Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 23 May 1990

Vol. 399 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Israeli Security Policies.

Proinsias De Rossa

I thank you for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. The intensified violence in Israel over the past few days which has left at least 18 Palestinians dead and approximately 800 injured has focused attention once again on the plight of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories.

While the particular incident which has led to this upsurge in violence — the massacre of eight Palestinian workers in Tel Aviv on Sunday — appears to have been the work of one, probably deranged, individual, the other casualties have been the victims of the Israeli Government's "iron fist" security policies which have left more than 650 Palestinian civilians dead and tens of thousands wounded since December 1987.

Unfortunately it is only in the aftermath of particular horrific incidents, such as those at the weekend, that the eyes of the world focus on the activities of the Israeli security forces. For too long, western Governments have been prepared to turn a blind eye to the systematic killing of civilians, the use of live ammunition against unarmed crowds, torture, beatings, brutality and illegal detentions. In December last, Amnesty International produced a report which highlighted many of the abuses by Israeli security forces, particularly in the occupied territories. The report which they produced in their Focus magazine in December 1989 pointed out that they had repeatedly expressed concern about violations of human rights committed by Israeli forces in responses to the Intifada, the organisation particularly concerned that the guidelines, regulating circumstances in which troops can open fire, may permit unjustifiable killings. In practice, the restrictions imposed by these guidelines are reportedly often disregarded. The authorities appear not to have taken adequate measures to promptly investigate fatal incidents and punish those found guilty of abuses. The report goes on to point out that almost half of the over 550 unarmed civilians shot dead by Israeli forces between December 1987 and October 1989 were aged 18 or younger. More than 110 of the victims were aged 16 or less and included children as young as three and four. The report pointed out also that Israeli forces have shot and killed unarmed Palestinians ostensibly while trying to arrest them. In a number of cases the victims do not appear to have been involved in any violent activity when they were shot. Israeli soldiers are allowed to use live ammunition to arrest people wearing masks.

Amnesty International, a highly respected organisation, which is concerned about human rights have produced a report which damns the security forces in the occupied territories. It is time the world in general took more notice of what is going on there. The general willingness to turn a blind eye to unacceptable activities has condemned hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to a miserable existence in appalling conditions in refugee camps. Throughout the history of the Israeli State and especially in the past few years, it has shown a contempt not just for the rights of Palestinians but also for international law and for the United Nations. It has engaged in the forced deportation of Palestinian civilians despite the fact that this is in clear breach of the 1949 United Nations convention regarding the treatment of civilians under military rule. It has persistently ignored United Nations resolutions and has treated representatives of the United Nations with contempt. As we know, most of the casualties suffered by Irish troops serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon have been at the hands of Israeli backed forces.

I welcome the fact that the Irish Government have spoken out in the past against the unacceptable activities of the Israeli Government and their security forces and I hope they will now protest to the Israeli Government in an even stronger manner and press the European Council of Ministers to adopt a similarly strong position. The Israeli ambassador should be called in and told quite clearly of our anger and indignation.

The Government should demand the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territories they have illegally occupied since 1967 and their replacement by a United Nations force. The Government should also consider sending an all-party Dáil delegation to the occupied teritories there and to report back on what measures we might take to assist the plight of the Palestinians living there. This weekend a delegation from the European Parliament will be visiting Tel Aviv. I hope to be with that delegation to investigate the situation there at first hand for the European Parliament.

The Irish Government must use their position as President of the EC Council of Ministers to urge moves towards a lasting peace in the Middle East. The biggest single obstacle to the peace process in the Middle East is the persistent refusal of the Israeli authorities to enter into any discussions with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, which is the legitimate representative voice of the Palestinian people. In South Africa, the Nationalist Party Government of President De Klerk has been forced to enter into negotiations with the ANC but the Israeli Government still persists in its refusal to talk, thus blocking the road to peace and condemning many more people to needless deaths.

Any lasting solution to the problem of the Middle East must include as a central feature a homeland for the Palestinian people. There is considerable international support for the convening of a UN backed international conference on the Middle East but, again, this has been blocked by Israel. The Government have expressed their concern for an international conference but I hope they will examine ways of pursuing this even more vigorously through the European Community and the United Nations.

Apart from the humanitarian considerations for Palestinians and Israeli people we have a direct interest in securing a lasting peace in the Middle East. Peace would allow for the withdrwal of Irish and other UN troops from Lebanon and would also create a climate where the release of Brian Keenan and other hostages would become more probable. On the other hand, incidents such as those at the weekend poison the atmosphere throughout the entire Middle East and are not conducive to the release of the hostages.

I note from newspaper reports today that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is to meet the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, in Tunis, on Saturday next. I hope the Minister will extend to Mr. Arafat the sympathy of the Irish people on the recent deaths of so many Palestinian civilians. I urge the Minister and Mr. Arafat also to take steps to advance the proposal made during their meetings last November that the Palestine Liberation Organisation should be allowed to open an office in this country and appoint an official representative. I understand that the Palestine Liberation Organisation are anxious and ready to go ahead and, indeed, have already nominated their representative and that they are simply awaiting the sanction of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Now would be an appropriate time to take this step.

