Sinn Fein leadership rules out White House visit

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it's in protest at the US Administration's stance on Gaza

By Cillian Sherlock (PA)

Sinn Fein’s leadership will not attend an event at the White House in “a principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza”.

The party’s president Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice president, made the announcement on Friday.

Senior Sinn Fein figures normally travel to the US every year around the same time that the Irish premier traditionally gets invited to meet the US president for St Patrick’s Day events.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump suggested Israel would turn Gaza over to the US for redevelopment into the “Riviera of the Middle East”- involving a mass displacement of Palestinians from the territory.

The proposals were widely condemned and later comments from the administration have suggested the displacement would be voluntary and temporary.

Speaking on Friday, Ms McDonald said: “I followed with growing concern what’s happening on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank, and like many other Irish people, have listened in horror to calls from the president of the United States for the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and the permanent seizure of Palestinian lands.”

She added: “There is also an onus on us to speak honestly and to act when we believe a US administration is wrong, catastrophically so in the case of Palestine.

“I’ve thought deeply about this issue in recent days, and listened to many voices inside and outside of Sinn Fein.

“I’ve made the decision not to attend the event in the White House this year as a principled stance against the call for the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza, something which I believe demands serious dissent and objection.”

Ms McDonald said it is still important for the Taoiseach, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, to attend as he speaks for the people of Ireland.

She said Mr Martin must use his expected bilateral with Mr Trump for St Patrick’s Day to “reflect the view of the Irish people” in support of Palestine.

Ms O’Neill said she recognises the positive impact that the US has had on the island of Ireland, including the Northern Ireland peace process.

However, she said she was standing “on the side of humanity” by not travelling to the White House.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, the First Minister said: “The decision to not travel to the White House has not been taken lightly, but it is taken very conscious of the responsibility that each of us have as individuals to call out injustice when we see it.

“We are all heartbroken whenever we witness the suffering of the Palestinian people, and the recent comments by the US president around the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza is just simply something that I cannot ignore.”

Ms O’Neill, who has travelled to the US several times, added: “At times like this, people look towards political leaders to stand against injustice.

“So in the future whenever our children and grandchildren ask us what did we do when the Palestinian people endured unimaginable suffering, I can say firmly that I stood on the side of humanity.”

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and Northern Ireland's First Minister, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill, speaking during a press conference at the Alex Hotel in Dublin (photo by PA).

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