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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

John Brady: ...we have seen up to 69 people butchered, deeply depressing. I also find it depressing that not one of our speakers this morning could express any sympathy or remorse for any loss of life, either in Israel or in the Palestinian Territories. I find that deeply, deeply depressing. I offer my sympathies to the families of everyone who has lost their life. The blockade of Gaza and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Ms Jackie Goodall: I thank the Chair and committee for the invitation to speak this morning. I will introduce Ms Audrey Griffin, who is a member of the Ireland Israel Alliance, and Mr. Alan Shatter, who is also a member and supporter of the organisation. Ms Natasha Hausdorff will speak on behalf of UK Lawyers for Israel. On behalf of the members of the Ireland Israel Alliance, I offer...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Ms Natasha Hausdorff: I appear before the committee not as a representative of the state of Israel but as a legal practitioner and the legal director of UK Lawyers for Israel, UKLFI, charitable trust. I thank the committee for this opportunity to address the slew of falsehoods delivered to this committee two days ago. It is with great concern that I address, first and most important, how...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am addressing the ambassador and the supporters of the Israeli project, state or whatever it is. I am one of the people who think that state is a colonialist enterprise and that it is an apartheid state. From its very beginning, it achieved its aims through the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people, something well documented by Professor Illan Pappé in his book, The Ethnic Cleansing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...progress in the Middle East peace efforts in general and to Palestinian welfare in particular. The area referred to today as the West Bank was first delineated in 1949 in the armistice agreement signed by Israel and Jordan following the Israeli war of independence. That war was launched by the Arab world, including the Palestinians, to prevent implementation of the two-state solution,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Gary Gannon: I thank the contributors. My questions are shadowed by the statement of the Israeli defence minister that Israel will not stop its military operation in Gaza until "complete quiet" has been achieved. My first question is to the ambassador. Does he accept that much of the violence is motivated by the forced expulsions and the violence that has been seen at the Al-Aqsa Mosque? What does...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: ...and what it does. I ask the UN Security Council where Hamas is getting its weapons. There are images of Palestine in bits and these people have tens of millions of euro in weapons for use against Israel. I also state at this time that Ireland has now re-established what I would call good old-fashioned relationships with the United States so we are in a better position than we ever...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...sat in many such meetings, it is a little surreal to be making a submission to it. I would like to explain my capacity in making that submission. I was a founding member of the Oireachtas Ireland-Israel parliamentary friendship group, as Ms Goodall mentioned. I am a member and supporter of the Ireland Israel Alliance. I am also chairperson of Magen David Adom Ireland, which is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...that none of us here offered any sympathies to the Palestinians. For the record, I would like to ensure that it is known that in my opening statement, I offered sincere condolences not only to all Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, but also to all of the Palestinian communities that are affected, many of whom come into Israel on a daily basis to work to provide for a better living...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Joe O'Reilly: ...these days. Our sympathy goes to everybody who is bereaved. However, to get to the real issue, would our guests, led by the ambassador, accept the contention that there is a particular onus on Israel as the most powerful in the situation to move for peace immediately, as has been requested by President Biden and across the world? In that context, would they accept that the moral...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...Brady regularly produces the type of commentary I heard this morning in the toxic tweets that he engages in. Let me deal with the particular questions. Deputy Brady asked me do I believe that Israelis and Palestinians should be treated as equals. I have a simple answer to that. The answer to that is, "Yes". I believe that Israelis and Palestinians should be treated as equal. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...that the presence of Israeli Jews living in the West Bank is in some way an offence to international law is nonsensical. To address Deputy Brady's questions on international law with respect to Israel's recent conduct, it is clear that the IDF adhere to standards well beyond those required by international law. The measures taken by the Israeli army to prevent civilian casualties are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Israel or Palestine is a place that deserves peace but the ambassador's state has shown no interest in actual peace and reconciliation with the Palestinian people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...backing since the last conflict in 2014. This is why we see more sophisticated weaponry, including Iranian Fajr-5 rockets and heavy mortars, and tactics being developed to attempt to overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system which protects the civilian population from bombardment. It is important to stress to the members of the committee the indiscriminate nature of Hamas...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

H.E. Mr. Ophir Kariv: I will start with the Chairman's question. As I also mentioned in my opening remarks, a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians is in the vital interest of both sides. That should be understood and internalised. It is very difficult. Unfortunately, during the last few years, we have seen the Palestinians avoiding going back to negotiating table. As for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

...projects contributing to the welfare of Palestinians and capacity building of Palestinians. We have been doing that to an extent. There is at least one such project in Gaza, co-ordinated with the Israeli authorities, which Ireland and, I believe, France, are carrying out together. This is an important point because projects which are being co-ordinated with Israel will find an open door...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

John Brady: They find Israel guilty of the crime of apartheid. I wish to make another point, Chairman. I have a specific question for Mr. Shatter. If he thinks that Israelis and Palestinians are equal in rights and dignity, does he believe that they should be treated as equals rather than force half the population to live under apartheid? My final question is for Ms Hausdorff. Has the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Charles Flanagan: ...Barrett, who is not a member but a welcome participant. Before we formally commence, I wish to convey my condolences to those injured and killed in the attacks on both sides of the conflict in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the region over the past few days. At our meeting on Tuesday, I called on those with influence in the region to use that influence to stop the violence and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Ms Natasha Hausdorff: Rather than demonising the Jewish state, delegitimising Israel and using the hateful and false accusations that have unfortunately been levied at this meeting today, which perpetuate the conflict and serve to encourage terrorism, there is something that Ireland can do positively to contribute to a better future. The Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Palestine: Discussion (Resumed) (13 May 2021)

Diarmuid Wilson: ..., and at a committee he was so active in for so many years. I will be brief. As Ms Griffin and Ms Hausdorff have said, we are meeting in shocking circumstances at a very serious time for the Israeli and Palestinian people. I send my sympathies to the victims on both sides and hope that it comes to an end very quickly. During his presentation, the ambassador said the Irish Government can...