Palestine: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

The following motion was moved by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett on Wednesday, 22 November 2023:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes:

— that long before the current horrific escalation of violence by Israel in Gaza and increasingly in the West Bank, multiple human rights organisations had issued damning reports stating that Israel was guilty of multiple breaches of international law and crimes against humanity in their treatment of Palestinians;

— in that regard, that last year's Amnesty International report entitled "Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity", indicted Israel for;

— the crime against humanity of apartheid as defined by the Apartheid Convention and the Rome Statute;

— operating a racist and cruel system of apartheid against the Palestinian people both within the state of Israel, within the occupied Palestinian Territories, in Gaza and against the millions of Palestinians exiled in the Palestinian diaspora, who are denied their most basic rights and freedoms;

— deliberately denying Palestinians their basic rights and freedoms, including draconian movement restrictions in the Occupied Palestine Territories (OPT), systematic home demolitions, land seizures and annexation of Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem;

— its 16 year-long blockade on Gaza, which leaves the area in a "state of perpetual humanitarian crisis" and amounts to a "collective punishment of Gaza's civilian population";

— chronic discriminatory underinvestment in Palestinian communities in Israel;

— the denial of the right to return of millions of Palestinian refugees as guaranteed by international law;

— the forcible transfer and expulsion of Palestinians from Israel and the OPT;

— the "widespread" and "systematic" use of administrative detention to imprison thousands of Palestinians, including children;

— "decades" of torture and ill treatment of Palestinian detainees, including children;

— the "systematic, unlawful and arbitrary" killing of Palestinians "outside the context of armed conflict"; and

— treatment of Palestinians as an inferior racial group who are defined by their non-Jewish, Arab status, and this racial discrimination is cemented

in laws which affect Palestinians across Israel and the OPT;

further notes that the report:

— follows a 2021 report from Human Rights Watch entitled "A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution",

which also indicts Israel for apartheid and many other crimes;

— includes the following condemnation of the international community's inaction "for over seven decades, the international community has stood by as Israel has been given free rein to dispossess, segregate, control, oppress and dominate Palestinians"; and

— states that "the international community has contributed to undermining the international legal order and has emboldened Israel to continue perpetrating crimes with impunity" and accuses some states of having "actively supported Israel's violations by supplying it with the arms, equipment and other tools to perpetrate crimes under international law and by providing diplomatic cover, including at the United Nations Security Council to shield it from accountability" and "by doing so, they have completely failed the Palestinian people and have only exacerbated Palestinians' lived experience as people with lesser rights and inferior status to Jewish Israelis";

furthermore notes:

— that the Gaza Health Ministry has stated that more than 11,000 people have been killed by the Israeli attacks carried out since 7th October, that's one in every 200 Gazans killed in 6 weeks, and close to half of those were children;

— that according to the World Health Organization, 160 children are being killed every day in Gaza, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, 180 women are giving birth in Gaza every day without medical care, and according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), the healthcare system in Gaza has collapsed and children are enduring operations such as amputations without anaesthetic;

— the displacement of over one million people from Gaza under threat of deliberate and premeditated military assault that bears all the hallmarks of a campaign of ethnic cleansing;

— that attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank against Palestinians have increased and at least 178 Palestinians have been killed, including 45 children;

— that at least 1,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank, including 424 children;

— that more than 2,200 Palestinians in the West Bank have been detained, including 24 journalists;

— that the number of Palestinians held in administrative detention increased from 1,319 to 2,070 between 1st October and 1st November;

— that the Government has repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire and stated that Israel's actions amount to a "war on children";

— Israel's murderous, inhumane and brutal actions in Gaza and, increasingly in the West Bank, bear all the hallmarks of an intent to commit genocide, as set out in the Genocide Convention, and that under that Convention Ireland has a legal obligation to prevent genocide; and

— the Israeli Ambassador's repeated attempts to justify the atrocities being carried out by the Israeli state and the growing public demand for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador;

also notes that:

— Israel is central to the projection of United States (US) geopolitical and military power in the Middle East, and in 1986 US President Joe Biden said of Israel "It's the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region";

— the US has given Israel more military assistance than any other country since World War II, providing aid worth more than $158 billion;

