The Palestinian struggle for nationhood has been long and bitter, this bloodshed can only stop if Palestine is granted international recognition as an independent country. We feel Ireland should be the first Western European nation to recognise The Palestinian State. Both because of our history as a formerly oppressed nation and due to large public support for this. 

Many Irish heads of state such as Bertie Ahern and Mary McAleese have expressed their support of the Palestinian cause for freedom. As Irish people ourselves, whose nation faced similar circumstances to those faced by Palestinians today, we feel Ireland has a moral duty to support the Palestinian cause with more concrete action than just speeches and promises. Since 2005 over 22,000 people have been injured or killed, in the Gaza Strip alone. The vast majority of these are Palestinian civilians. When Israel bombs and fires rockets at Gaza the people there have little to no protection. In contrast the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile defence system averages a 90% interception rate of rockets fired at Israel. The Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza are extremely vulnerable.

The suffering of innocent Palestinian men, women and children will only continue if decisive action is not taken soon. In Gaza residential buildings are bombed and blasted away every day. In The West Bank illegal Israeli settlements are constantly expanding and pushing Palestinians out of the family farms, and ancestral lands. We truly hope you choose to sign our petition to bring this 80 year long conflict to an end and to stop the needless loss of life.