Dáil debates
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Topical Issue Debate
United Nations Resolutions
3:00 pm
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important and timely issue. Like many others in Ireland and across the globe, I was shocked and deeply saddened by the devastating impact of the outbreak of violence in Gaza in recent weeks. More than 150 Palestinians, including many women and children, and five Israelis were killed over eight days in another bloody chapter in the sad history of the region. The loss of life can be added to the litany of tragedies the people of Gaza have endured. Only four years ago the world witnessed Operation Cast Lead when 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including 313 children, and thousands were wounded. The fragile peace between Israel and the Gaza Strip was shattered by the aggressive actions of both sides. No progress has been made since the end of the conflict in 2009. Unfortunately, there has only been simmering violence waiting to boil over as it, inevitably, did earlier this month.
The current ceasefire offers breathing space, but the deeply ingrained problems of the region remain unsolved and in the coming months and years we may once again be visited with images of families destroyed in the Gaza Strip and the people of southern Israel fleeing for bomb shelters if we do not resurrect the promise of the Oslo peace accords. The international community must refocus its efforts on achieving a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders. However, this goal is becoming ever more distant, with illegal Israeli settlements rendering it unfeasible and the deepening chasm between the West Bank under Fatah and Gaza under the terrorist organisation, Hamas. Time is not on the side of peace.
Tomorrow presents an opportunity to take a step in the right direction. The United Nations General Assembly will hold a vote on upgrading Palestine to non-member observer state status. I call on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Government to confirm both Ireland's support for the motion and their efforts to persuade as many of our EU colleagues as possible to back the initiative. The issue was discussed earlier this month at the European Council meeting and no consensus on was reached by the 27 member states. However, the support of Britain and France for the measure should help to add impetus to the European Union's consistent support for Palestinian statehood. It is vital that the Tánaiste and the Government continue to press the case for Palestinian statehood. While Israel and the United States have stated their opposition to the move, possibly in the light of the potential for Palestine to access the International Criminal Court, it is difficult to see how access to justice should be cited as a reason to stymie this potential important step forward. Furthermore, endorsement by the 192 member states hardly constitutes unilateralism by Palestine, as critics of the move have argued.
A failure of the international community to endorse the diplomatic route towards Palestinian statehood will simply entrench the militant hold on the region. Politics needs to be seen to work for the embattled people of Gaza and the West Bank. The peace process needs a spark to light it up again and tomorrow's vote can provide that fresh push. I trust that the Tánaiste appreciates the volatility of the current situation, the changed geopolitical context of the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the importance of the European Union taking a leading role on the issue. This recognition must be the beginning of a restart of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine with the aim of securing a comprehensive settlement to the mutual benefit of both parties. It is only through an enduring settlement that the events of this month will be condemned to the past. The Minister of State will agree that a positive outcome to the vote tomorrow by the international community will be a chink of light in what has been a dark month for that historically troubled land.
Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which I am taking on behalf of the Tánaiste. It is good that it is being raised. Both the Deputy and I are of a similar age and we can recall all the horrors of the past on this island. Last week, when we witnessed similar atrocities in Gaza, it brought me back in time and one cannot say who is right or wrong. We faced our own horrors in Northern Ireland and, whether it involved the British Army, the UVF or the IRA, somebody always suffered, no matter who committed them. One should not take sides, but there is no question that the Palestinian people need support which I hope is clear from the Tánaiste's reply. If not, I will seek further clarification.
Members will be aware that last year Palestinian President Abbas submitted an application for full membership of the United Nations. That application has not been proceeded with because the Security Council has been unable to agree to a recommendation to the General Assembly, which is the required procedure. This year, as an interim measure, President Abbas has applied for observer state status in the General Assembly, a matter which is decided by the General Assembly alone. This status would be less than full membership of the United Nations but would be an advance on Palestine's current status as an observer organisation. The only current observer state is the Holy See, although Switzerland was also for many years an observer state prior to joining the United Nations. A draft resolution to this effect has been circulated at the United Nations and is expected to be put to a vote in the General Assembly tomorrow.
The move is primarily symbolic. It will not bring about an effective Palestinian state and not short-circuit the need for both Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate and agree to a comprehensive peace agreement. It may improve Palestine's access to other parts of the UN system, but, primarily, it represents a step forward towards the Palestinians' legitimate aspiration to sit, as a fully sovereign state, as a full member of the United Nation and the international system of states.
