Seanad ReportA boycott of Israeli goods might be a way to bring home to that country's government the depth of feeling here about what was being done to the Palestinians by the Israeli army, the Leader of the House, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said.
Members on all sides of the House strongly condemned the killing of civilians in the Rafah refugee camp last Wednesday.
Mr Labhrás Ó Murchú (FF) said that the war crimes being perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people would shock the whole world. "I think it is important for us and for all nations to express to Israel that of all of the nations on Earth, they should be wary about engaging in activities that could be perceived as being genocidal in their own right."
Adding his voice of condemnation to "the slaughter of the innocents" in Rafah, Mr Terry Leyden (FF) said that the special status of Israel in relation to the EU should be withdrawn. He believed that a boycott of Israeli goods should also be undertaken along the lines of the Dunnes Stores workers' action which had helped to bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa. "I think it's about time that other workers decided to boycott all Israeli goods until they recognise the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
Calling for an early debate on events in the Middle East, Mr David Norris (Ind) said that small children had been blown to smithereens by American forces at a wedding celebration in Iraq.
The invitation to President Bush, "a war criminal involved in war crimes", to visit Ireland next month should be withdrawn. "I don't think that man should be welcomed here."
What had happened in Rafah constituted war crimes and he had been horrified to hear an Israeli spokesman speak about weeding the garden. "Imagine the insensitivity of the language. Killing children is weeding the garden."
Mr Shane Ross (Ind) said he endorsed Mr Norris's sentiments, that George Bush should be given a pretty hot reception in this country. A debate would enable them to redefine this country's very complicated relationship with the US, a positive element of which was American investment in technology here. "But I don't think, in any way, that that should mean that we develop a political relationship on America where we would have to kowtow to their foreign policy."
Mr John Hanafin (FF) said it was a very strange policy to put people out of their homes and to leave an abiding memory to children of their houses being blown up behind them. "If you were to try to create trouble for the future, that's one sure way of doing it."
Ms O'Rourke said the phrase "weeding the garden" was really chilling. The long-running Dunnes Stores saga had had an effect in South Africa. "So, perhaps it's a point that could be considered."
Ms Sheila Terry (FG) complained that despite a statement by the Minister for Justice two weeks ago that the razor wire around Farmleigh was being removed, it was still in place.
The Leader of the House, Ms O'Rourke, said she would contact the office of Minister of State Tom Parlon about the matter.
The Irish Times had performed a real act of public service by producing its New Europe Supplement to mark the enlargement of the EU, Ms O'Rourke, said. Students had asked her to praise the supplement, which made very fine reading.
Ms O'Rourke said there had also been a good series in The Irish Times about the new Irish.
"It's been wonderful to read it. They have gone through all the nationalities which have settled here.
"It's been not just for students, but for anybody seeking to discern and to understand all of the nationalities that we have here now and all of which are contributing to a different Ireland."