Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has responded in an open and generous way to the people fleeing the war in Ukraine. In three months, the State has provided accommodation to 23,000 people fleeing the war. Private citizens have accommodated thousands more, and communities across the country have stepped up to the plate in welcoming Ukrainians and helping them to settle in. We would not have had this response were it not for the work of journalists who have communicated the horror of the war so effectively. They are journalists who, on a daily basis, put their lives at risk for the sake of truth.

The initiation of war in any context is immoral, unjustified and reckless, but this is especially true in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The UN has estimated that almost 4,000 civilians have been killed to date. Over nine journalists have lost their lives. I want to pay tribute to all journalists who put their lives at risk to let the world know what is happening in this war. Today, I want to mention, in particular, our own Pierre Zakrzewski. Pierre and his colleague, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, lost their lives in March 2022, when their team and others came under fire outside Kyiv. Pierre has done a particular service to the cause of truth, with a distinguished career covering war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

Today, I also acknowledge the work of another journalist working in a conflict zone, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead earlier this month while wearing a blue vest with "PRESS" written on it as she covered a raid by the Israeli defence forces on a refugee camp in Jenin in occupied Palestinian territory. Shireen Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent Palestinian journalists, if not the most prominent. Over 25 years, she covered the injustice of the occupation so effectively and gave the ordinary Palestinian a voice. The circumstances of her death demand an immediate, impartial, independent and effective investigation. We also saw the circumstances surrounding her funeral. It is impossible not to take it out of the context of the occupation. We must ask ourselves what kind of circumstances allow a police force to charge and beat the mourners at a funeral, to the point where the pallbearers lose their grip on the coffin. The circumstances are, of course, unusual. They are the circumstances of a cruel, prolonged and stifling occupation, where the Israeli defence forces, the police force and the Israeli Government have for too long operated in an environment of impunity.

I lived and worked in occupied Palestinian territory for three months as a human rights observer. With the movement restrictions; the permit system; the layers of security at checkpoints; the random arrest and torture of people, sometimes children; the demolition of homes; the growth in illegal settlements; the administrative detention in prison; the random beatings; the humiliations; the unlawful killings; and the unlawful killings with no hint of an investigation or a consequence, it is one of the most elaborate and cruel systems of oppression in operation in the world today. It is people like Shireen Abu Akleh who did and do they best they can to portray the reality, inhumanity and cruelty of the occupation.

Many organisations working on the ground in occupied Palestinian territory are also trying to bring the truth to the world. In March 2022 I returned to the West Bank because NGOs working on the ground are finding it an increasingly difficult space to operate in. The documentation and challenging of the range of human rights abuses is increasingly coming under pressure from the Israeli Government. Last October, Israel unjustifiably designated six such NGOs as terrorist organisations. Two of these organisations are supported, and continue to be supported, by the Irish Government. I was glad to meet with representatives of the organisations in Palestine and to publicly offer my support for their work. I wish to take this opportunity to call on the EU to reinstate the funding of the six organisations after it was withdrawn following the Israeli designation.

I want to briefly refer to the work of the two organisations in question, which are supported by the Irish Government. Al-Haq is a leading Palestinian human rights organisation that focuses on the documentation of human rights and international humanitarian law violations and, via the publication of studies and reports, undertakes advocacy work at local and international levels. Addameer documents human rights violations, conducts regular prison visits, offers counselling and guidance and engages in advocacy to oppose torture and arbitrary detention, particularly at an international level. Special attention is paid to women and child prisoners. Indeed, Ireland’s human rights and democracy programme in the region is offering crucial support to a number of other NGOs working on the ground in Palestine that are challenging and bringing to light the unacceptable human rights situation and promoting democracy. I commend the work of all NGOs that document and highlight the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and particularly commend the groundbreaking work of B’Tselem and Amnesty International.

To conclude, the role of journalists in conflict zones is crucial one. We must do everything we can to protect journalists. Part of this is ensuring and pressing for accountability when they are restricted from doing their job or killed.

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