Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA Paul Givan remains under pressure to resign following his disgraceful trip to the genocidal apartheid regime of so-called ‘Israel’. At a rally on Saturday, November 1, organised by People Before Profit (PBP), a crowd of over 300 assembled at the gates of Belfast City Hall to express their disgust at an education minister travelling to a fake state whose speciality is the mass murder of children.
Givan’s trip effectively amounted to him being paid by the Zionist entity to work for it for several days, and possibly beyond, as he has voiced effusive praise for its terrorism since returning. Speaking at Stormont, the Netanyahu pawn performed as if operated by remote control from West Jerusalem, saying:
Israel rightly responded, mobilised the IDF and to them we say thank you to the men and women of the Israeli Defence Forces. Israel and the rest of the world owe them a debt of gratitude for the work that they have carried out. Decimated Hamas, terrorists like Sawari [sic], gone and facing judgment in eternity.
Possible 680,000 dead at Israel’s hand not enough for incoherent Givan
Not satisfied with the possibly 680,000 killed by the Israeli Genocide Forces (IGF), Givan seems intent on inventing a fictional murder of someone called ‘Sawari’. This may be a reference to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza Strip commander until his murder by IGF forces on 16 October 2024, but the less time spent trying to divine the contents of Givan’s largely empty head, the better. His comments echo those of genocidaire Friedrich Merz, who occasionally takes time off from praising Zionist butchers in order to serve as chancellor of perpetual murder-land Germany. In June 2025, Merz also heaped praise on the sadists and rapists of the IGF by saying, in reference to Zionist attacks on Iran:
This is dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us.
Givan, who argued his trip to ‘Israel’ was a “fact-finding mission”, continued on his new brown-nosing mission by heaping praise on Jabba the Hutt‘s less attractive twin:
Thank you Mr Trump for Operation Midnight Hammer in destroying their nuclear facilities.
There is no concrete evidence these facilities were actually destroyed, nor that the IGF have achieved any meaningful long-term strategic victories in their unhinged rampages around West Asia.
While in the pseudo-state, the Lagan Valley Assembly member took in trips to a holocaust memorial, the areas attacked by Hamas on 7 October 2023, and a school in East Jerusalem that turned out to be in occupied territory. Fretting over that seems a little moot, given everywhere he visited is the result of a 100 year+ land theft project, and was likely just another additional means of trolling his opponents, probably the actual purpose of the trip. Givan clearly learned something from his junket to stolen land, however, as he switched to the standard Zionist operating procedure of cry-bullying upon his return:
Cretinous education minister wallows in self-pity
Over the past week, I have been vilified by those who have sought to call into question my character and my commitment to the people of Northern Ireland. The very same people among whom, today in Belfast, were shouting the antisemitic chant “From the river to the sea.
Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the SDLP, and Alliance are fooling no one. We can all see right through this smokescreen.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been in touch with messages of support. I will continue to represent the people of Lagan Valley and Northern Ireland with the same energy and enthusiasm that I have always brought to public life.
In the same way the overt untruth “your call is important to us – please hold” means “we couldn’t give a shit about your call – piss off”, “I will continue to represent the people of Lagan Valley and Northern Ireland with… energy and enthusiasm” can be safely translated as “I would rather swan around on holiday with ethno-supremacists than do any actual work for my constituents”.
Several of the parties listed by Givan were in attendance at Saturday’s rally. PBP MLA Gerry Carroll firstly enumerated the DUP man’s failings as education minister, from underpaid teachers and classroom assistants, often on temporary contracts; to a uniform bill that forbids girls from wearing trousers; and attacks on trans people. He went on to describe getting:
…hundreds of emails of constituents who are appalled at what he’s done [in going to ‘Israel’].
‘Get Givan out’ – though the prospects are slim
He concluded:
Hound him out of office to say that no minister in the north, no minister north or south should be allowed to be an advocate, to be a stooge for Israel.
Today has been a good start on that. But let’s keep that up because if we can get him out of office, we can set a shot in the arm for Palestinians. It will be a key…powerful moment of solidarity.
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Deputy Lord Mayor Paul Doherty weighed in on the obscene timing of Givan’s junket:
While thousands of Palestinian children were being killed, while families were digging their sons and daughters from rubble, while schools were being blown apart, Paul Givan and his cronies took it upon themselves to visit Israel.
Over 95% of schools in Gaza have been destroyed. The cronies referred to by Doherty are Steve Aiken, finance spokesperson for Ulster Unionist Party (UUP); Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) deputy leader Ron McDowell; and DUP MP Sammy Wilson.
Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey focused on holding the rogue minister to account:
We will look at all options to hold this minister to account. This also includes Sinn Féin’s support of the motion of no confidence in the minister that’s being tabled on Monday morning. And I, along with all Sinn Féin MLAs, will be proudly putting our names to that motion.
Focus on the real issue – material complicity in Zionist crimes
The no confidence motion has almost zero chance of passing, with it requiring strong support from both nationalist and unionist parties. DUP leader Gavin Robinson has voiced unequivocal support for Givan, saying:
Paul Givan is going nowhere. Unionists will not be bullied by the whims of the Pan-Republican front. I choose who serves as a DUP Minister and whatever about the faux outrage and petty politicking, Paul has my full support.
“Pan-anti-genocide front” would be more accurate, but Robinson’s sectarian framing hints at the cosy settlement the scandal may settle into. The unionist parties get to rile up their base with unashamed Zionist support and green vs orange framing, while those opposing them get to flash some pro-Palestine credentials without having to offer any form of material shift on the more difficult questions.
The no confidence motion is certainly welcome symbolically, excessive posturing around it in the absence of concrete steps on Six Counties participation in Zionist atrocities is meaningless. The focus must continue to be on ending Aldergrove’s use for military flights to the criminal entity squatting on historic Palestine, terminating all production of F-35 components, a complete halting of all diplomatic relations, and a total cessation of trade with so-called ‘Israel’.
Obnoxious as Givan’s trip is, it’s hard to shame the shameless, particularly if the entire visit was simply a premeditated political calculation. Bringing irredeemable DUP cretins to heel for infrequent tasteless escapades is a Sisyphean task; let’s concentrate on the more tractable issues which involve us feeding the Zionist war machine on a daily basis.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.