— Israel's illegal, violent occupation of Palestine, and current destruction and ethnic cleansing of Gaza, are overwhelmingly dependent on funding and weapons from the US, and the US has consistently refused to call for a ceasefire and has vetoed and voted against UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire;

— almost all US funding to Israel at present is in the form of military funding, with the US giving Israel $3.8 billion per year in military assistance under a 10-year plan that began in 2016, and the Biden administration now plans to provide a further $14.5 billion in military funding to Israel;

— since October, the US has deployed an aircraft carrier, fighter jets, a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying cruise missiles, three ballistic missile defence ships, and drones in the Middle East region;

— European Union (EU) member states have provided military equipment to Israel's occupation forces for decades, with close to 30 per cent of Israeli weapons coming from Germany and Italy, and EU arms exports to Israel from 2011-2020 worth €4.1 billion;

— the use of Shannon Airport by the US military for over two decades, for their wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, has undermined Irish neutrality;

— Article 28.3.1o of the Constitution of Ireland states that "War shall not be declared and the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of Dáil Éireann", but this has been repeatedly and consistently undermined by giving the US military permission to use Shannon Airport to provide direct support for ground offensives and bombing campaigns, making the State complicit in the deaths and displacement of millions of people;

— Shannon Airport is effectively a forward operating base for the US military, used to support their operations in the Middle East, with approximately three million US troops and their weapons, and US Air Force/Navy cargo planes passing through Shannon Airport since 2002, and over 51,000 US military personnel have passed through Shannon Airport in 2023 to mid-November;

— no inspections have taken place to establish if US military aircraft landing in Shannon meet the State's conditions of such military aircraft being unarmed, and carry no arms, ammunition or explosives, are not engaged in intelligence gathering, and do not form part of a military operation or exercise; and

— no inspections of US military aircraft in Shannon Airport have taken place to establish if weapons are being transported to Israel since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October;

calls on the Government to endorse the findings and the recommendations of the Amnesty International report entitled "Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity", including, but not limited to, the following:

— publicly recognise that international crimes against humanity, including the crime of apartheid, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention, are being committed by Israel against Palestinians in Israel and the OPT;

— recognise the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes where they or their families once lived in Israel or the OPT, and to receive restitution and compensation and other effective remedies for the loss of their land and property;

— publicly support and advocate for targeted sanctions against Israeli officials most responsible for the system and crime of apartheid;

— demand that Israel immediately cease all settlement activity as a first step to dismantling all Israeli settlements and related infrastructure in the West Bank;

— demand that Israel immediately lift the siege of Gaza and immediately restore food, water, electricity, and medical supplies, and remove all other forms of arbitrary restrictions of movement of people and goods that result in collective punishment; and

— publicly advocate that the EU ensures it is not supporting or rendering aid or assistance to the system of apartheid; and

also calls on the Government to:

— close Shannon Airport to the US military immediately, by banning US military and US military contracted aircraft, including troop carriers, from landing at the airport, and provide a guarantee to Shannon Airport workers that there will be no redundancies and all jobs will be protected;

— support and advocate a comprehensive international arms embargo on the state of Israel, such as those currently imposed on at least eight other states;

— unilaterally act to end the bi-lateral trade in arms, military equipment and technology, surveillance and "dual use" technology between Ireland and Israel;

— unilaterally, impose targeted economic, financial, political and diplomatic sanctions on Benjamin Netanyahu and all Israeli government Ministers, ambassadors, officials and military personnel who are involved in any of the following:

— supporting, promoting or assisting Israel's apartheid system and policies;

— the systematic, unlawful or arbitrary killing of Palestinians, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians;

— the seizure or destruction of Palestinian land or property;

— violations of human rights or international law;

— the system of administrative detention; or are in anyway involved in supporting, promoting or assisting current Israeli actions in Gaza, the West Bank or Israel that are likely to involve war-crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide as defined in the Rome Statute or Apartheid Convention;

— immediately undertake an assessment as to whether there is a serious risk that a genocide is being committed or will be committed by Israel, in line with the State's obligation to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention and to employ all means reasonably available to the State to prevent genocide in Gaza, including utilising all avenues available and all links with the EU, to sanction Israel so as to prevent the commission of genocide;

— publicly endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and its goals, and in this regard announce a review of State procurement policies; and

— impose other sanctions that would place meaningful pressure on the Israeli Government to halt their current assault on Gaza and to impede their ability to continue this assault.

