Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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We have already discussed this matter to some degree during Question Time. We know that on Saturday, 9 September, four Irish citizens, Elaine Daly, Fidelma Bonass, Joan Nolan and Stephen McCloskey, were deported from Tel Aviv in Israel. They were deported because they were organising and travelling with a delegation of 31 people, primarily Irish citizens, on an awareness-raising visit to the West Bank. I understand their itinerary was to include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations and individuals, a visit to a refugee camp and a tour of settlements, together with day trips to some of the main towns in the West Bank. The aim of the trip was to bear witness to the everyday hardships suffered by Palestinian people as a result of the restrictions imposed by the apartheid wall, permanent checkpoints and settlements. The other 27 members of the delegation, two of whom are present today, were allowed to continue into Israel–Palestine and they arrived back to Ireland a week ago. The Minister accepted that we do not have a good explanation from the Israeli State.

For all four deportations, the grounds given were considerations concerning the prevention of illegal immigration. This is a utterly bizarre because the individuals were travelling on valid Irish passports. An additional reason was given for Ms Elaine Daly involving considerations associated with public security, public safety or public order. Again, this is complete nonsense. She did not even participate in the completely legitimate protests in Bil'in in which she was accused of participating.

The conclusion that is strongly pointed towards is precisely that the Israeli Government, at a time of increasing repression and oppression, is increasing the rate of illegal settlement-building and attempting to put an end to any possibility of a viable Palestinian state through brute force, effectively through house demolition, etc. It does not want people to make these trips. It does not want people to see the reality of what is happening. In doing so, ironically, it demonstrates in a small way the absence of freedom of movement, repression and interference by security forces faced by the Palestinian people on a daily basis. What is the Government going to do about it? It can rightly state the explanation but that it does not really know what lies behind it. More has to be done, however.

I was deported from Israel four or five years ago, or maybe more, along with others. At that time, the Irish Government said it was going to ask the relevant questions and that we would be out quickly and get back our laptops, telephones and everything else. The authorities still have all the stuff they took from me then. The Government did not make any very loud public pronouncements about it afterwards. What is the Government going to do about this to illustrate the oppression facing the people in Palestine on a daily basis? Has any contact been made with the Israeli ambassador in Ireland? Have we had a meeting with him and asked for a clear explanation? Has there been any mention of consequences if we do not get a clear explanation? Can we get a commitment that we will not have these deportations in the future? Will the Israeli Government just be able to discourage people from going to witness what is taking place and to witness the human rights abuses by deporting people in this completely arbitrary and illegal way?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he knows, he Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was notified immediately by one of the persons concerned about their deportation. They have since written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, and his Department has further discussed the events with some of them to get a clear picture of what happened.

The organiser and leader of the group has led 17 private study groups to the West Bank over a ten-year period. The groups meet a range of Israeli and Palestinian NGOs and study issues relating to the occupation of the West Bank. The tour leader had responsibility and, as was her usual practice, advised the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in advance of the dates and itinerary of the tour.

Some 33 members of the group entered Israel, but four were deported. No detailed response or reason for refusing admission to Israel was given to them other than a generic explanation that it was for immigration reasons and, in the case of the leader, because of unspecified public security or public order considerations. No report or allegation has ever been made to the Department of Foreign Affairs, including by the Israeli authorities, of any concerns about the activities of these study groups.

All four persons were asked about alleged previous attendance at a well-known weekly demonstration in the Palestinian village of Bi’lin. The group leader has stated that she has never taken part in any demonstrations in Palestine nor have any of her group's programmes included attendance at a demonstration. I understand that two of those deported may have previously attended this demonstration while two had not done so.

The refusal of entry may also have been on foot of Israeli legislation enacted earlier this year which provided for admission to be refused to any person who has advocated or is a member of a group which has advocated a policy of boycott regarding Israel or Israeli settlements in Palestine. However, I am not sure that either explanation would apply to all four persons. It would probably be best not to speculate further on what may have led to this unwelcome attention being paid to these individuals.

Without a more specific explanation, it is difficult to do other than conclude that the exclusion of these persons contributes to efforts to suppress scrutiny and criticism of Israeli policies in the West Bank. The Irish ambassador in Tel Aviv has already called to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and requested an explanation for this action. We must, as a first step, allow the authorities to respond before commenting definitively and before further steps are taken with the ambassador here. However, I am happy to restate that the Government is not aware of any concerns about the actions of these individuals or their group which would be a legitimate basis for concern, or exclusion.

The Government does not accept the proposition that advocacy of boycotts is equivalent to support for violence. The Government does not support trade or other boycotts of Israel, but citizens are entitled to support them as legitimate political options. Similarly, we cannot accept that mere attendance at a legitimate and non-violent protest by Palestinians in their own village against the conditions of the occupation is a reasonable ground to exclude someone. Any response received from the Israeli authorities will of course be shared with the individuals concerned, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade may also comment further at that stage.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact the Government, in particular, has said it is difficult to make any other conclusion other than that the exclusion of these persons contributes to efforts to suppress scrutiny and criticism of Israeli policies in the West Bank. That is completely accurate and is, unfortunately, precisely what is happening. Will the Minister of State give us a timeframe in which we expect can a response from the Israeli Foreign Ministry? We expect an explanation, and if we do not get an adequate explanation at that stage, we need to have a response to that, be it public statements or discussions with the Israeli ambassador in Ireland.

I again welcome the fact the Government does not accept the proposition that advocacy as boycott is equivalent to support for violence. That is very important in a context where, globally, including in France and other countries, there is an attempt to criminalise the expression of support for BDS. Representatives of the Bank of Ireland came before the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach today. The bank shut down the accounts of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of a number of actions taken by banks around the world, it is to be presumed under pressure.

I also welcome that the Government cannot accept mere attendance at legitimate non-violent protest by Palestinians as a reasonable ground on which to exclude someone. I refer to a statement from Stephen McCloskey, one of those who was deported. He said he was denied entry because he had participated in a protest in Bi’lin, a small village west of Ramallah, a year ago. Bi’lin has resisted the construction of Israel's illegal separation barrier, better known as an apartheid wall, on the land there for 12 years. Irish activists, Mr. McCloskey included, joined the villagers in their weekly non-violent protest against the construction of the wall which the International Court of Justice deemed to be illegal in 2004. In opposing the wall, Irish activists were upholding the law. By deporting him and three other Irish citizens, all of whom were non-violent activists, Israel denied them the right to travel and freedom of expression, just as it does to Palestinians every day. It was breaking the law.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. With regard to the timeframe, our officials were in contact immediately after this happened and, as I said, are in constant communication with the relevant authorities. It is currently a Jewish holiday, and while that may delay things, we would expect to have a response as quickly as possible.

While the deportation of pro-Palestinian activists from Israel is not uncommon, the Department has noted a marked increase recently in the exclusion of international activists or NGO workers. This case is very notable in that the persons concerned may have been excluded not on the base of the actions they undertook but because of a political view they may have espoused at home. That is something we have to consider carefully.

As I stated, if the individuals were to apply to return to Israel, they would most likely be excluded again. We need to observe the effects of these issues and the more aggressive policy on deportations. We are awaiting a response from the ambassador and will have to see what action can be taken following that.