ACTIVIST FIACHRA Ó Luain, who travelled on the Challenger 1as part of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, said he had been offered and would accept a Palestinian passport.
A spokesman for the General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland confirmed passports and honorary citizenship had been offered to all those who participated in the flotilla last month.
“It’s an honour to be offered the passport and honorary citizenship. I don’t feel I’ve done enough to deserve it. It only redoubles my determination to help bring about a complete end to the siege of Gaza,” Mr Ó Luain said.
He said his Irish passport was detained by Israeli officials at Ben Gurion airport when he was deported from Tel Aviv in June. It was subsequently returned.
Mr Ó Luain said he would not now relinquish his Irish passport.
“However, I may in my next meeting with [Minister for Foreign Affairs] Micheál Martin ask him to keep my Irish passport until such time as I’m satisfied he’s taken all necessary action to guarantee the safety of Irish passports.”
Dr Fintan Lane of the Free Gaza Movement said he regarded as “genuine” the offer from the Palestinian Authority.
“Our official position is it’s up to individual participants on the flotilla to decide whether or not to accept the offer,” he said. “We see it as an act of appreciation from Palestine. We accept some people might have political differences with the Palestinian Authority and consequently might decide not to avail of the offer. Other people won’t. It’s meant to be a positive gesture. We are not suggesting people do one thing or the other.”
Dr Lane said the offer had been relayed to the Irish flotilla participants through a Turkish organisation also involved– the foundation for human rights and freedoms and humanitarian aid (IHH).
Hufeyan Oruc, who described himself as an IHH board member, said: “It’s true. The Palestinian Authority said, you have done very important things for Palestine. We want to accept you as a Palestinian citizen. We don’t know if it’s actual citizenship or honorary citizenship. In any case, we will accept.”
Earlier this month, Mr Ó Luain called for Irish economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel. Mr Martin has said this would be futile and counter-productive.
