Why is this Irish M.P. (in the attached video) standing up with the Palestinian people, when almost all Western politicians are firmly supporting Israel?

 

occupation of Ireland, and having seen with his own eyes, the miserable conditions under which the Palestinians eke out an existence. 

Both, the Irish and the Palestinians have suffered calamities and catastrophes by colonialist occupations. 

Those of you who are familiar with Irish history, will know about The Great Famine of the Irish people, and the devastation the English colonialists wrought upon the Irish People, who in their own land were made to die of starvation. Though the potato blight was a natural disaster, the Irish deplore that the famine was a direct outgrowth of British colonial policies – that during the famine’s worst years, the British continued to export the food the Irish produced- grain and livestock- to England. 

At least one million Irish died ridden with famine and disease, and at least 1.5 million emigrated to the United States, Australia, and Canada. 

During this catastrophe, Sultan Abdul-Majid of the Ottoman Empire sent £1,000 sterling (about $1,052,000 today) and three shiploads of food to Ireland. He wanted to donate more, but the Queen prevailed to limit the amount.

The British occupation, the rushed executions, mass arrests and martial law fueled public resentment toward the British and were among the factors that helped build support for the rebels and the movement for Irish independence. Similarities abound with all oppressed communities, and Hamas is not alone.

Obviously the Irish M.P. in the video knows what it is to be victims of oppression, but powerless to free themselves from the yoke of the colonizing forces – the situation in which the Palestinian people are finding themselves for the last 75 years. 

Please watch the attached video.