Remarks Addressing Emergency Motion on Palestine. Sinn Féin Ard Fheis 2023
In 1998 our peace settlement created new horizons for future generations.
Five years previously the Oslo Accords were agreed.
For the first time since 1948 Palestinians had some hope.
Immediately, successive Israeli governments started to undermine the negotiated 2 state solution.
Today in Palestine there is no peace process.
At this moment the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is causing unspeakable human devastation.
More than 25 thousand tonnes of bombs have been dropped.
Another Palestinian child will die as I speak.
Two weeks ago, I watched the horrific desperation of a mother in Al Shifa hospital.
She had lost her family and cried, ‘I wish I had never had children. We no longer need medical aid; we need more coffins’.
American and Israeli statements that the Palestinian death toll is not accurate, are depraved and devoid of any sense of humanity for Palestinian suffering.
We do not forget suffering experienced by Israeli families on 7 October and since.
But all lives are equal.
The ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of Palestinians is now Israeli government policy.
This is not a war of self defence. It is a war to defend the occupation.
And when western politicians refuse to admit that stopping water, power and medical supplies are war crimes, a new moral line has been crossed.
We are clear:
International law matters.
From the outset, Sinn Féin called for an immediate ceasefire, urgent humanitarian assistance, and a decisive international intervention.
Israel’s barbarity over the last 5 weeks must give way to a new momentum in support of international law, and the universal values of freedom, justice and equality.
That is what happened for South Africa.
It must now happen for Palestine.
The world has a choice to make.
To finally stand with the oppressed and dispossessed of Palestine, or not.
To assert that international law is paramount, or spectate while some world leaders trash the UN Charter.
Not another life should be lost in this war.
There is no military solution.
After nearly 100 years, Israel and the west need to understand the Palestinian spirit of resistance will not be defeated.
Politics, diplomacy and peace must prevail.
That is the lesson of conflict resolution in Ireland.
In the midst of the war here, engagement between enemies and opponents occurred.
Inclusive negotiations are the only way out of conflict.
When the fighting stops, enemies negotiate.
There is only one correct political and humanitarian position to take in Ireland and internationally.
This war must stop immediately and unconditional ceasefires should be called.
All hostages should be released.
Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank.
The siege of Gaza must end.
There needs to be an urgent resolution of the humanitarian crisis.
The dial of world opinion has shifted.
Israel must listen and step back from the edge.
All Palestinian and Israeli citizens are entitled to live in peace and security.
An international peace intervention is required: An independently chaired inclusive talks process should be established.
The injustice of Israeli oppression, occupation and apartheid in Palestine, must finish with this war.
It is time for the west to wake up to the new realities of this multipolar world.
The era of geo-political dominance by a cartel of western powers is over.
The global south will not accept the repression of Palestinians; and nor do we in Ireland.
Sinn Féin is committed to playing a constructive role in partnership with the Irish government, and other international partners to promote dialogue between all sides.
And, from this Ard Fheis we say to our Palestinian sisters and brothers.
From Gaza City to Khan Younis;
From Jenin to Hebron;
From Ramallah to East Jerusalem;
We see you:
We hear you:
You are not alone.
Here in Ireland, in our thousands and our millions, we are all Palestinian now.
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A specially recorded message to this Ard Fheis from Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, will now be broadcast.
The way these things work, what you don’t say is as important as what you do say. The words of the Remarks to the Ard Fheis are not objectionable, in and of themselves. What the Remarks fail to address is the question of whether Israel has a right to exist Yes, or no? The Remarks fault “successive Israeli goverments” for undernining the negotiated two state solution of the Oslo Accords. Arguable, perhaps. The Remarks fail to mention that Hamas always has opposed a two state solution. From Hamas’s creation, through Oslo, and to now. And that opposition has been militarily, as well as political.