The following amendment No. 1 was moved by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs:

To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"deeply deplores the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the death of over 11,000 people, including 5,000 children, over 100 United Nations (UN) workers and over 40 journalists, and the damage and destruction of hospitals, schools, UN premises, and infrastructure in Gaza, following Israel's military actions in Gaza;

condemns the barbaric attack by Hamas on Israel on 7th October, in which 1,200 people were killed and at least 243 people were kidnapped, and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for an immediate ceasefire;

also condemns the killing of children and civilians;

reiterates its deep concern at violence in the West Bank, in particular settler violence against Palestinian communities causing displacement;

demands immediate, large scale, rapid, unhindered, and safe humanitarian access, to include food, clean water, fuel and medical supplies to more than two million people in Gaza, and deplores the displacement of over 1.5 million people in Gaza;

notes that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the opening of an investigation into the situation in Palestine (including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) in March 2021, and that the Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, has reaffirmed, most recently on 17th November, that this investigation covers the current, ongoing conflict, including all events on and from 7th October this year;

welcomes the Government's allocation of a further €3 million to the ICC, to adequately resource such an investigation;

also reiterates that all hostages should be released immediately and unconditionally;

agrees that:

— all members of the international community have an obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, in all situations of armed conflict, and that all alleged breaches of international humanitarian law must be investigated, and perpetrators held to account;

— a war crime is defined by the nature of the act, not the identity of the perpetrator, and international humanitarian law, including the prohibition on the targeting of civilians, the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality, the prohibition on collective punishment, and the prohibition on the taking of hostages and use of 'human shields', applies to all armed conflicts and is binding on all parties; and

— there are no planes with weapons en route to Israel stopping at Shannon Airport or any other Irish airport; and

calls on the Government to:

— intensify its calls and advocacy for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages;

— pursue all possible avenues at the European Union (EU) and the UN to build an international alliance for peace, to provide a pathway away from violence and back to the negotiation table;

— provide strong leadership at EU level to advocate for a comprehensive response, based on the founding values of the EU of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, which are embedded in the Treaty on the European Union;

— uphold the importance and centrality of diplomacy at times of conflict;

— intensify its advocacy against all breaches of international law;

— ensure that justice and accountability apply equally to all people, in all situations, and reiterates that all victims deserve their rights to be vindicated equally; and

— continue Ireland's consistent and strong support for the ICC and upholds the independence and impartiality of the Court."

Debate resumed on amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:

After "also condemns the killing of children and civilians", to insert "by Israel".

- (Deputy Matt Carthy)

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding Palestine. On Wednesday, 22 November 2023, on the question, "That the amendment to the amendment be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.

Amendment to amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 54; Níl, 79; Staon, 0.

Tá

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Joan.
Collins, Michael.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Farrell, Mairéad.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gannon, Gary.
Grealish, Noel.
Guirke, Johnny.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McGrath, Mattie.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Naughten, Denis.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Sherlock, Sean.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.
Whitmore, Jennifer.
Wynne, Violet-Anne.

Níl

Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Kehoe, Paul.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Martin, Micheál.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Michael.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shanahan, Matt.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Matt Carthy; Níl, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin.

Amendment to amendment declared lost.

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 83; Níl, 50; Staon, 0.

Tá

Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Michael.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Grealish, Noel.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Kehoe, Paul.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Martin, Micheál.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Mattie.
McGrath, Michael.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shanahan, Matt.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.

Níl

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Joan.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Farrell, Mairéad.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gannon, Gary.
Guirke, Johnny.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Sherlock, Sean.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.
Whitmore, Jennifer.
Wynne, Violet-Anne.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Richard Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy.

Amendment declared carried.

Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 83; Níl, 50; Staon, 0.

Tá

Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Michael.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Grealish, Noel.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Kehoe, Paul.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Martin, Micheál.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Mattie.
McGrath, Michael.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shanahan, Matt.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.

Níl

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Joan.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Farrell, Mairéad.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gannon, Gary.
Guirke, Johnny.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Sherlock, Sean.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.
Whitmore, Jennifer.
Wynne, Violet-Anne.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Richard Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy.

Question declared carried.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 10.24 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Dé Déardaoin, an 23 Samhain 2023.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.24 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 23 November 2023.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Wednesday, 22 Nov 2023