Seanad report: The Israeli government was castigated by all sides of the House over the killing of three Palestinian children in an attack on a target in the Gaza Strip and several members questioned the stance of the Irish Government on the continuing carnage.
Condemning "the slaughter of the innocents", Terry Leyden (FF) said that the Government here was standing idly by and allowing the Israelis to wipe out the Palestinians. "Someone has to shout 'stop' and it's time we took a more proactive lead in this particular regard as an independent Republic."
Brendan Ryan (Lab) said the Israelis had claimed that they were trying to kill two people who were part of the political organisation of the president of the Palestinian Authority.
"So, they are now assaulting both the president and Hamas, and the EU and Ireland are sitting back and saying Palestinian children don't count; Israeli children do count." He said this meant that we were effectively complicit in a form of institutionalised racism.
Labhrás Ó Murchú (FF) said the killing of the Palestinian children was official murder.
EU ambassador to Washington John Bruton seemed to have caught "the American infection" over the holding of people at Guantánamo, David Norris (Ind) said. His linguistic system appeared to have suffered some corruption. Mr Bruton had spoken in a radio interview yesterday of combatants taken in battle. "He was referring to the inmates at Guantánamo concentration camp."
He said the leader of the House should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs to get Mr Bruton to explain to the Irish people "in what battle was a taxi driver taken off a street in Afghanistan. Let us know what these battles are. Let's start talking realistically."