Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last month, the Israeli Government designated six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations. In an attempt to justify the unjustifiable, Israel circulated a secret dossier, which does not contain a shred of evidence to back up its outrageous claims. Did the Israeli Government or the ambassador to Ireland provide the Taoiseach or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, with a copy of this dossier? The Oireachtas Friends of Palestine group hosted a briefing yesterday with three of the human rights organisations affected, two of whom are funded by Irish Aid. All of the groups are now effectively deemed illegal organisations by Israel, which means their offices can be closed, their assets seized and their staff arrested and imprisoned. This is outrageous.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch published a damning report that further exposed the human rights abuses of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli authorities and called out their crimes of apartheid and persecution. Let us be clear that designating these human rights organisations as terrorist brings Israel in line with the worst days of South Africa's apartheid regime. What engagement has the Taoiseach had with European and international leaders on the matter? What concrete action will the Government take to demonstrate in full its condemnation of Israel's latest attack on the Palestinian people's human rights and those who advocate for them?

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