Signed by more than 88,000 people, Ógra Shinn Féin has submitted a petition to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.

Ógra Shinn Féin members were accompanied to the Department of Foreign Affairs by Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs John Brady TD, whose motion for Ireland to recognize that Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank constituted illegal land annexation into Palestinian Territory recently passed in Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) with unanimous support.

Commenting on the petition submission, Ógra Shinn Féin International Officer and Leas-Cathaoirleach Ciarán Ó Meachair said, "what we have seen over the past number of weeks is outright anger and frustration across Irish society with the relentless attacks on Gaza, which killed many innocent civilians in the process.

"Although there thankfully appears to be a ceasefire at the moment, the repression and mistreatment of Palestinian people by Israeli forces still continues on a daily basis."

"The petition is an expression of the Irish people that there needs to be consequences for breaking international law and we now need to look at what those consequences should be."

"The expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador would send out a strong signal internationally that Ireland stands against repression, inequality and apartheid."

"It is also far from the only tool at our disposal and certainly the recognition of the State of Palestine by Ireland is something that must happen, as should the passage of the Occupied Territories Bill".

Source : Safa