Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If we are waiting for positive actions from Mr. Netanyahu, we will be waiting a long time. However, I welcome the fact that the Minister signed a letter with other Foreign Ministers calling for the labelling of Israeli settlement goods. It is a welcome first step, but it does not go nearly far enough. Just last week the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that an Israeli Government can legally seize Palestinian lands in occupied east Jerusalem. This has become a tool for many right wing groups to increase the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, which is against international law and an attempt to stop Jerusalem becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. This will not be on any labels. Human Rights Watch released a 74 page report last week which states that Israeli settlement farms in the West Bank are using Palestinian child labour to grow, harvest and pack agricultural products, many of them for export. Again, that will not be on the labels. We need further action. I ask the Minister to push for a ban on settlement goods entering the EU market.

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