with Ireland? Why are we so different? As I said, it must be exhausting. In regard to Shannon Airport, under the Minister's watch, there was a 56% surge in US military overflights last month, which coincided with the attacks on Iran and Lebanon. The Minister sees no connection between the two things and there are verbal gymnastics when she is asked to condemn these acts. When people say academic links should be ended, the Minister constantly says we should separate the two, even though the university links are with companies that are involved in the military assaults. Even with the Ireland and Israel match, the Government is pushing players to participate in that when it knows the Israeli team is steeped in apartheid, in racism and in the IDF itself. When will the Government sanction Israel?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07