Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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167. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on any contact his Department has had with the Embassy of Israel to Ireland regarding the case of a person (details supplied); if he will report on any contact the Embassy of Ireland to Israel and the representative office in Palestine have had with Israeli authorities on this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3067/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the case of the person referred to, who was convicted of obstructing military operations in the West Bank, by blocking a military bulldozer engaged in construction. His is one of a series of cases of concern related to the protests around construction of the separation barrier on Palestinian land belonging to the villagers of Bil’in.

As is normal practice, EU Missions in the Palestinian Territory work as a group in relation to human rights issues, including individual cases. We carry more weight speaking as a unified group of 28 countries.

In this case, the EU group has followed the case closely, and EU missions have been present at most of the court hearings in this case. I am answering another question today (question 24, 3067/15) on the question of attendance at the next court hearing on 8 February.

Our concerns about this case were also raised with the Israeli authorities in the course of the EU-Israel political dialogue in Brussels in December.