Sinn Fein 'riding two horses' in response to terror attack on Israel

​DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly said that while Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has condemned the mass murder and hostage taking, other senior party figures have been expressing unqualilfied support for the ‘revolutionary’ action taken on Saturday.

Israel has said that more than 700 people have been killed, and around 100 kidnapped, since Hamas militants launched a surprise terrorist attack from the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Saturday.

Retaliatory air strikes by Israel are said to have claimed the lives of around 500 people in Gaza.

During an RTE radio interview on Monday, Mary Lou McDonald said the “targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages” by Hamas “is to be condemned outright,” however, Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson, the party's representative to Europe,

changed her Twitter profile to one of her with a Palestinian flag in the background.

The accompanying message said: “The violent offensive by Palestinian forces has occurred against a sustained intensification of the Israeli state’s occupation and apartheid in Palestine since 2022”.

Several other Sinn Fein-linked accounts displayed the Palestinian flag, with no condemnation of the atrocities taking place.

Emma Little-Pengelly said: “Mary Lou’s condemnation is right but does she speak for others in SF who spent their weekend making comments of support for “revolutionary” actions?“Many in Sinn Fein are trying to ride two horses. They want to stand with their friends in Hamas but also stand in Washington and New York with those who bankroll Sinn Fein but who are loyal friends of Israel.

“No fair minded person could do anything other than condemn the actions of Hamas. These people want not only to remove the state of Israel but hold a deep hatred of the Jewish people.

"That is why Hamas hasn’t given a second thought to targeting innocent young people at a music festival."

The Lagan Valley MLA said Hamas has carried out a “catalogue of war crimes against innocent people, and that they should be held accountable by the international community, along with those “who give cover to Hamas”.

Ms Little-Pengelly added: “There has been no party in Europe which has explained away the violent actions of Hamas for decades more than Sinn Fein.

"I trust this is a watershed moment when Sinn Fein will join other normal democrats and condemn those who not only cling to the gun but wage a vile and violent antisemitic campaign against the Jewish people.”

Speaking on RTE’s News at One, Ms McDonald said: “The targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages is to be condemned outright” as it is a “breach of international law”.

She also said that the “scenes where a lot of young people were out enjoying themselves and to meet with such a violent and traumatic death is just truly horrific, and I understand perfectly the sense of trauma that’s been expressed.”

Asked whether she had ever met with the leadership of Hamas, she said: “I have been to the West Bank and I have met with everybody.”

"The bombardment now of Gaza is equally to be condemned, but my feeling overall in this scenario is one of alarm, because this is now a very dangerous situation".

The Sinn Fein leader went to accuse the Israel of "breaching international law day and daily" by confiscating lands and "imposing an aparthied regime" on the Palestinian people.

Asked to clafify if the actions of Israel in any way justified the action taken by Hamas, Ms McDonald said: "No. The targeting of civilians, the taking of hostages in that way, no, I would not..."

Asked to comment specifically on the social media posts of a number of Sinn Fein elected representatives - including Chris Andrews TD who, as the scale of the violence was becoming clear, tweeted: "What's happening today in #Gaza has not occurred out of thin air.

"Its a direct result of years of apartheid, murder and inhumane treatment of #Palestine. Also a result of Ireland and EU not holding Apartheid Israel accountable for ongoing abuse of Intl Law."

Ms McDonald responded saying she hadn't seen the TD's message, and added: "My colleague Chris Andrews is quite correct to call out the fact that the international community has consistently looked the other way".