mr president listening to the debate it is difficult to know what report some of the speakers have read
it is certainly not the one i have read
israel denies this parliament its democratic right to meet palestinian legislative council members in gaza and denies our foreign ministers access
a hamas militant has been murdered most likely by israeli agents using forged european passports thus breaching irish british french german and dubai sovereignty
israel is treating us with contempt which is not surprising given the impunity with which it continues to infringe the rights of millions of palestinians
the acid test of our commitment to human rights and the rule of law is our response to the goldstone report which found that the siege of gaza is collective punishment of the population and that operation cast lead was to further that policy
it found evidence of wilful torture inhumane treatment and wilful causing of great human suffering
the report recommends going to the international criminal court and that the quartet should insist on the rule of law
i support goldstone's call on member state parties to the geneva conventions including ireland i have to say to start criminal prosecutions in national courts against the alleged perpetrators of war crimes
could i just make one correction before i conclude which is that it has been claimed repeatedly that this report does not deal with the firing of rockets into israel by hamas
however on page thirty-one the report mentions the impact on civilians of rocket and mortar attacks by palestinian armed groups on southern israel
