Israel, have you no shame?

Seán Ó Briain
Ógra Shinn Féin
Waterford

Aware that a Flotilla of aid was soon to reach Gaza – I woke this morning, expecting some updates on it's progress. What I read sickened me to my very core.

For the past few days, a convoy of ships had been travelling towards Gaza. Their intent was to break Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza waters, and to deliver much needed aid to Gaza. I understood that Israel had already made the decision to engage aggressively, when a few days ago – an Israeli spokesperson made a statement hoping that "the international community would understand Israel's response.”

Israel's intentions were set in stone, before the Flotilla even set sail.



So when I woke this morning to find out that Israel had murdered innocent aid activists, my concerns were confirmed. Reports are currently estimating between 10-20 humanitarian activists were killed.

While the English language may have 250,000 words – None of them can express the depths of how repulsively immoral Israel's actions are.

Israel's propaganda campaign began before the Flotilla set sail. They claimed that the Flotilla was unncessessary, on account of Israel already allowing sufficient aid into the region. They asked the international community to understand their response, before the ships even set sail. Israel knew exactly what it was doing, and was not going to let humanitarian activists affect Israel's illegal control over Gaza waters.

The UN Human Rights Council issued a statement countering these claims stating that “the blockade keeps undermining human rights on a daily basis." further adding that "the current situation falls far short of what is necessary for the population to lead normal and dignified lives”.

Israel, and Rupert Murdoch's media will certainly put forward the idea that these humantiarian activists attacked the Israeli Defense Forces first – but I think, and hope that the world will be wiser and see through the propaganda and lies, for what really happened.

It's time for Ireland and indeed, the whole world to send a clear message to Israel. We are calling on the Irish Government to make a strong statement to Israel and without hesitation, end diplomacy with the state. We are calling on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin to deport the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland.