Dr. Munir Nuseibah:

I am not an Irish politician. My area of expertise is international law. Obligations of international law are not equal. There is a hierarchy. Even if one is part of different international organisations, including membership of the EU or the UN or any other regional or other organisations, one might have obligations that sometimes must be breached in order to keep a higher obligation. It is like a constitution and the other laws within an internal legal system. If there is contradiction between law and a constitution, the constitution is higher. In the same way, peremptory norms of international law, for example, prevention of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, are higher than any other obligations and whenever there is a contradiction one always prioritises the higher over the lower in terms of obligations. Having said that, I am not a politician. I would still argue it is also important to explain to the European Union that one is restricting a state's bonds because of the way the money is being used. The European Union has peaceful ways of conflict resolution. Maybe it can go to court against Ireland and Ireland can say it had to compare its legal obligations and it had to prioritise. Ireland will win in the European court's legal system because, at the end of the day, the argument for doing it is not because it has just been decided. It is because there are International Court of Justice decisions and advisory opinions and other rules. This is what Ireland believes. As Ireland believes and understands Israel is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, it is only consistent with Irish policy. Even if there is a small conflict, it can be resolved through negotiations and through the courts. I am sure this can be resolved.