Debate contribution: Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire
Debate contribution by Mr Pádraig Delargy on .
- MLA
- Mr Pádraig Delargy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 7 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4488385
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last night, amid hopes of a ceasefire, we saw Israel raining bombs on 1·5 million Palestinians who had fled, in the hope of shelter, to Rafah. They had fled Israeli war crimes in Gaza City and been driven from north to south, with people being indiscriminately killed all the while. Rafah has been described as "a city of children", and it has been described as that because those children's parents have been murdered by the Israeli state. Entire families have been killed by the Israeli Government, and those children now seek refuge in tents in Rafah, where Israel continues to bomb and indiscriminately kill them. There is an onus on all of us here to act, move heaven and earth and do anything that we can through these institutions to ensure that the genocide cannot continue; to make the voices of Palestinians heard in every room and every political chamber that we enter; and to implore leaders around the world to follow the example of South Africa and refer Israel for its war crimes to the international courts to show that we will not be silent in the face of atrocity. Many of our councils have now adopted an ethical procurement policy. Many organisations have begun to look at divestment, and, in motions in councils across Ireland, we have called on Israel to desist and ensure that ceasefire continues. We need to stand united in order to ensure that those diplomatic efforts continue. Why is today important? It is because we can show international solidarity and the need for a unified voice for peace, for a ceasefire and for humanity so that we can tell Israel, "Stop bombing children. Stop targeting hospitals. Stop forcibly starving an entire population." What in that is controversial? Those are not defensive actions. They are war crimes committed while the world watches, and blocking humanitarian aid is not defensive either. Killing humanitarian aid workers is certainly not defensive. In 2014, during yet another Israeli bombardment of Gaza, I, along with others in Derry and across Ireland, helped to establish the Gaza toy drive. For months — it was for over a year — much of that humanitarian aid failed to reach Gaza and the people who were in need, because the Israeli state blocked it.
However, it reached them eventually. It reached them with a message of solidarity and hope: in your darkest days, Ireland will always stand with you.
Future generations — your children and your grandchildren — will ask you what you did when Palestinians were being indiscriminately murdered. You can stand silently today, or you can stand with them. Every Member in the Chamber today has that choice. Will you say that you stood with them, or will you say that you sat in silence while western Governments orchestrated and funded the killing of Palestinians? Today, we stand at a critical juncture. We have an opportunity for our voices to resonate with others across the world that are calling for an end to the genocide and for a ceasefire. Today, I call on every Member to join that call to end the violence, the apartheid, the genocide and the occupation. Ní saoirse go saoirse na Palaistíne.
534 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: 0.16 (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 (0.71).
- 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 | 0.30 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.06 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.11 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.12 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.29 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.16 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.71 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.10 |
| Adopts it | 0.19 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.54 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.26 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.13 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.03 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:22 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.