Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the publication of the 278-page report by Amnesty International on Israel's apartheid against Palestinians. I accept its conclusions. I said as much in a previous Dáil debate in May 2021. The main conclusion of the report is that "Israel has perpetrated the international wrong of apartheid, as a human rights violation and a violation of public international law". There have been other reports that reached the same conclusion, as mentioned by other speakers. I refer in particular to reports by the Israeli NGO, B'Tselem, and Human Rights Watch. This is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Israel itself and in respect of Palestinian refugees residing abroad.

The Amnesty report makes for disturbing reading. It outlines how Palestinians are dealt with as an inferior racial group and how Israel oppresses and segregates them. It shows how Israel is putting in place a regime aiming to dominate and oppress Palestinians. It does so through territorial fragmentation, segregation and control, dispossession of land and property, the denial of economic and social rights, as well as through forceable transfers, administrative detention and torture, unlawful killings, denial of basic human rights and freedoms and persecution. In short, it does so by fragmentation, segregation, discrimination and deprivation. By any standard, this is apartheid, certainly as defined in the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ICC. As we know, apartheid is a crime against humanity.

Of particular concern to me are home demolitions and forced evictions, which are happening, as we know, in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem. Palestinians are being systematically displaced and illegal settlers being moved in to replace them. This is clearly a violation of international law. Ireland has specifically criticised this policy, as the Minister said. Eleven EU countries have done so. I am pleased that Ireland has consistently outlined its concern in regard to the unequal treatment of Palestinians both in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, at the EU and UN, including the UN Security Council.

We must consider what needs to be done following the publication of this report. There have many proposals brought forward by reputable organisations, including Amnesty International and Sadaka. I received a submission yesterday from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, IPSC. These proposals should now be carefully considered by the Minister and the Government. I note that officials in the Department are studying the reports. Some of the recommendations are practical and others less so, but they all need to be given careful consideration. One thing is clear. The international community needs to change its approach in this area. As other speakers mentioned, it took a long time to do so in respect of apartheid in South Africa.

Here at home, a start was made when the Dáil passed an all-party motion last May stating that there has an been unlawful de facto annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory. Ireland became the first EU state to do this. It is clear that a two-state solution will become almost impossible if this activity is allowed to continue. The programme for Government includes a commitment to recognise the state of Palestine. The Government is now two years old. It has been said that the circumstances need to be right to do this but I would appreciate an update on the Government's thinking in this regard and whether recognition will or can be forthcoming in the lifetime of this Administration. Palestinians are entitled to be treated as human beings with equal rights and dignity. Everyone in this House should do everything possible to ensure that happens.

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