Debate contribution: End Israeli Impunity in Gaza
Debate contribution by Mr Peter Martin on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter Martin
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 24 June 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- End Israeli Impunity in Gaza
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5047439
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for his question. Lots of figures have been placed on the record. I am simply stating a fact that all the casualty figures that have come out of that area are based on information from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The BBC uses those figures, as does every aid organisation. You can go with those figures. I am not disputing that the death toll has been appalling, but, if you take the figures that the Members opposite have used, you are believing a proscribed terrorist organisation, and I simply will not do that. I turn to the loss of human life. It has been stated:
"Palestinian armed groups have stored munitions in and fired indiscriminate rockets from residential areas in the Gaza Strip in violation of international humanitarian law."
Those are not my words but those of Amnesty International, which has been one of the most vocal and ardent critics of Israel in the past 20 years. It is clear and undisputed that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad store munitions, harbour terrorists and fire rockets from schools, mosques and hospitals in clear violation of the Geneva Convention.
Yes, but why? In 2008, soon after Hamas took control of Gaza, Hamas Interior Minister, Fathi Hammad, delivered a speech on Al-Aqsa TV. He said that the enemies of Allah:
"do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its" —
methods
"of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine ... 'We desire death like you desire life'."
We need look no further for the reason behind the horrendous loss of life in Gaza. It was clearly designed and delivered by Hamas.
The motion calls for BDS: boycott, divestment and sanctions. In recent history, we have witnessed the boycotting of Jewish businesses. It started in Nazi Germany in 1933. Five years later, we had Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken Glass — which was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland. Two hundred synagogues were destroyed, 7,500 Jewish shops were looted and 30,000 male Jews were sent to concentration camps. Two years later, Auschwitz opened. The motion uses the rather innocuous phrase "to divest from Israeli investments". I say this: never again. I apologise to the Member opposite, as I was not here to hear his speech. He quoted the IHRA definition, which has been talked about. It gives clear examples of antisemitism. I say this to the Member from the Opposition: I would not accuse anyone in the Chamber of antisemitism. The IHRA defines what it is, however. It includes:
"Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis."
That is relevant, because the UK signed up to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, as did the Assembly in May 2021, despite Sinn Féin opposition. I remind Sinn Féin and those who also support the motion that 1,200 civilians were raped, murdered, dismembered and burned alive on 7 October. It is worth my stating that, because maybe they are unaware that it happened. I see no reference to it in the motion. Our party will oppose the motion and support the Ulster Unionist Party amendment.
578 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice)
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.59 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.73); Dog-whistle messaging (0.60).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.92).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- The text adopts an antagonistic or dog-whistle framing, which qualifies even alongside legitimate scrutiny.
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 | 0.73 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.48 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.60 | Yes |
| Controversy escalation | 0.45 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.35 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.59 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.02 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.06 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.92 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.99 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:20 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 reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.