Emotions run high as TDs discuss expulsion of Israeli ambassador 

Holly Cairns, TD, leader of the Social Democrats. The party tabled a motion to withdraw diplomatic status from the Israeli ambassador. Picture: Moya Nolan

"We are not animals, we have the right to medical treatment".

Holly Cairns' voice quivered — and it was not hard to see why — as she quoted Dr Hamam Alloh, who was Gaza's only nephrologist until he was killed along with his father at his home by Israeli forces. The Social Democrats leader was speaking during her party's motion to withdraw diplomatic status from the Israeli ambassador.

Dr Alloh had become well known in Western media and when, in his last interview, he was asked why he didn’t leave Gaza — for his own protection— Ms Cairns said he became emotional.

"He said 'And if I go who treats my patients? We are not animals. We have the right to receive proper healthcare. You think I went to medical school to think only about my life? And not my patients? This is not the reason why I became a doctor'."

The West is complicit in Dr Alloh’s murder, said the Social Democrats leader. "He leaves behind a wife and two young children."

Her party colleague Catherine Murphy said that a social media post had stuck with her where a father had said that "when you leave the hospital with your children in plastic bags, humanity is dead, the UN is dead".

'This has to stop now'

When Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore read out the numbers of those killed, it hit home.

"There have been 190 healthcare workers, 102 aid workers, 42 journalists, 1,200 Israelis, 240 Israeli hostages and more than 11,000 Palestinians and 4,650 Palestinian children killed in a mere 40 days. It is time to shout 'stop'. This has to stop now. There is a responsibility on each of us to do whatever is within our power to make sure that this stops.

When junior justice minister James Browne put forward the Government's side, it was less emotive and more about the mechanics of the motion. He laid out the realpolitik balancing act that the government has been handed. He said that expelling ambassador Dana Erlich would put Ireland "at the margins of international opinion". The government's argument remains that diplomacy is done in person and retaining ties is the only way to do this.

If Duncan Smith calling Israel a "disgrace to democracy" for its use of force against the people of Gaza felt strong, Richard Boyd Barrett was a ton of bricks. Israel, he said, is "not a normal state", it is "an apartheid state, a terrorist state". Responding to a social media campaign, his colleague Mick Barry said that 13,000 emails had been received by TDs urging them to support the motion.

When it was his turn to speak, Áontú's Peadar Tóibín was adamant once more that Ireland should lead the charge for peace in the region. He said that the Government should make a "concrete offer" to mediate.

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It was perhaps independent TD for Limerick County Richard O'Donoghue who best exemplified the balance that those asked to vote on the motion had to weigh up. He called Israel's actions "disgusting" but said that he would prefer to have Ms Erlich come before the Oireachtas or its committees in a bid to free Irish people from Gaza.

"To save one life, that would be my first port of call," he said.

In truth, the debate showed something that is being felt across Ireland. A powerlessness, a helplessness, an inability to look away from unimaginable human suffering, a hope that better days are coming.

With news that Irish citizens are finally leaving Gaza, we can only hope that the last part is true.