Debate contribution: Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire
Debate contribution by Mr Gary Middleton on .
- MLA
- Mr Gary Middleton
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 7 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4488405
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I dedicate my short remarks to all the hostages who remain under Hamas control in Gaza. On 6 October 2023, in Israel, many Jewish families were preparing for their special weekend holiday and religious celebrations. Many family members travelled home to be with their parents and loved ones, including many members of the security forces, who were unaware of the murderous plan that lay ahead. At 6.30 am on 7 October, Hamas terrorists launched more than 2,000 rockets into Israel in the space of just 20 minutes. Families were woken from their beds and forced to take shelter in safe rooms as the deadly terrorists reached the border to carry out their attacks on civilian neighbourhoods. The Hamas terrorists entered these very peaceful communities on a murderous rampage, going from door to door killing, raping and burning alive men, women and children. Just a couple of weeks ago, in the kibbutz Be'eri, just a few kilometres from the Gaza border, I stood in what was left of the home of Vivian Silver. Vivian was a 74-year-old Canadian-Israeli peace activist and a women's rights activist. She worked in the kibbutz to organise programmes to help Gazans, such as with jobs training and fair pay for Gazan construction workers. When she retired, she founded Women Wage Peace and volunteered with Road to Recovery and Project Rozana to transport patients from Gaza who were travelling to Jerusalem for treatment. On that dark day of 7 October, her home was found burned and gutted when first responders arrived. With no signs of a body, it was assumed that she had been abducted. It was not until five weeks after the attack that her remains were identified through DNA. More than 100 of Vivian's neighbours were murdered that day, with many more taken hostage. Children were prised from their parents' arms, senior citizens were pulled from their beds and babies were lifted from their cribs and driven into the deep, dark depths of the Gaza Strip. Just a short distance away, another massacre was taking place as young people were enjoying the Supernova music festival. A total of 364 innocent people were gunned down — murdered, some raped, some then burnt. Some had taken cover in bomb shelters only to have grenades thrown into the shelters by Hamas. When I visited that site, it was heartbreaking to see the hundreds of memorials set up by family members of those who had been killed. In just a matter of hours, over 1,300 people were murdered and many more wounded. As Vivian Silver knew, no good could ever come from war. There was a ceasefire prior to 7 October 2023. Twenty thousand citizens travel daily from Gaza into Israel for work, and many friendships were built. I visited the crossing and saw how open it had been. It is a sad reality for the people of Gaza that they have suffered for far too long over the years from the actions of Hamas. Whilst Hamas leaders siphoned off funding for their lavish lifestyles and the building of their terror tunnels, ordinary Palestinians were being deprived of basic needs that their neighbours enjoyed. Hamas must be held accountable for its actions. We will always stand for democracy in the Middle East and against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, who want to bring instability to the region. I want to put on record that every effort must be made to bring about peace, protect civilians and provide aid to those who need it. We stand too in condemnation and anger at all the innocent lives that have been lost — Palestinian, Israeli and all those who strive for peace. We have no problem, on these Benches, saying that. Hamas will never be content until Israel and all Jews are destroyed. Hamas does not abide by laws or agreements and, in its thirst for death, uses hospitals, playgrounds and every method that it can to use its own people as shields. I want to see peace and stability in Israel and the Middle East. That must involve the immediate release of hostages and an end to attacks on its closest neighbours.
Yes.
I agree with the Member. As I bring my remarks to a close, I must point out that, as a society, we cannot allow the radicalisation of our citizens by professionals who want to spread hate and bring discord to these shores. It is important that that dangerous rhetoric is challenged, because it will have disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, it is being led by people who cannot even point out Gaza on a map. That needs to be challenged. The Chamber should be united against violence, as my party has been, not only here in our Province but across the world.
791 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.28 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.45).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying 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 | 0.58 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.24 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.34 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.17 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.18 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.28 | At or below not-qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.15 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.40 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.45 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.93 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.04 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
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.
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