Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 June 2013
110. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department or the European Union has made any representations to the Palestinian Authority (details supplied). [26882/13]
View answerAs our own peace process in Ireland has shown, reconciliation on the ground between two communities who have been in sustained conflict remains a deeply sensitive process even after the successful conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement. I commend those who are working to promote reconciliation between Israelis, Palestinians and other Arabs, and between Jews, Muslims and Christians, in the Holy Land. Irish Aid continues to support work on the ground designed to support this objective. There are people on both sides who promote such work. And there are others on both sides, regrettably, who actively exacerbate tensions between the communities. It is disappointing, but hardly surprising, that there may be some Palestinians who are not supportive of reconciliation efforts in a context in which no peace agreement has been concluded or is even in prospect, in which the Israeli occupation is continuing (seemingly indefinitely), illegal Israeli dispossession of Palestinian land continues unabated, and in which the impact of occupation on Palestinians is steadily worsening. I consider that the continual injustices and dispossessions meted out to Palestinians by the occupation are the most active force working against reconciliation between the two peoples. The specific incident alluded to does not appear to have received any widespread coverage in either Israeli or Palestinian media, and is itself reported in very vague terms. Neither our Representative Office in Ramallah nor our Embassy in Tel Aviv have been able to yield further information on, or to corroborate, this story. In the circumstances, I do not believe there is any basis for further comment or action in relation to this particular episode.
