Member's statement: Gaza War: Return of Hostages' Remains
Member's statement by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on .
- MLA
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 24 February 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Gaza War: Return of Hostages' Remains
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4813390
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Perhaps the litany of horrors that was created by the vile attacks of 7 October has inured us to the evil perpetrated by Hamas, by Islamic Jihad and, now, self-evidently, by so-called civilians in Gaza. The silence of far too many over the fate of the hostages; the wilful ignoring of the use of rape and violence against the innocent; the blatant antisemitism prevalent in the very statements by political parties to so-called NGOs; and the 'wokerati' baying for the destruction of Israel in our streets has become a sad norm. They have all become complicit in the grotesque evil being perpetrated on the innocent. Last week, four coffins were paraded before a baying mob. Those coffins were marked with the so-called day of arrest of the deceased. One of those coffins held an 83-year-old peace activist, Oded Lifschitz, who was murdered by terrorists for no other reason than he was a Jew. Another coffin held the remains of four-year-old Ariel Bibas, who was murdered by strangulation for no other reason than he was a Jew.
A third held 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas, murdered by strangulation for no other reason than he too was a Jew. The fourth coffin holding the remains of another arrested person was supposed to hold the children's mother, Shiri, but, of course, it did not. Shiri's remains were then miraculously found by Hamas the next day; another bargaining chip in the sick calculus that passes for reason amongst those who always advocate from the bloody river to the bloodstained sea of the militant extremists' imagination. Is it too much to expect that, on this island, at least, we can call out evil for what it is without whataboutery and rancour, and just accept and call out the grotesque spectacle that Hamas has created? It cannot have any place in any future peace as our First Minister has suggested. It cannot be given that agency. Strangling infants and toddlers does not give it any right to be included in any peace process. Finally, while I hope that you all join me in praying for a real and just peace, please also reflect on the words of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who said
"What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah."
If that can be seen from Mecca, is it too much to hope that it can also be seen from the First Minister's office and from Benches in this Chamber?
415 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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