H.E. Mr. Ahmad Abdelrazek:

I thank the Chairman. Distinguished members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, excellencies and colleagues, I bring you the greetings of the Palestinian legislative council, whose members sincerely thank you for inviting me to brief the committee on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Before I start, I ask the Chairman to allow me to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the members of the Seanad, which was recalled during the summer recess to discuss the situation in Gaza while the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip was ongoing. Furthermore, I would like to extend my appreciation to the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, for his statement on Monday on Israeli settlement expansion and for reaffirming Ireland's commitment to a two-state solution, which is the only solution to this conflict. I am also humbled by the enormous support of the Irish people, who have called for an end to the war on Gaza and are sending a message of hope to the Palestinian people, telling them that they are not forgotten and their pain is not theirs alone.

Ireland has gained an outstanding reputation worldwide for its stance on promoting and protecting human rights and sets an example in the field of peace building.

A ceasefire agreement was recently reached with the Israeli Government to end the war on the Gaza Strip. However, without tangible progress in peace negotiations and a set timetable for the realisation of a Palestinian state, what guarantees do we, the Palestinians, have that such a war will not be waged against us again, as has happened three times in the past six years? The Palestinian national consensus Government was based on acceptance of United Nations resolutions, the Oslo agreement and the Quartet decisions. It was welcomed by all countries, except one, Israel. The Government was sworn in on 2 June 2014, with general elections to be held in 2015. Ten days after this government took office, on 12 June, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped from an Area C zone in the occupied Palestinian territories, which is under full Israeli control. On 2 July, a day after the three teenagers were buried, Mohamed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped from East Jerusalem by Israeli settlers and evidence showed that he was brutally beaten and burned alive. Prime Minister Netanyahu accused Hamas of the kidnapping of the three Israelis, which Hamas has denied. An Israeli military operation was initiated in the West Bank for 11 days. It led to the killing of 11 Palestinians and the arrest of more than 500 others. In the Gaza Strip, six Hamas militants were assassinated, triggering a response from Hamas. More recently, Israel’s civil administration on Sunday announced the appropriation of 1,000 acres of land belonging to five Palestinian villages in Area C of the occupied Palestinian territories. I agree with the Chairman when he stated it is a nail in the coffin of the two-state solution. The move paves the way for the construction of a new settlement named Gva'ot. This move aims at expelling Palestinians out of their homes and out of a future state of Palestine.

Israel has disregarded numerous United Nations resolutions, treaties and conventions to which it is a signatory. First, since 1967 Israel has continued to colonise Palestinian lands. If the Israelis want peace, why do they continue to construct settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories? Israel has built the apartheid wall, seizing even more private and Palestinian state land within the 1967 borders. Israel is judaizing East Jerusalem. Since Israel's 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem, tens of thousands of Palestinians have lost their right to live in Jerusalem although they were born there. Unfortunately, I have a personal experience in this regard because my wife has received the letter withdrawing her Jerusalem ID. She no longer has any right although she was born there because she lived with me as ambassador for seven years outside Jerusalem.

Israel arbitrary arrests civilians, including children. On 2 November 1991, it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC, without reservation. However, since becoming a signatory to the UNCRC, it has failed to uphold the standards put forth by the convention in its treatment of Palestinian children.

Israel's policy in the West Bank is built on incursions and curfews, roadblocks and military checkpoints which all aim to render life even more difficult and restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinians.

Israeli soldiers are constantly fed the culture of impunity. They have been taught and fully believe they are above the law. On 15 May this year, Israeli army soldiers shot two Palestinian teenagers. The CCTV footage, obtained by Defence for Children International, shows that neither Nadeem Nowarah, aged 17 years, nor Mohammad Abu al-Thair, aged 16 years, presented any direct threat to the nearby soldiers at the time of the shooting.

Israel forces large numbers of Palestinians to request permits to go to school, work, pray and visit their families. It has constructed a network of bypass roads on Palestinian land that Palestinians cannot use. It cuts off and limits vital supplies of water and electricity. The average Israeli consumption of water is 300 litres per person per day, four times that of Palestinian consumption.

Israel constantly deports Palestinians, both within Palestine and abroad. In May 2002, 13 Palestinians were deported to a number of European countries, including two to Ireland under a temporary deportation agreement to last for one year. Twelve years on, these Palestinians are still hosted by those European countries, including Ireland, with no clear view on their return home. As you can see, Chairman, Israel controls almost every aspect of Palestinian life.

Like many others, I am saddened by the failure of the international community to prevent the massacres Israel committed against the civilian population in Gaza, between 6 July and 26 August this year. Over 2,000 Palestinians were killed, while over 10,000 were injured, many with permanent disabilities. The deaths included 581 children, 261 women, 101 elderly persons, 94 whole families who do not exist on the registers anymore, 23 health staff, 20 education staff, 11 United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, staff and 16 journalists. Moreover, according to data provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, the Israeli army killed 20 adults and three children on the West Bank during the same period. Soldiers also wounded 2,218 people, 38% of them by live fire, although there were no rockets and no missiles launched from the West Bank. Khalil Anati was from the Al-Fawar refugee camp in the southern part of the West Bank. A soldier, in an armoured jeep, shot him in the back with a live round and killed him as he was running home. He was ten years old.

Mohammed Al-Qatari was a promising soccer player from the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah. A soldier shot him while he was taking part in a demonstration against the war on Gaza. He was 19 years old.
Hashem Abu Maria was a social worker and a father of three from Beit Ummar who worked for the Geneva-based NGO Defence for Children International. He participated in a demonstration against the Gaza war, trying to protect children by preventing them from throwing stones. He stood at the back of the group of protestors, shooing the children away. Some people heard him tell them:

Go home, this is dangerous. It’s not for you. You are children – demonstrations are for adults. Go home and play with your computers.

He was killed by an Israeli army sniper who shot him straight in the heart, killing him on the spot, from a balcony the sniper had taken over from a Palestinian family.
Israel pretends it is a democratic country. England was considered a democratic country when it occupied Ireland. South Africa was a democratic country for the whites and an apartheid state for non-whites. For 20 years, we have been trying to negotiate a two-state solution but, I have to admit, we have failed. If there is doubt about the current Israeli Government’s intentions, then Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments quoted in the Times of Israelon 13 July remove all doubt. He said: “I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan”. This clearly means not giving a Palestinian state full sovereignty.
Despite the international community’s claim that the two-state solution is the only solution, it has not acted to stop Israel usurping Palestinian land and natural resources. If the international community continues with the same approach to this conflict, then it is being complicit with the status quo. Relationships must change between Israel, the Palestinians and third-party states and be transformed into ones that centre on accountability.
We welcome the EU guidelines on settlements and the steps taken to discourage Israeli Governments from investing in settlements, but I believe more needs to be done. More tangible steps are needed that ultimately will end this unjust occupation.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, stated: “While there is an obligation on both sides to reach an accommodation, it is also the responsibility of the international community to be proactive in facilitating a long term solution.” Europe should play a more active role in the formal recognition of the Palestinian state.
Should the status quoof continued occupation persist, we will use all legitimate means to end the occupation and the cycles of massacres and destruction against our people.