"I'm not surprised that there will be protests at this visit," [Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald] told media at her party's annual think-in. "I think that is quite correct given the scale of the breaches of international law, given the genocide in Palestine, events in Gaza and on the West Bank, we are seeing settler violence at a rate that is literally unspeakable. The United States, and I say this with deep, deep regret and some anger, facilitates that, facilitates Israel in its onslaught against the Palestinian people."