Member's statement: Nakba Commemoration
Member's statement by Mr Gerry Carroll on .
- MLA
- Mr Gerry Carroll
- Party at the time
- People Before Profit Alliance
- Date
- 20 May 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Nakba Commemoration
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4963742
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Over the weekend, in Belfast and across Ireland and the world, people gathered to commemorate the "Nakba" or, in English, "Catastrophe". The event marks the founding of the Israeli state 77 years ago this month. The Israeli state was founded in ethnic cleansing, displacement, slaughter and the belief not in coexistence but that it is OK to steal and occupy another people's land. Zionism never did and does not today speak for all Jewish people, and a large number of Jewish people are defying what Israel represents. It is worth emphasising and challenging one of the many lies that Israel is based on: Palestine was not a land without people. It had people, culture and history for thousands of years. In response to the brutality of the Holocaust and the industrial attempts by European fascist powers to wipe out Jewish people, Zionism grew. Palestinians should not have been forced to pay then or now for the vicious crimes of antisemitic parties and forces in Europe — something that people in the House should do well to remember. Since day one and before its inception, Israel has been backed by Western imperial powers.
It continued the sorry trend of settler colonialism — a project that has caused devastation worldwide and that would collapse without the military and financial support that it has.
As people in Ireland and elsewhere gathered to commemorate the Nakba, Israel continued to do what it has done since 1948. It relentlessly targeted Palestinian towns, villages and hospitals once again. Just yesterday morning, 23 Palestinians were killed. I ask these questions: do the lives of the millions of Palestinian hostages not matter? Do the lives of the 100,000 Palestinian hostages who were killed not matter? It is important that truth continues to be spoken to power. I commend people for continuing to protest. I also commend Louis Theroux for his excellent documentary, which showcased the truth behind the Israeli state.
328 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Not flagged on a second assessment, because Jev’s answers did not settle it. The reasons are given below.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.31 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.75).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.56).
- Subject area: Another identity-related subject.
- The answers did not meet either automatic 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.
Second assessment
Jev’s answers did not settle this record, so a second model, claude-opus-5-5, read the same text (without the MLA’s name or party) and gave its reasons on 21 October 2026. How the second assessment works
- Verdict
- Not flagged
- Public interest or divisiveness
- Mixed
Against the published rubric
The statement takes a strong, one-sided position on a foreign conflict, describing Israel as founded in "ethnic cleansing" and as "settler colonialism", but its target is a state and a political ideology rather than a people or faith. It explicitly separates the two, saying "Zionism never did and does not today speak for all Jewish people", and it attributes the Holocaust to "antisemitic parties and forces in Europe". It does not map the conflict onto unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland, and it uses none of the antisemitic tropes the rubric lists. Under the rubric, taking a side on a foreign conflict in this way, however forcefully, is not culture-war activity.
Public interest or divisiveness
The statement voices humanitarian concern about deaths in Gaza and marks a local commemoration, which is legitimate political expression. However, it is polemical rather than substantive: it does not scrutinise any decision of the Assembly or a department. It also uses contested rhetoric, such as "millions of Palestinian hostages", and includes a pointed aside that people in the House "should do well to remember". Given how this conflict is felt in Northern Ireland, its campaigning tone carries some divisive potential, though it stops short of attacking any community here.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.75 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.26 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.12 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.30 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.30 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.10 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.31 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.26 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.18 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.56 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.75 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.18 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.06 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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