“Palestinian people have a right to resist the occupation” - Irish politician cuts through Israeli spin
Since Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine almost every journalist and politican has spoken at length about the right of nations to resist occupation. However that is a right that seems to be forgotten about when we talk about the 75 years of occupation of Palestine. As Israel unleashes hell, cutting off food and water to 2 million people in Gaza, these war crimes are being excused by right-wing politicians and journalists the world over.
That’s why it was so inspiring to see Irish People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy cut through the propaganda from the Israeli government on the very popular Newstalk Breakfast show this morning. In just a few short minutes Paul highlights the hypocrisy of the USA and the brutality of the Israeli government.
Paul has long been a voice against the occupation of Palestine, from his time as an MEP, when he visited Gaza and was imprisoned by the Israeli state in 2011 right to his work in the Dail in recent years.
Rupture will hopefully be covering the latest war on Gaza in the coming days and weeks, but in the meantime, we share below the transcript from this interview. We would also like to bring readers’ attention to a very informative thread by Rupture editor Cian Prendiville on Twitter, documenting Israel’s long history of murdering peaceful protesters, and giving a bit of background to the current events.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
Let's bring in Paul Murphy now, People Before Profit, TD. Paul, we'll get to what's happening in Gaza in a second. But first off, do you condemn the Hamas attacks at the weekend?
Paul Murphy TD
Well, it's interesting. You just had a spokesperson on for the Israeli government, which has openly declared that they're committing war crimes right now in Gaza by targeting the population of Gaza, over two million people for collective punishment by cutting off food, water, medicine and electricity. And you didn't ask him, who was actually a representative of the government, to condemn those actions.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
He was hardly going to condemn his own government's actions. That's a ridiculous point, Paul, with all due respect.
Paul Murphy TD
But I think that's precisely the problem. Of course, the loss of any life is to be regretted. But the idea of turning the tables here and attempting to present the victims of oppression as the problem for fighting back, I think, is the problem with the whole framing of the debate.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
Yeah, I think you'll find I challenged this spokesperson from the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs as well, as is my job. And I'm asking you a straightforward question. Do you condemn the Hamas attacks at the weekend? Men, women and children at a festival were shot dead, were kidnapped. Surely it's unthinkable. My question is a simple one, do you condemn those attacks?
Paul Murphy TD
It is, and war is absolutely horrible. And we are seeing a tiny glimpse of what the Palestinians face, what the people of Gaza have faced for the past 15 years. I mean, what a joke, that spokesperson trying to claim that they want to live happily alongside the people of Gaza. I've visited Gaza. I have seen 10 years ago the conditions of extreme poverty that people are living in crammed together with the scars of war all across these densely packed cities where they're subjected regularly to bombardment and subject already to a siege that was in place.
Now they've announced a super siege, but you have a policy pursued by the Israeli State of conscious Apartheid, of conscious discrimination. That's recognized by Amnesty, recognized by Human Rights Watch. It is a policy of ethnic cleansing, of attempting to drive Palestinians out of the area in order to not recognize the right of Palestinians.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
Absolutely. Does that justify what happened at the weekend? Does that justify attacking and murdering kids at a rock festival? I mean, Israeli equivalent of the Electric Picnic, for example.
Paul Murphy TD
I don't think it's a question of justification. It's a point that if you cage people for 15 years, as they've done to the people of Gaza, people are going to fight back. And people tried.
Let's be clear in March 2018, there was a March of Great Return where people from Gaza peacefully marched to these checkpoints and were mowed down by Israeli bullets. Over 200 people were killed, 46 children. These are completely innocent, peaceful protesters. Over 8,000 people injured.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
And that was widely condemned. That was widely condemned internationally.
Paul Murphy TD
It may have been condemned internationally, but US imperialism continued to give three billion dollars a year in military aid. The EU continued to integrate Israel into the European economy and provide a huge level of financial support. So it may be condemned in words, but in reality, the so-called international community continued to turn a blind eye to the oppression, the mistreatment, the discrimination against Palestinians.
Everyone now across the world recognizes the right of Ukrainians to resist the occupation of Russia. But similarly, Palestinian people have a right to resist the occupation, and the responsibility for that resistance lies with the occupiers, it doesn't lie with those who are resisting.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
I think most people listening to this this morning, just as a final question, will say there's wrong on both sides here. Do you accept that?
Paul Murphy TD
But I think this is not a conflict of equals. It is not we have two bads and two different.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
I didn't suggest it was.
Paul Murphy TD
But that's the problem with that sort of narrative.
I think the answer here, the only solution is for an end to the Siege of Gaza, an end to the bombardment, which is currently happening.
The idea that they're just targeting Hamas infrastructure is a joke. You can go onto Benjamin Netanyahu's Twitter and see him proudly sharing pictures of residential buildings being targeted. That's who is being targeted right now.
And we need an end to the occupation of Palestine. That's the solution here. That's what needs to happen, and that's what I'm going to emphasize whenever I get a chance, because otherwise this all just gets disappeared in 'all killings are bad' and so on. Of course, but let's look at the reality of this conflict. I mean, 95% of victims over the past 20 years in this conflict are Palestinians, and now there's an attempt to spin it in a different and inaccurate way. And I think we have to call that out.
Shane Coleman, Newstalk
Paul Murphy, People Before Profit TD, thank you for talking to Newstalk Breakfast.