President Michael D Higgins has stated that labelling those who criticise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies as anti-Semitic is “a slander against Ireland”, reports RTE.
“If you criticise Netanyahu’s policies you are then described as being anti-Semitic. That is a disgrace and a slander and it has been a slander against Ireland, against individuals, including myself, people who for example who have worked all their lives in relation to human rights activity,” President Higgins said, reports RTE.
Speaking at Bord Bia Bloom, he remarked that a propaganda effort targeting Ireland is underway in the United States.
“When we are seeking to have meetings with people who are investing in Ireland, they’re being contacted in advance with a suggestion saying, ‘you must open by asking why is Ireland so against the US position on Israel’?”
The President added that Irish citizens are particularly well-informed about Middle Eastern affairs, reports RTE.
He credited this awareness in part to Irish families whose children served on peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and other areas, and who returned home to share their firsthand experiences.
On the ongoing crisis in Gaza, he said: “81% of people have been displaced, they have been put into temporary accommodation that has been bombed, their soil is being destroyed, the hospitals have been bombed, reports RTE.
“It breaks my heart to think there are nine countries who are still holding back on even a ceasefire,” he continued, reports RTE.
President Higgins recalled his own 2006 trip to Gaza, during which he observed how vital local bakeries were to residents.
He also criticised the recently troubled US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, following the resignation of its executive director.
He remarked that branded products are being distributed as aid in Gaza, aimed at paving the way for a future private retail sector, reports RTE.
“Imagine giving a starving person, something wrapped in your own brand so that you will have opportunities in the future,” reports RTE.
He reiterated a proposal he made during the national famine commemoration, urging the UN General Assembly to step in if the Security Council fails to act on Gaza.
“The proposal I made at the famine commemoration in Kilmallock, there is an opportunity for the General Assembly if the Security Council doesn’t act, the General Assembly can, on special measures for peace, it can have a special session and it can override the Security Council, reports RTE.
He pointed out that this measure has been used 11 times in the past, and that the time has come for it to be used again.
“Today is the day for food and medical aid and water to be made available and I salute all those who are trying to do that,” reports RTE.
Elsewhere, Tánaiste Simon Harris criticised Independent TD Catherine Connolly, accusing her of “throwing brickbats” at him during a Dáil discussion on Gaza.
During the debate, Deputy Connolly asked, “How have we let this happen?” as she described the devastation in Gaza, reports RTE.
She argued that a long-standing false narrative has been accepted — “that Jewish people were people without a land, and Palestine was a land without a people”.
“What Israel is doing is genocide,” Mr Harris replied, reports RTE.
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