I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for granting me permission to raise what I believe is a very important matter, one Deputy De Rossa, Deputy Sherlock and I tried to have discussed on some basis within the order of the House on a number of occasions, and I welcome the opportunity to do so this evening.
The horrific proportions and dimension of what is happening in Palestine and the occupied territories at the moment are brought home by the very sad press reports of a recent incident where it was recounted that a young Palestinian was shot dead by a member of the Israeli security forces on the basis that he had attacked with his bare hands that member of the security forces in the process of an arrest. It in some way helps to measure the balance of forces, of interests and of might that exists in this struggle that, on the one hand, the right of life seems to have been reduced to nothing and, on the other, an unarmed civilian who struggles with or attacks—whatever the word is— a heavily armed member of the security forces can be put to death as a consequence.
What is happening on a daily basis in the occupied territories is inevitable, if one considers the context in which the situation has exploded. Since the assumption of authority and jurisdiction by the Israeli State of these territories, the regime has been one of severe repression and steel-handedness. The regime is one that recognises virtually no civil law and is dominated by the role of military order and edict. Each area of the occupied territories is divided by the Israeli administration into districts or areas ruled over or dominated by a military officer-of-command. That man, or indeed woman as the case may be, can issue edicts—and does on a regular basis—that dominate throughout the civil life of the indigenous inhabitants. The civil historical administration of the Palestinians has been effectively set at nought.
In October 1980, in association with and on behalf of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in Brussels, I spent over a week visiting the various areas in the occupied territories and prepared a detailed report, along with a member of the Supreme Court Judiciary in Italy and a legal academic from France. In discussions with Deputy Sherlock on his recent return from visits to the same areas and considering the daily reports, little has changed, but if there has been change it has been in the direction of increased repression and disregard for the civil order of things and, indeed, for life itself.
One must consider the degree of interference that exists and has led to the resentment and uprising, as it is so rightly called. The land traditionally owned and occupied by the Palestinians has been systematically assumed, taken over and occupied on a daily, ongoing basis. The system of colonisation is one on almost paramilitary lines. It is a system of fortification using civilian members of the Israeli population who are moved into strategically built hamlets, heavily armed though not necessarily active members of the Israeli armed forces. People who look at press reports and photographs are often at a loss to understand how one can see a school child or teenager going to school carrying what looks like very awesome weaponry. It is a phenomenon of Israeli colonists moving into territories of great hostility, who enforce or maintain their existence there literally at the end of the barrel of a gun. There is a plan of colonisation with the intention, ultimately, of controlling every square inch of the occupied territories which has gone on unabated.
Academic life and school life are supervised by military edict. Curricula in the schools are vetted and controlled. The presence of armed forces in Bir Zeit University is a daily occurrence. The dismissal or employment of the academics in the universities is, again, subject to military edict. The daily newspapers must be submitted in advance to the military controller in the region for clearance before they can put to print and the papers sold.
Needless to say, the economy of the Palestinian people has been entirely eroded. Labour and trade union rights are non-existent. One of the most disturbing social disruptions and resentments that exist is the degree to which labour has been forced out of its traditional employments and obliged on a daily basis to travel long distances to work on developed farms and in factories inside Israeli territory, as opposed to any serious economic investment in development of the Palestinian lands. I have an abiding memory of one evening at about 5 o'clock during my visit, speaking with the local majors or representatives in a provincial town in the Palestinian area of Ramala. The buses from the Israeli side were coming in convoy and disgorging hundreds of Palestinians who had to dash on to district buses and find their way home. I was told that they were engaged in a journey of upwards of two hours to and from work every day. That was four hours of the working day spent in searching out employment and travelling to and from work. All this has led to the inevitable consequence of the turmoil that exists. While I have sought to paint what is clearly a one-sided perspective of the situation, a side that I know of——
