Not for the first time I want to raise the issue of Palestine. I was lucky enough to attend a meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence to hear a presentation by the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, EAPPI. The programme was founded in response to a call made by the heads of churches in Jerusalem. Since 2002, more than 1,500 international volunteers from 22 countries have served as ecumenical accompaniers. The work they do includes monitoring and reporting violations of international law, providing a protective presence, supporting the work of peace groups and undertaking public policy advocacy. The delegation gave us the update on the village of Khan al-Ahmar located in the occupied West Bank, which the Israeli High Court has declared can be demolished.

I raise this issue because the EAPPI made a valuable contribution and outlined practical measures the Government could take. The Government, in fairness, has made some good statements on Palestine but there has been no action. The EAPPI pointed out that we could call for the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine and press for compensation for the demolition of EU-funded aid structures. Most important, we could end the arms trade with Israel. We have purchased 17 million armaments from Israel in the past decade. How can we continue to treat Israel as a normal state? Everyone in this Chamber knows what is happening. Everyone knows that we are witnessing the slow genocide of an entire people. It would be a record of shame for the Government, when it ends, if no concrete actions were taken.

Hear, hear.

I call on my colleagues in Fine Gael because I have had private conversations with a number of them where they showed genuine sympathy for the Palestinian people, to make their voices heard within their party because the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is simply not delivering beyond words. In the 1980s we heard all the same excuses and reasons that we could not take action on South Africa. It is highly significant that Fine Gael is now out of step with everybody else in this Chamber. Everybody else supports Senator Frances Black's excellent Bill on the occupied territories. Is the Fine Gael Party prepared to let the record show that when the genocide of an entire people was taking place, its members were prepared to sit with their arms folded and do nothing about it other than offer sweet sympathy? That is not good enough. I ask for a debate on the matter. More important, I ask Fine Gael to stand up for human rights values and Palestine.