Ms Jenny Derbyshire:

Mr. Costello has suddenly come down with something.

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for giving us this opportunity to present before them today on an issue of direct relevance and concern to the committee, the European Union and the international community as a whole. I refer to the dramatic increase in the destruction and confiscation of Palestinian dwelling and livelihood structures by the Israeli army in the West Bank and Jerusalem in 2016. We will begin with an overview of all demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem and will focus on the specific issue of the destruction and confiscation of EU-funded humanitarian aid by the Israeli army. We will also outline what positive steps the committee can take to pursue a cessation of and accountability for this destruction and confiscation of EU-funded assets.

To introduce myself, I am a returned ecumenical accompanier, or human rights monitor. I was based in the occupied West Bank as part of the EAPPI programme, which I will explain. I was there for three months in 2012 and another three months in 2013 in Bethlehem and I was back briefly in 2015. I am joined by a fellow ecumenical accompanier, EA, Mr. Alex Dunne, who has been based most recently in the West Bank. He served as a human rights monitor for two periods of three months in 2015 and 2016. Unfortunately, Patrick Costello is sick. He sends his apologies.

Principally, we recommend that the committee call on the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, to raise the issue of the dramatic increase in the destruction of EU-funded humanitarian aid at the next EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting and that the committee also request to be updated regularly on the efforts being made by Ireland to push for a cessation of such breaches of international law in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

I will explain briefly the programme with which we have both worked and then Mr. Dunne will speak in more detail about the demolitions. Some members of the committee might already know, but some might not, that the ecumenical accompaniment programme in Palestine and Israel, EAPPI, was founded in 2002 after a call by the heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem for support from the international community. In response, the World Council of Churches set up this worldwide programme which brings people of different backgrounds, professions, ages and faiths to Israel and Palestine to serve as EAs. EAs are human rights monitors. We form part of the United Nations protection cluster and monitor human rights violations. These include violations regarding access to land and livelihood for Palestinian farmers, access to education for children and access to movement for Palestinians across the numerous internal military checkpoints dotted throughout the West Bank. The vision of the programme is a future in which the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza has ended and both Palestinians and Israelis benefit from a just peace, with freedom and security, based on international law. Our mission is to witness life under occupation, engage with local Palestinians and Israelis pursuing a just peace and work to change the international community's involvement with the conflict, urging it to act against injustice in the region. Our philosophy is one of non-violence. We are not pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian; we do not take sides in the conflict. However, we are pro-human rights and international humanitarian law. We do not discriminate against anyone and we stand faithfully with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised. Since 2002, the programme has brought more than 1,500 EAs to the West Bank and East Jerusalem from all over the world. In the UK and Ireland, EAs are volunteers, and the programme is run by the Quakers in Britain and supported by Trócaire and Christian Aid in Ireland.

My colleague, Alex Dunne, will now walk the committee through the reality on the ground concerning demolitions, including of EU-funded structures, by way of the latest statistics gathered by the United Nations, the European Union and our organisation.