Dáil debates

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

3:00 pm

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 6: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has advanced his proposals to initiate a boycott of Israeli goods; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33518/12]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is important to be clear that I have not made any proposal for a boycott of Israeli goods, and the Government does not support any such boycott. Successive Irish Governments have taken this view, and recognised also that such a proposal would have no chance of success.

The Foreign Affairs Council in May adopted conclusions on a range of critical and urgent issues which, in our view, increasingly threaten to make a peace agreement in the Middle East impossible to achieve. These issues centre on Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory which are progressively forcing Palestinians off the land in favour of illegal Israeli settlements. I made a detailed intervention in the Council debate. In addition, my officials had been heavily involved beforehand in the preparation of the draft conclusions. The conclusions adopted by the Council restated and in many respects advanced EU positions on these key issues and set out the remedial action which we wish to see, primarily of course from Israel.

I suggested at the Council that, in view of the urgency of these issues on the ground, Ministers should reconsider them in the autumn to see if the situation had improved or was continuing to worsen. I suggested that, if matters continued to worsen and our existing actions had not improved them, we would clearly need to consider stronger actions. The exclusion from the EU of settlement products and of individual settlers engaged in violence should in that case be considered as an option for stronger measures. I have previously stated that Ireland would support a ban on settlement products. I repeat that we do not support bans or boycotts on Israel and this is not in question. However, the products of illegal settlements, located in Occupied Palestinian Territory, constitute a separate and specific matter.

However, that is to look ahead and the Council as a whole will have to decide on any actions. At this point I emphasise that we have achieved a strong EU position which leaves High Representative Ashton and the EU well placed to press our concerns on these issues.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I again acknowledge the response. We all agree that the settlement is the biggest impediment to progress. Does the Tánaiste have any optimism that that issue will be addressed in the near future? Every new settlement makes the two-state solution - which we all support - more difficult to achieve. Is he optimistic given the realigned coalition arrangement between Likud and Kadima that the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, might move in the right direction? The Tánaiste referred to a possible boycott of goods from the Occupied Territories. Denmark and South Africa have embarked on a process of demanding that these be labelled as products of the Occupied West Bank. What is his view on that initiative by those two sovereign powers?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have previously outlined my belief that settlements are now at the heart of the continuing conflict and represent a key obstacle in then way of peace. It is very important that the EU has now clearly highlighted the continuing expansion of settlements as posing a real threat to the viability of a negotiated peace and the two-state solution. Every expansion of settlements makes peace more difficult for three reasons. First, the settlements are physically making the construction of a viable Palestinian state more difficult. Second, settlements and the measures taken to protect them inherently involve dispossession and theft of Palestinian land and resources, and daily obstacles and humiliations for Palestinians, increasing the likelihood of an explosive reaction. Third, this ongoing pressure on Palestinians makes it difficult or impossible for their leaders to sit down and talk with Israel while this continues outside the room.

Considerable progress has been made in that we have now secured a very strong European Union statement unanimously agreed by all 27 member states on the issue. I have asked that we return to it in the autumn to determine if any progress has been made. If progress is not made the European Union will need to consider stronger action, including perhaps a ban on products from the settlement areas.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The question of an artistic boycott has arisen in the aftermath of difficulties for the Irish traditional group, Dervish, whose members were subjected to very considerable e-mail pressure and had to pull out of a tour. How does the Tánaiste feel about that? How does he respond to the very fair points made earlier by Deputy Mac Lochlainn who earlier contrasted the response of the EU and the international community to the situation in Iran and the embargoes placed on it with the reluctance to take any strong action in this instance?

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I recently read that a Swedish official suggested that Ireland's stance on Palestine was not quite as strong as it has been in the past. I wonder if the presence of a very pro-Israeli individual in the Cabinet, in the person of the Minister for Justice and Equality, is in any way watering down our position in supporting Palestine.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to correct a comment made earlier. Not all of us are in favour of a two-state solution. Some of us believe the two-state solution is a recipe for ethnic cleansing of precisely the sort we have seen and continue to see by the rogue Israeli State. At what point does the international community realise that Israel is a rogue state, that it is involved in ethnic cleansing, that it has no interest in a reasonable settlement with the Palestinians and that it must not just have the products of the Occupied Territories boycotted but should be treated in the same way as apartheid South Africa was and isolated by the international community as a whole? It is not possible to separate what the Israeli military forces are doing in the Occupied Territories from the state itself because the decisions to allow further settlements, military incursions or whatever it may be are being taken in Israel proper. They are being taken in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the headquarters of the Israeli defence forces. At what point does the world say we will not allow Israel to do this anymore and boycott it until it treats Palestinians as equal citizens?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for a very long time. There have been repeated efforts over the years to get a resolution. It does not help to reduce it to the kind of simplistic terms that Deputy Boyd Barrett has used. Ireland's position on the issue is very strong as is acknowledged internationally. Speaking at the United Nations last year, I made clear Ireland's position in respect of Palestinian statehood. We have been actively seeking a strong position from the European Union on the issue, which was not easy to achieve. There are widely differing views among member states of the European Union in respect of the Middle East peace process. At the recent Foreign Affairs Council meeting we secured what I think is the strongest position that the European Union has adopted to date in respect of the issue of Palestine. That provides us with a basis to build on. The position in clear in respect of settlements and the impact they will have on achieving a peaceful resolution of the issue and of achieving a viable Palestinian state, and I will continue to pursue that. I have asked that it be brought back for consideration at the Foreign Affairs Council in the autumn. I expect there will be an opportunity to have the issue discussed around the UN General Assembly in September. We have a very strong position in regard to Palestine in terms of securing a settlement but that can only achieved if it is not impeded or obstructed by illegal settlements being put in place on the ground.