Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd. Last year I visited the occupied Palestinian territories with Christian Aid and saw, at first hand, the impact of the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and how Israel is using illegal settlements to undermine any real prospect of a two-state solution. We visited the South Jordan Valley, the land in which is both very fertile and valuable and which runs between the West Bank and Jordan. One one side of the road was an Israeli settlement incorporating lush green plantations which stretch away as far as the eye can see and which outdo anything I have seen in this country or elsewhere. Those plantations were made possible by the installation of expensive irrigation systems. On the other side of the road, the land inhabited by Palestinian families consists of barren red soil in which almost nothing grows. When we met the farmers who live on the Palestinian side of the road land and inquired how it is possible that these two extremes exist literally within ten feet of each other, they explained that their natural water source, which used to run down out of the nearby hills, had been cut off and diverted away from their land and on to that on which the illegal Israeli settlement is located. As a result, they are not only unable to maintain their livelihood from farming but they also lack access to clean water.

This story is repeated throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel has stolen land and natural resources from the Palestinian people and planted 500,000 Israeli citizens in illegal settlements there. Those settlements are surrounded by a huge security apparatus that includes closed roads, buffer zones and checkpoints. All of this means that Palestinians are obliged to drive for 30 minutes or an hour in order to access hospitals and other public service facilities which they could previously reach in five minutes by car. This sometimes results in people not being able to obtain the medical treatment they need. All of these actions are designed to make life as difficult as possible for Palestinians and undermine any prospect of a two-state solution. The settlements in question are completely illegal under international law - even Israel's closest ally, the US, recognises this - but they continue to grow in number. Earlier this month the Israel housing ministry outlined plans for a further 1,500 settlement housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The reasons the settlements are viable is because they are able to export millions of euro worth of agricultural and other produce cultivated on land confiscated from Palestinians using the latter's natural resources. The value of the produce the EU imports from the settlements is estimated at $300 million. By purchasing settlement goods, consumers, often unwittingly, are supporting Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and its human rights violations there. Both the EU and Ireland have criticised the illegal Israeli settlements. However, we continue to accept goods that are produced there. I am of the view that the EU should ban all goods emanating from the settlements, particularly if we really believe what is happening is wrong. If we want to stop incentivising Israel in the context of stealing Palestinian land and resources, then we should not accept goods from those settlements and making them economically viable as a result. At the very least, we must ensure that those goods are correctly labelled as Israeli produce from the occupied Palestinian territories. Consumers would then be in a position to make their own decision - as they did in the past in respect of goods imported from apartheid South Africa - with regard to whether they want to buy them.

The EU has considered this issue and in December 2012 it agreed to take action in respect of settlement products. Ireland was one of 13 EU states to write to the EU foreign policy chief in the aftermath of that decision requesting that the Union introduce guidelines on the correct labelling of settlement goods. However, this has still not happened. We are still waiting for developments in this regard whereas the UK and Dutch Governments have taken action on their own initiative. I wish, therefore, to call on the Minister of State to encourage the Government to use its influence at EU level to ensure, preferably, that a complete ban on goods from the settlements is introduced or, at the very least, that they are properly labelled. I am of the view that the Government should follow the example of its UK counterpart by offering formal advice to Irish private sector companies regarding the Israeli settlements and explaining to them the reputational damage that can result from being involved with companies which are based there. In addition, the Government should exclude settlement products and companies from public procurement. It came as news to me that Veolia, the company which runs the Luas, is a French multinational that provides infrastructure to the illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. The Government should take account of such considerations when making decisions in respect of public procurement. If we are serious about human rights, then we should be prepared - as was the case in the past - to stand on our principles and use the economic power we possess to ensure that Israel rethinks its policy.

What I witnessed in Gaza and in East Jerusalem in the West Bank leads me to conclude that the Israelis are playing a long-term game by negotiating, on the one hand, while doing everything possible on a weekly basis, on the other, to make life more and more difficult for Palestinians by expanding the number of settlements. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that when it ultimately comes - if it does - to reaching agreement on a two-state solution, such an agreement will be virtually impossible to conclude. We should not be facilitating Israel's policy, we should be doing everything in our power to stop it.