This means that both houses of the Oireachtas now support the right
of the Palestinian people to self-determination; recognise a Palestinian state,
and endorse the right of the Palestinian people to independence and sovereignty.
This
is a substantial and positive development which means that Ireland is now a
significant part of the consensus for peace and progress in the Middle East.
It
also means that Irish people are standing with progressive Israeli opinion
which wants a lasting peace arrangement and supports the recognition of a Palestinian
state.
The passing
of this motion, in conjunction with the passing of similar motions in
Parliaments across the EU, is an important act of solidarity with the
Palestinian people.
The
dangers and the tensions in that tragic situation were underlined with the sad news
yesterday of the death, during a protest on the west Bank, of Ziad Abu Ein a
Cabinet Minister in the Palestinian government.
Minister
Abu Ein died taking part in a non-violent demonstration to mark International
Human Rights day. He and others were planning to plant olive trees – symbols of
peace – on land owned by a Palestinian but which because of a nearby illegal
Israeli settlement is mostly off limits to Palestinians.
So
now was exactly the right time for this motion.
I returned from the Middle East on Sunday having spent three days there. It
was my fourth visit to the region in 8 years. In 2009 I spent two days in Gaza.
At that time the Israeli government wanted me to agree that I would not meet
Hamas. If I refused they would deny me entry through the Erez crossing. I
refused. I believe in dialogue. Israel relented and I spent 48 hours seeing for
myself the devastating impact the Israeli war of 2008-09 had on the people and
infrastructure of Gaza.
On this occasion the Israeli government said no. It gave no explanation.
An anonymous spokesperson later tried to claim it was because I wanted to ‘hang out with Hamas’ and because I
wouldn’t speak to the Israeli government. Neither claim is true.
Making presentation to President Abbas
I travelled into the west Bank. I spoke to President Abbas and others in the
Palestinian Authority, to NGOs and representatives of Palestinian organisations, including Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian National Initiative.
And in Jerusalem I met brave Israeli citizens deeply concerned for the future.
Mise agus Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
Among them were Alon Liel and Ilan Baruch. Both are former professional
diplomats in the Israeli government and both were Ambassadors for Israel. They
have been hugely critical of Israel’s policy toward the Palestinian people. And
both support the campaign to secure official government recognition by EU
states and others of a Palestinian State.
They share the belief of the Palestinian leadership that such a move will
place the Palestinians and Israelis on an equal footing in any negotiation and
create a new dynamic in the peace process. They also believe it is a right, a
principle that for too long has been conditional on the agreement of Israel.
Why should the right of the Palestinian people to sovereignty and
statehood be dependent on Israel?
Israel is a state. It has an embassy in Dublin and others scattered
around the world.
The Palestinians have a ‘Mission’. This is wrong. The people of Palestine
have the right to freedom and independence and statehood. It should not be
conditional on Israel or subject to any veto by it or any other state.
Alon Liel and his colleagues initiated a campaign in support of a
Palestinian state. A letter now signed by over 900 prominent Israeli citizens,
including Nobel laureates, writers, academics, business people, and
broadcasters, was sent to Parliamentarians in Sweden, in Britain, in France, in
Spain, in Belgium and in the Dáil, seeking support for a Palestinian state. All
of these Parliaments, now including the Oireachtas, passed positive motions of
support.
The letter is evidence of a deep desire and hope by
some Israelis to adopt an approach which they believe is in the interests of
Palestinians but crucially is also in the interests of Israel. Those I met are
proud patriotic Israelis. They believe the recognition of a Palestinian state
is a key step on the road to ending the decades long conflict. The letter
reads:
"We, citizens of Israel
who wish it to be a safe and thriving country are worried by the continued
political stalemate and by the occupation and settlements activities which lead
to further confrontations with the Palestinians and torpedo the chances for a
compromise. It is clear that the prospects for Israel's security and existence
depend on the existence of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel. Israel
should recognize the state of Palestine and Palestine should recognize the
state of Israel, based on the June 4 1967 borders. Your initiative for recognizing the state of Palestine will advance the
prospects of peace and will encourage Israelis and Palestinians to bring an end
to their conflict".
It is clear from my conversations that many Israeli citizens understand
the deeply corrosive affect the occupation of Palestinian land, the apartheid
system Israel has created and the brutality and dehumanising impact of IDF
(Israeli Defence Forces) actions are having on Israel.
One of those I spoke with – Yehuda Shaul – is a former Sergeant and
Commander in the Israeli Army. He is co-director of ‘Breaking the Silence’ an
organisation made up of former Israeli soldiers who speak out against the
actions of the IDF.
