Murphy calls for White House visit boycott

Irish politicians should show solidarity with the Palestinian people by refusing to attend St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the White House next year, according to People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy.

Murphy said that Irish politicians should make a public declaration to illustrate, in their view, how isolated the US is in their support for Israel.

“Israel could not continue its murderous campaign of collective punishment of the people of Gaza without the bombs, weaponry and political support of Joe Biden,” he asserted.

“We are now nearly three months into Israel’s most recent assault on Palestine. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, many of them children, many more people injured, displaced and traumatized, while hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.”

“The past week has witnessed a further ratcheting up of genocidal violence, as the Israeli occupation forces bombed Bethlehem over Christmas, while more attacks were launched on the Gaza Strip, as well as on Palestinians living in the West Bank. This slaughter, genocide and apartheid could not happen without the support of Biden and his administration in Washington.”

Murphy has taken issue with recent statements from Sinn Féin which indicates party leader Mary Lou McDonald will be visiting the White House in March, saying he is “deeply disappointed.”

“The vast majority of people in Ireland stand in solidarity with Palestine, for weeks we have taken to the streets to demand a ceasefire as well as justice and liberation for the Palestinians. A major task of our solidarity movement is to help isolate the state of Israel by breaking all diplomatic connections with representatives of apartheid and making our island an apartheid-free zone,” they said.

“Therefore, we urge Sinn Féin and all other political parties not to prostrate themselves before the US establishment this St Patrick’s Day, and instead send a clear message of solidarity with Palestine by refusing to meet Biden.”

“Palestine is the frontline of the world in the fight for freedom and liberation; their struggle is our struggle too.”