Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 285: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on claims that Israel is partaking in a campaign of house demolition and eviction of Palestinians from Jerusalem; and the steps he is prepared to take on this issue. [9561/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I share the widespread concerns about land ownership policies pursued by the Israeli authorities in occupied East Jerusalem and nearby areas of the West Bank, under which the issues of the eviction of Palestinians and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements are intimately linked. Many Palestinians in East Jerusalem are unable to demonstrate legal title to their homes, because of the historical vicissitudes of the administration of the city. It is in practice almost impossible for them to regularise their position with the Israeli authorities or to obtain simple planning permission for new homes, businesses, extensions to existing homes etc. Unlike Israelis in similar circumstances, Palestinians found to be in breach of planning rules often find that their entire property is ordered to be demolished, and the inhabitants evicted, in some cases from homes they lived in long before Israel occupied the area.

In 2008, 89 houses were demolished in East Jerusalem, and some 404 persons evicted, half of them children. At present, the Israeli authorities have served eviction notices in respect of 88 houses in the Silwan area, which they intend to turn into an archaeological park, and other homes are threatened to make way for settler housing or related infrastructure. At the same time, illegal Israeli settlements continue to flourish with little or no official interference, and indeed benefit from the provision of substantial infrastructure to support them.

These linked policies leave Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its environs in a state of great insecurity. There is great concern, which I share, that the intended effect of these policies is to alter the demographic character of parts of occupied East Jerusalem, and to cut the area as a whole off from the rest of the West Bank. Such a policy is not only manifestly unjust and illegal under international law, but presents a serious and growing obstacle to the achievement of a final overall peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinian people.

Ireland has been among the EU Member States most active in ensuring that the EU conveys its serious concerns about settlement expansion to the Israeli Government at every opportunity. The EU has made it clear to Israel that settlement construction in the Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law. Most recently, the Presidency made a demarche to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in this regard on 11 February last, and issued a public Declaration on the issue on behalf of the EU on 20 February. Ireland gives substantial financial support to Israeli and other NGOs which defend the rights of Palestinian residents threatened by eviction. This support is part of our comprehensive programme of assistance to the Palestinian people which amounted to some €8.6 million last year, Irish Aid also contributed €100,000 in 2008 in core funding to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which is very actively engaged on this issue.