Sir, – We are a coalition of civil society organisations, trade unions and academics and we are urging the Government to move quickly, in light of the updated legal advice from the Attorney General, to pass the Occupied Territories Bill before the upcoming general election.
The decision by the Government to formally refer the Bill to next stage, into the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, is a step in the right direction.
The Bill, first tabled in 2018 by Independent Senator Frances Black, would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Both the Dáil and Seanad have already voted in favour of the Bill, but despite this the current and previous governments have refused to pass it based on advice from attorneys general that it would breach EU law.
Updated legal advice from Attorney General Rossa Fanning has now given the green light for the passage of the Bill. This updated advice draws heavily on the historic International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion, delivered on July 19th this year, which declared that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, including settlements and their infrastructure, are unlawful and ordered that the occupation must be brought to an end. Countries can therefore no longer lawfully trade with settlements.
When the Bill is passed, Ireland will become the first EU country to ban trade with these illegal settlements which are the key driver of poverty and a host of human rights violations against Palestinians and the main impediment to their right to self-determination.
As Israel continues its brutal military offensive across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Lebanon we call on the Government to pass this Bill before the election to hold Israel accountable for its flagrant disregard of international law and the value of civilian life. This would mirror the leadership shown by Ireland when it became the first country to ban imports from apartheid South Africa in 1987.
Within a few years most other countries had followed suit, precipitating the end of South Africa’s apartheid regime.
Palestinians should not have to wait until after an Irish general election for Israel to be held accountable for its war crimes.
As we write, Palestinians in northern Gaza are left to die under the rubble of their own homes and face starvation and disease because Israel denies access to humanitarian assistance and health care.
We are at a key moment. The legal barrier blocking the Occupied Territories Bill has fallen. Amendments to strengthen and improve the Bill can, of course, be made. That work must begin immediately; there is no reason why it cannot progress and be completed before an election.
For more than 75 years the people of Palestine have been attacked, driven from their homes and land, killed with impunity and denied their basic rights to equality.
It is time for us to finally accept that we cannot, either legally or morally, continue to trade with 750,000 illegal Israeli settlers or their enterprises, as they enrich themselves and Israel, while at the same time they impoverish and dispossess millions of Palestinians in their own land. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN REYNOLDS,
Academics for Palestine;
KATIE MARTIN,
Coordinator,
AfrI (Action from Ireland);
STEPHEN BOWEN,
Director,
Amnesty International Ireland;
Dr ELLEN McCABE,
Atlantic Technologies University Sligo;
Friends of Palestine,
MAEVE McLAUGHLIN,
Director,
Bloody Sunday Trust;
STEPHEN McCLOSKEY,
Director,
Centre for Global Education;
ROSAMOND BENNETT,
CEO,
Christian Aid Ireland;
CAROLINE MURPHY,
Comhlámh;
SEÁN O’BRIAIN,
Comhlámh – Justice for Palestine,
THOMAS McDONAGH,
Director,
Financial Justice Ireland;
OISÍN COUGHLAN,
CEO,
Friends of the Earth;
ÁINE UÍ FHOGHLÚ,
Gaeil ar son Gaza;
Dr GEARÓID Ó'CUINN,
Director,
Global Legal Action
Network;
ÁINE HUTCHINSON,
Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network;
ZOE LAWLOR,
Chair,
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign;
OWEN REIDY,
General Secretary,
Irish Congress of Trade Unions;
JOHN BOYLE,
General Secretary,
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation;
Dr REBECCA HESLIN,
Irish Psychologists for Palestine;
JOHN PARKIN,
Kairos Ireland;
LORRAINE O’BRIEN,
Interim General Secretary,
Mandate Trade Union;
STEPHANIE TERRY,
Mothers Against Genocide;
ORLA O’CONNOR,
Director,
National Women’s Council;
NINA SACHAU,
Executive Director,
STAND;
JENNY MAGUIRE,
President,
TCD Students Union;
MAGS O’BRIEN,
Trade Union Friends of Palestine;
CAOIMHE DE BARRA,
CEO,
Trócaire;
TONY DALY,
80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World;
ÉAMONN
MEEHAN,
Chair,
Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.