He is deeply concerned at the moral price Israel and its citizens are
paying to maintain the occupation. He is also an Israel patriot who believes
that speaking out against injustice is necessary to defend Israel, as well as
advance the rights of Palestinians.
Shaul dismisses Israeli government claims that its military operations
are defensive and to oppose terrorism. He believes that that is only a small
part of the strategy. ‘It’s all about
offensive,’ he said, ‘and maintaining
Israeli military control over Palestinians’.
He told me that the current Israeli policy of occupation and settlements
is not designed as a temporary measure but is intended to be permanent. ‘Occupation takes place every day; it is an
offensive act every day.’
It is he said a ‘national security
concept dependent on absolute control – a status quo that is not a frozen
reality and is being entrenched every day.’
He was clear in his conclusion also. He told me; ‘The International community is failing Israelis and Palestinians.
There is a lot of talk but no action. Nowhere in history,’ he said, ‘did people wake up one morning and give up
their privileges... the international community has to raise the price for
Israel of the current status quo.’
Shaul concluded with: ‘No one will
live in dignity or freedom here. Neither the Palestinians or Israelis until
there is a sovereign Palestinian state. This is the right patriotic position.’
The Separation Wall
As I travelled last week across Israel and Palestine the landscape was
full of walls. Mostly small dry stone walls to separate neighbours, or between
farm land, or built to terrace fields on the side of rocky hills. But the
separation wall is different. It is a scar on the land and conscience of Israel
and of the international community. It stretches for 700 hundred kilometres. It
is a multi-layered, often 60 metre wide exclusion zone with a concrete wall
eight metres high.
It snakes up and down hills, alongside motorways, down the middle of
streets and through Palestinian
communities. It prevents Palestinian farmers from getting to their farmland. It
captures within its boundary Palestinian land that is then annexed by the Israeli
government. The separation wall, and the sterile roads that Palestinians are
banned from, are symptomatic of an institutionalised, deliberately structured system
of economic, cultural and social apartheid that brings shame to Israel and to
the international community that has failed to take a stand against it.
The Wall
The motion passed by the Dáil provides a route map for progress for the
Irish government and for the international community. Last night Palestinian
representatives who attended the Dáil debate were very uplifted by the outcome.
So too where those Israeli activists whom I have kept in touch with in recent
days. But they and we, and all of those who support peace between Israelis and
Palestinians, know that there is a lot of hard work ahead before we achieve
that historic conclusion.
DÁIL ÉIREANN
Fógra Tairisceana : Notice of Motion
GNÓ COMHALTAÍ PRÍOBHÁIDEACHA
PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS
“That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
—
in 2011, the Irish Government
upgraded the status, titles, and functional privileges of the Palestinian
Mission to Ireland to close to that of an embassy;
—
in November 2012, Ireland voted
in favour of the United Nations General Assembly motion granting ‘non-member
observer state’ status to Palestine;
—
the long-standing commitment
Irish Governments have given to the development of a viable, sovereign
Palestinian state, and their support for the achievement of a sovereign State
of Palestine existing in peace with its neighbours including the State of
Israel;
—
as of 8th December, 2014, 135
countries have formally recognised the State of Palestine, including eight EU
Member States - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta,
Cyprus and Sweden;
—
Seanad Éireann, on 22nd October,
2014, unanimously accepted a motion calling ‘on the Government to formally
recognise the State of Palestine and do everything it can at the international
level to help secure a viable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict’; and
—
on 30th October, 2014, Sweden
became the first EU Member State to formally recognise the State of Palestine
while a Member State of the EU;
recognises that:
—
finding a just and lasting peace
between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Arabs and Israelis in a broader
context, is a key element of Irish foreign policy;
—
the right of Palestinians to
self-determination and to have their own state as well as the right of the
State of Israel to exist within secure borders are unquestionable; and
—
continued Israeli settlement
construction and extension activities in the West Bank, including in East
Jerusalem, as well as the continued expropriation of Palestinian land and
demolition of Palestinian property by Israel, is illegal and severely
threatening the establishment of a viable Palestinian State based on the 1967
borders;
concludes that:
—
the international law criteria
for recognition of a Palestinian State have been fulfilled; and
—
the achievement of a fully
independent sovereign State of Palestine is an essential element to the
resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict; and
calls on the Government to:
—
officially recognise the State of
Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital,
as established in UN resolutions, as a further positive contribution to
securing a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
—
do all it can to assist in the
development of the democratic and state institutions of the Palestinian State;
and
—
do everything it can, at the
international level, to help secure an inclusive and viable peace process, and
two-state solution, in order to bring about the positive conditions to end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
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