Member's statement: Atrocities in Gaza
Member's statement by Ms Cara Hunter on .
- MLA
- Ms Cara Hunter
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 19 March 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Atrocities in Gaza
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4278874
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will use any and every opportunity in the House to bring up the atrocities in Gaza and the ongoing cruelty being suffered by the Palestinian people. On the day that we will debate the holiday hunger that faces children here, it is important to note that trucks that are trying to bring aid and food into Gaza are being blocked and children there continue to die of starvation. I have attended rallies and spoken to activists and my constituents. We are all rightly outraged by the ongoing atrocities. How many life-saving supplies are so close, yet so far, to those who need them? Knowing that, every day, women there are going without adequate and appropriate period products, instead using things like tent material and cloths, is absolutely heartbreaking. It creates a sense of indignity that they do not deserve. Newborn babies and pregnant mothers are malnourished. Ultimately, in our role as politicians, we are humans first and must use our platforms to speak about the importance of acting with humanity. That is why it is so important to raise that here today and to continue to raise it in the House. It has been exceptionally difficult to watch the images of injured and murdered families, especially children, under the rubble in Palestine. They love as we love, feel as we feel and mourn as we mourn. The horrific treatment and ongoing dehumanisation of the Palestinian people have been truly horrifying to watch since October. Relentless bombings and shootings have contributed to the deaths and murders of over 30,000 people. They were people just like us. They lived lives and loved. Journalists and their families are also being targeted. Recently, an Al Jazeera journalist was freed after being held for 12 hours and severely beaten in Israeli custody. I want to use the opportunity to highlight the incredible bravery of journalists like Bisan Owda. She is a young woman of a similar age to me who is risking her life to share stories of suffering, truth and injustice from inside Gaza. As representatives, we have a moral duty to use opportunities like this, in Members' statements, to continue to talk about Palestine and the suffering of its people, to advocate for peace, to use our voice to call out the horror, injustice and suffering for them and to let them know that we stand with them.
396 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.12 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.81).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.20 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.10 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.16 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.12 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.81 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.18 |
| Adopts it | 0.01 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.37 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.21 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.16 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.14 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.09 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:45 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.