MEMO | July 4, 2018
People come together to support Palestine as they walk to the Israeli embassy in Dublin, Ireland [Tommy Morrin/Facebook]
The Israeli embassy in Ireland has claimed that a draft bill calling for a ban on the sale of goods made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) will “empower terrorists”.
The Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 was launched by Independent Senator Frances Black in January and will be voted on in the Seanad on 11 July at 2.45pm.
The embassy’s remarks came after opposition party Fianna Fáil announcedyesterday that they intend to back the bill, with spokesperson Niall Collins TD saying it had “the potential to send a strong message that the issue of illegal settlements is being taken seriously and needs to be addressed”.
The Occupied Territories Bill wants to make it an offence “for a person to import or sell goods or services originating in an occupied territory”.
The Israeli embassy said such bills “further the divisions between Israel and the Palestinians”, without clarifying what this precisely meant.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan has called for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to expel the Israeli ambassador.
“The Irish Government must give a strong and unambiguous statement that there can be no impunity for Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian citizens and its continued illegal occupation of Palestine”
said Sheehan.
“It’s long past time for An Taoiseach to expel the Israeli ambassador and officially recognise the State of Palestine as approved by the Dáil in 2014. There can be no further delay.”
Read also:
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment