Council presses new Dáil to pass Occupied Territories Bill

Derry and Strabane Council will write to incoming Dáil Éireann Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy, requesting the new Dáil prioritises the passing of the Occupied Territories Bill.

The move follows the passing of a proposal brought by Cllr Pat Murphy (Sinn Féin) to Council’s December plenary on Wednesday afternoon, in spite of the abstention of DUP and UUP members.

The Occupied Territories Bill is a proposed law that would ban and criminalise "trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law”, most notably Israeli settlements in Israeli-occupied territories. Violators would face fines of up to €250,000 and up to five years in prison.

Cllr Murphy said: “As I speak, more than 45,000 men, women and children have been confirmed dead in Gaza. Many thousands more are missing presumed dead. 

“Israel's decision to close its embassy in Dublin is a distraction tactic and an attempt to block the upholding of international law. The EU must now follow the actions of Ireland and suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, ensuring sanctions are enforced and international law is upheld,” said Cllr Murphy.

Supporting the proposal, Cllr Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) welcomed the Israeli Government’s decision to shut down its embassy in Dublin.

He added: “This is an embassy for genocide. It should have been shut down by the Irish Government a long, long, time ago. In fact, our Council was one of the first councils on this island that passed a motion agreeing that the Israeli embassy should be shut down. 

“We have had a genocide and Israel’s war has extended beyond the borders of Palestine into Lebannon, into Syria and beyond. Israel is very clearly the greatest danger to people who live in the Middle East. 

“In addition to supporting the immediate passage of the Occupied Territories Bill, we also have to say that some of the commentary that has come from supporters of the Israeli apartheid state that Irish people are anti-semitic because of our solidarity with Palestine, has to be condemned and rejected. 

“This is not about anti-semitism as everybody knows, this is because we have witnessed over the last year and a half, the slaughter of Palestinians, the slaughter of Palestinian children, the slaughter of Palestinian babies and we know that the representatives of the Israeli occupation forces say about not wanting Gaza, not wanting to stay there, that its project is about ethnic cleansing. That is what is happening right across the Gaza Strip, and in the West Bank,” said Cllr Harkin, who added the Council needed to do everything it could to “speak up for Palestine”.

“In the next year, we have to make a concerted push to do everything we can to make sure our Council area becomes an apartheid free zone,” he said.

Cllr Brian Tierney (SDLP) said the Irish people are on the “right side of history”.

“He added: “I think that is important. We will be on the side, as a nation, of those who from the very outset spoke up for peace, spoke up to stop the slaughter of innocent people and for me that is an incredibly proud position to take as an entire nation.

“I think that is a very, very strong message that has got through to the Israeli Government, that is why it has taken this action. 

The sooner we see the passing of this Bill, and more action to demand a ceasefire in the middle east the better, so innocent people stop being murdered,” said Cllr Tierney.