Eamon Ryan
Ceist:4. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the steps he will take to support a peaceful settlement in Palestine. [3849/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 25 January 2018
Ceisteanna (4)
Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)
Following his recent visit to the Middle East, I am keen to hear the Minister's latest thinking on what Ireland can do to support the peace process in Palestine and the resolution of what is an intolerable situation. The peace process has effectively stalled. If anything, it is in reverse, particularly with the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem. There is no sign that the process that had been engaged in for the past 25 years is working any longer. How do we help to break the deadlock? What can we do to try to foster a change in the current and intolerable situation?
It is a fair question. Deputy Eamon Ryan will receive a copy of my written answer but I wish to take this opportunity to respond to him directly.
I have spent a good deal of time on this issue since moving into this brief. It is something I am personally interested in. I have been to Israel and Palestine twice in the space of less than six months. I have met the Israeli Prime Minister three times and I have met Palestinian leaders more frequently than that. As recently as last week, I met President Abbas in Brussels. We have been speaking directly to the US of its ambitions for a new peace initiative. We have tried to make clear that the EU as a whole, including Ireland, needs to see certain things in that new initiative if we are going to be able to support it.
There is considerable political dialogue and engagement. I absolutely accept that when someone is looking from the outside in, it looks like this is going backwards rather than forwards. The decision in respect of the recognition of Jerusalem before Christmas has made it far more difficult and complicated. Palestinians have responded negatively to the move, understandably so, as have people from many other countries throughout the Arab world and elsewhere, including the European Union.
I sense Deputy Eamon Ryan is asking whether we should change our focus now from political engagement with all sides to some sort of protest position and a more aggressive approach. I do not think now is the right time to do that. I have explained to all parties why that is the case. Now is a time for politicians and governments to undertake tough talking in meetings as opposed to isolating themselves by gestures. Such gestures may be good from a solidarity perspective, but I am unsure whether they would advance the political process. Ultimately, that is what we need. If we are clearly getting nowhere with dialogue, obviously we will have to review that in a few months' time.
I would always stand for political engagement, although that can include the use of protest and the European Union changing its position to take a far more critical approach, especially in respect of what the US Government and the Israeli Government are doing. It seems that the Israeli Government is happy enough with this stalled negotiation process.
I am interested in what the Minister said to the effect that behind the scenes there may be some hope of engagement despite the reversals with regard to the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem. I have one question in that regard. Did the Minister hear anything in his talks with President Abbas or others about a fundamental shift towards seeking a one-state rather than a two-state solution? If citizenship was applied, there would be almost a balance between Arab and others Jewish communities within a combined single state. During an Oireachtas visit to the Middle East early last year, I heard the view that maybe we need to recalibrate the overall approach because the current system is not working. The current system seems to suit Israel because those involved in Israel have control, including security control and control of populations in every way. It is not working for the Palestinian people. Is that big thinking about how we might shift our approach taking place within the European Union or in the Minister's talks?
We have had that debate. I wish to state clearly that in our judgment a two-state solution is the best outcome. That is our position, the position of the Palestinian leadership and the position of the US Government as well, as outlined by the US Vice President this week. There is a view that a one-state solution would not inspire the kind of hope that many Palestinian communities want and need.
I am absolutely committed to a two-state solution still. However, there are many things we need to raise concerns about in the meantime. The continuation of the expansion of illegal settlements in occupied territory in the West Bank is making a two-state solution more difficult to negotiate. It is making trust between the parties more difficult to reinforce. We need to encourage the reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas to ensure that at some stage in the not-too-distant future the Palestinian Authority can take control and governance, including security control in Gaza. That would make it far easier for the international community to engage in Gaza, where there is extraordinary humanitarian pressure at the moment.
We are going to be announcing some projects for Gaza and increasing the resources we provide to Palestinians in the not-too-distant future.
Finally, in respect of the UN Relief and Welfare Agency, UNWRA, this is a really serious issue, not just for Gaza and the West Bank but also for Palestinian refugees generally in Jordan and Lebanon. The potential threat to UNWRA funding is a destabilising political issue in respect of which there needs to be much more certainty. I think my views on that have been stated quite forcefully.
If we are going to continue with the same approach, where is the progress in terms of dealing with the spread of settlements or the treatment of Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza? The current system is not working. The situation is in reverse. At what point do we switch to protesting and taking other measures? How can there be any confidence that the current approach is working? There are nothing but downsides for the Palestinian people. There are no gains; the situation is deadlocked. At some point Europe will surely have to change its position, if it is trying to unlock the intolerable current situation?
Before the announcement in Jerusalem, there actually was quite a lot of hope. The European Union was waiting for a new US initiative. When I was at the UN General Assembly in New York, I met Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Palestine. There was a sense of positivity that they were waiting for a new initiative that the Palestinians would be able to support. There were the beginnings of some momentum there, particularly given the very close relationship between the current US Administration and the Israeli Government. Such closeness can actually deliver change, in my view, in a very positive way. It was the announcement on Jerusalem which set the whole process back in respect of trust between Palestinians and the ability of the US - on its own - to bring forward an initiative. That is why they are now saying they recognise, of course, that the US needs to be involved in a new initiative but they need other countries involved also to ensure the kind of balance they are seeking.