IRELAND/ISRAEL: A Fianna Fáil senator has called for a boycott of Israeli goods after the attack last week at a refugee camp in Rafah on the Gaza Strip.
Senator Terry Leyden said a boycott was the "only action" that could have an effect on current events in Gaza and drew parallels with the boycott of South African goods by Dunnes Stores workers during the apartheid regime.
"The boycott involving Dunnes Stores workers helped to bring down the South African regime. It is time that other workers decided to boycott all Israeli goods until Israel recognises the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
A spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy in Dublin responded by saying the matter "would best be discussed directly and in private and not through the media". She added: "We would willing to meet with the respected senator."