Ireland was the first western state to declare that the solution to the Middle East conflict must include a sovereign Palestinian state. That was stated by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, the late Brian Lenihan Snr, in the Bahrain Declaration in 1980. For many years the achievement of that Palestinian state, co-existing peacefully with Israel, has been the centrepiece of EU policy. We believe, as do all our EU partners, that there should be a Palestinian state and that, after many years of frustration, the time to achieve it must be soon. Nonetheless, the resolution to be voted on tomorrow has posed difficult questions for all EU member states because there is no Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Authority is an autonomous body under the Oslo accord, exercising control over a part of the Palestinian territories only. Some partners believed this move at the United Nations was, therefore, premature or might even negatively complicate the peace process. Ireland has carefully considered all of these issues and, on balance, decided that the proposed resolution is a modest step forward by the Palestinian people in line with the policies and objectives Ireland and the European Union have long espoused and which we could, in principle, support. Last year, in his address to the General Assembly in New York, the Tánaiste stated clearly that Ireland would support a balanced and responsibly phrased resolution to admit Palestine as an observer state.
The draft resolution, as it stands, reiterates the Palestinian aspiration for full UN membership and realisation of a full sovereign state. It reaffirms the Palestinians' commitment to the peaceful co-existence of Israel and Palestine. Crucially - this is the main point on which the Government wished to be satisfied - it confirms the need for the Palestinians and Israel to negotiate between them a comprehensive peace agreement covering the full range of issues to be decided. In this way, the Palestinians have made it clear, as we wished, that this move at the United Nations is not seen by them as a turning away from, or an alternative to, the peace process. President Abbas has stated strong international support in this vote will help him to re-engage in direct talks with Israel without preconditions.
The resolution is, without doubt, unwelcome to Israel and a strong vote in its favour should be seen by Israel as a strong signal of international impatience that the endless delays in the peace process must come to an end, but we see it very much as strengthening the status and confidence of the Palestinians and their leadership and, thus, their ability to re-enter talks with Israel to resolve their differences. A comprehensive peace is still there to be had and Ireland and the European Union will do everything they can to help both sides achieve it.
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad that the Tánaiste is confident this resolution will be passed by a large majority. While it is modest, it is a step forward and important that every opportunity is given to the Palestinians to have an appropriate forum in which to air their legitimate grievances. As the Minister of State said, Ireland was the first western state to declare that the solution to the Middle East conflict had to include a sovereign Palestinian state. That was announced on behalf of the then Government in 1980 by the late Brian Lenihan Snr as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I am glad that the European Union has adopted that policy. At all times, as the Minister of State acknowledged, we are horrified by the loss of life, the inhumanity to which both sides have been subject and the desperate conditions in which many Palestinians are forced to live.
An issue we raised with the Tánaiste at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade last week was the need to provide additional humanitarian assistance due to the recent conflict prior to the ceasefire of a week ago. Will the Minister of State convey this message again to the Tánaiste on the need to provide additional humanitarian assistance to those injured and affected by the recent violence through our overseas development programme? The European Union needs to have a proactive policy in this regard. At times, attention is focused on an area when there is a conflict there, but if the conflict eases or goes into abeyance without being resolved in the long term, the focus can shift away from providing much-needed humanitarian assistance. During statements on the European Council meeting earlier, my party leader Deputy Martin pointed out that the European Union had promised humanitarian assistance for Gaza, as well as developmental aid for new facilities there. Will the Minister relate to the Tánaiste our desire that the maximum assistance be given as rapidly as possible? Following what I hope will be a positive vote tomorrow at the UN, the European Foreign Affairs Council must decide the European Union's role in this conflict.
3:10 pm
Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I will pass on the Deputy's message to the Tánaiste. He thanks the Deputy for his remarks, both at home and internationally, about the Government's position on this important issue. There has been wide support in the Oireachtas and among the public for this position. The Government hopes this measured advance at the UN will encourage the Palestinian people to believe they are slowly moving towards their goal, as well as confirming their commitment to a political path and a negotiated settlement with Israel. To Israel, we say the strong international support expected for this UN resolution is a sign of the international community's deep concern that the peace process needs to be given higher priority and to be actively driven forward.
Most states have, like Ireland, satisfied themselves that this move in no way detracts from the commitment of the Palestinians and of all of us to a negotiated peace among Israel, Palestine and their Arab neighbours, as well as ensuring Israel and Palestine can coexist in peace. As the Palestinians have said, they know that even after a successful vote at the UN they must reach agreement with Israel.