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Campaigners to discuss plight of Syrians, Palestinians with Foreign Affairs Committee

9 May 2018, 16:58

The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence will explore the Syrian civil war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at its next meeting Thursday at 10am in Committee Room 1, Leinster House.

At the start of a two-part meeting, Dr. Annie Sparrow will discuss Syria, focusing on the delivery of humanitarian aid, the particular toll of the conflict on children, and the catastrophic impact on public health.

The Committee then will meet Omar Barghouti to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the growing non-violent civil society movement against Israel’s West Bank settlement programme and other policies.

  • Dr. Sparrow is a New York-based paediatrician who specialises in emergency care in conflict zones, which she visits frequently, most recently Syria.
  • Mr. Barghouti is a Palestinian human rights defender and co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“This meeting serves to highlight the unacceptable plight of people caught up in two of the Middle East’s gravest flash points: the Syrian civil war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Committee Chairman Brendan Smith TD. “Witnesses like Dr. Sparrow and Mr. Barghouti provide an opportunity for members of the Committee to hear at first hand the situation on the ground in the region. We look forward to hearing their perspectives.”

Committee proceedings can be viewed live here.

Committee proceedings also can be viewed live on Android and Apple smartphones using the Houses of the Oireachtas app.

Media enquiries

Shawn Pogatchnik
Houses of the Oireachtas
Communications Unit
Leinster House
Dublin 2
+353 1 618 4203
+353 86 701 3295
shawn.pogatchnik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @OireachtasNews

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