It is important that the European Community and the Irish Government's position in the European Council at this time should be used to exert the greatest possible diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel to change their position with regard to the Palestinians. There is a clear indication that the peace process in the Middle East has run aground, and it is important that the EC, the US and the Soviet Union, too, who also have an interest in the area, should use all their efforts to get the peace process back on the rails and overcome the blockages. If it means applying economic sanctions to Israel, that should be done, at least on a progressive basis, in order to bring them to their senses and bring them to the negotiating table.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Calleary)

I wish to thank Deputy De Rossa for putting down this question, thereby giving this House the opportunity of expressing its shock and concern at the events which began just outside Tel Aviv last Sunday. I would also like to set out in detail the actions which the Irish Presidency has taken in response to these tragic happenings. As Deputy De Rossa said, the Irish Government have spoken out very strongly in the past and will continue to do so in relation to the very tragic events which take place there.

Yesterday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs advised the Political Affairs Committee of the European Parliament that he had asked the Twelve to issue a statement. That statement was issued last evening and it reads as follows:

The Twelve are shocked and saddened by the violence which has left at least 18 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured in Rishon le Zion and the Occupied Territories since 20 May. They extend their condolences to the families and friends of those killed and their sympathy to the injured.

The Twelve deplore the tragic massacre by an Israeli civilian of eight Palestinians in Rishon le Zion. It is a matter of very grave concern to the Twelve that the response of the Israeli authorities to the spontaneous demonstrations which broke out in the Occuppied Territories has left a further ten Palestinians dead and hundreds injured. They have repeatedly raised with the Israeli authorities the question of the use of excessive force to put down manifestations of the Palestinian uprising in the Occupied Territories.

The Twelve earnestly appeal for calm. They call on the Israeli authorities to exercise the utmost restraint. They are also concerned at the risk that violence might spread — a risk illustrated in particular by events yesterday in Amman.

The Twelve see the latest upsurge of violence as symptomatic of the fragility of the situation in the Occupied Territories in the absence of any significant prospect of progress in the direction of a settlement. It underlines, in their view, the imperative of resuming the peace process in a meaningful way at a very early date.

In their contacts with both sides, the Twelve will, on the basis of the principles which they have enunciated in the Declarations of Venice (1980), Madrid and Strasbourg (1989), do all they can to promote significant steps in the direction of a comprehensive settlement. They will also be trying to prevent any further hardening of attitudes which could compromise that objective. Moreover, the Community and its member States will actively pursue their programmes of aid to the population of the Occupied Territories.

The Twelve statement is being given formally to the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. As Deputy de Rossa said, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has also arranged to meet the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Mr. Yasser Arafat, at the weekend, schedules permitting. This meeting which has been planned for some time, underlines the importance which we and the Twelve attach to the advancement of the peace process in the Middle East. It is particularly important now, in the light of the tragic events in Israel and the occupied territories since last weekend.

I have to say that these latest events add to our growing concern about what has been happening since the peace process ground to a halt in mid-March. We have to remember that the killings in Rishon le Zion were the work of somebody who was probably mentally disturbed. The massacre was strongly condemned at the highest levels by the Israeli Government, but it is a measure of the volatility of feelings resulting from the absence of progress towards peace that, nevertheless, the killings caused widespread demonstrations.

The mounting toll of Palestinian deaths and injuries is one aspect of an insensitive, indeed sometimes provocative, approach on the part of the Israeli authorities. The establishment of new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories is another — one which Arab countries and the Palestine Liberation Organisation will consider at their Summit meeting in Baghdad next Sunday. With his Troika colleagues, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has already discussed the question of settlements at length with the Arab League Committee on the Intifada in Luxembourg on 2 April.

The Twelve are acutely aware that a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict based, as it must be, on the exchange of land for peace becomes even more remote with every new manifestation of Israel's illegal settlement policy.

The Twelve are engaged in a continuous dialogue with the Israeli authorities on the aid and human rights aspects of the Strasbourg Declaration. This approach has achieved certain limited results. The scheme for direct exports from the occupied territories is operating more smoothly; a draft law which would have complicated the transfer of financial flows to Palestinian NGOs was withdrawn; since the end of February, many community colleges have reopened; the order closing the universities is expected to lapse on 28 May. The question of how best we can influence developments for the better is always current.

In parallel, we have pressed ahead with giving effect to the commitment to double direct Community aid for the Occupied Territories by 1990. The Palestinians understand Community action on aid and on human rights as a contribution to world peace. Deputies will also wish to be aware that, nationally, we have allocated from our development co-operation budget the sum of £87,700 for education purposes in the occupied territories. Part of these funds are allocated to Bethlehem University on the West Bank and the remainder to vocational training centres in Gaza.

If I have given instances in which something very modest was achieved, it is because we must not succumb to a sense of hopelessness. Despite justified frustration at their meagre results, the Palestine Liberation Organisation have not departed from the political approach. It is in everyone's interest, including, of course, that of the Twelve, that the political approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict should be vindicated. Israel, too, however, must be part of this approach. The conflict is, after all, an Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel must, therefore, be party to any negotiated settlement. As Twelve, we will be intent on using every opportunity to ensure that Israel becomes engaged in a political process leading to an overall settlement.