Debate contribution: End Israeli Impunity in Gaza
Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 24 June 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- End Israeli Impunity in Gaza
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5047798
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Just one wee second. Political ideologies based on racism, sectarianism and hatred in your heart. I will never understand that or see it as being valid. Those views thrive on ignorance and misinformation, and that is what the debate that we are having today is based on. The Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people has been allowed to happen because of ignorance, misinformation and propaganda. The mainstream attitude to the way it has unfolded has allowed it to unfold. The impunity offered to the Israeli Government is what has allowed them to murder over 52,000 people. That is what has allowed it to happen. We have to stand against it. Those views originate in capitalism and control of the people, as evidenced by how difficult it is to follow BDS, and anyone who has attempted to will see that. More and more products and companies are being added to that list every day. It is widespread, and it is all around us. It is not a war. There is no balancing it. It is a decades-long assault on a population — a population that we in Sinn Féin have solidarity with and have had for decades. I am proud of that. The character of some of my colleagues has been assaulted today. Just as the people of West Belfast and South Belfast have given Miss Hargey and Mr Sheehan repeated mandates, we are proud of their record on rights and what they stand for. I am proud to call them colleagues, and I want to put that on the record. Mr Beattie speaks of balance —.
I have not given way to you.
I did not say that.
Mr Beattie speaks of balance, and other Members have spoken about how they view all children as being equal. It is the continued misrepresentation of the situation as a conflict that allows for those children to be murdered. It is not a conflict. It is not a war; it is a genocide. It has been going on for decades. The Member for East Belfast, who is no longer in the Chamber, referred to Hamas as having started this. Hamas did not exist in 1948. This did not start on 7 October 2023, and that is what the motion is about. It is about reflecting the fact that it is the result of years and years of oppression of a people. Talking about bomb shelters that some people have access to, the Palestinian people have tents. The bombs are raining down on them, and they are in tents. They have been in tents for years. Those people are living under occupation. They are a couple of miles from the sea, and they have never seen the beach. They are not allowed to move freely within their own country. That is where we are. That is what is happening, and the world is moving along. People refer to taking cues from Instagram and TikTok: that is how we see what is happening, because the mainstream media are "other siding" every element of the debate, talking about balance where there can be no balance. Whataboutery does nothing to end the suffering —
No, I will not — of the people of Palestine. As of two days ago, there were 377,000 people reported missing, and 178 journalists have been murdered — two of those were Israeli. There is no balance there. This is not balanced. No fuel entered the Gaza Strip in three months; aid was blocked for months; and flour was delivered to people and they were attacked upon its arrival. Those people have for decades used the watermelon as a symbol because they were not allowed to fly their flag. They have been completely suppressed. One day, everyone will have been against this. We in Sinn Féin always have been, and today is an opportunity for the Assembly to add its name to that list.
651 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: 0.35 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.72).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.51 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.16 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.51 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.20 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.21 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.35 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.13 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.72 |
| Adopts it | 0.15 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.69 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.20 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.06 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 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 12:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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