The two sides to the conflict are not equal, they are the oppressed and the oppressor, the occupied and the occupier. Unfortunately, this is being borne out in the casualty figures as Israel launches an all-out assault on Gaza and cuts electricity, water and food supplies. Airstrikes, including white phosphorus rounds, have already hit schools, a hospital, a mosque and many residential buildings, inflicting a heavy toll and killing entire families. The ongoing occupation is the root cause of the violence and any call for peace or restraint which does not recognise this fact is hypocrisy.
The Irish Government must be asked what responsibility it shares for what’s being inflicted on the people of Palestine. For decades they have failed to hold Israeli apartheid to account. In the last week they have refused to properly speak out against the bombardment of Gaza.
Now the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has backed Israel just as it announces and begins to carry out war crimes. This is another episode in the EU’s shameful history of supporting Israel. Ursula von der Leyen must be forced to resign immediately.
The motion the Government and supporters voted for recently is wholly inadequate. We submitted an amendment to the motion (see below) which, unfortunately, was not supported by the Government parties or by Sinn Fein, Labour or the Social Democrats and therefore was defeated.
Anything less than the condemnation of the apartheid state of Israel for its war crimes and crimes against humanity and ensuring they face the consequences of breaking international law is unacceptable
The motion the Government and supporters voted for recently is wholly inadequate. We submitted an amendment to the motion (see below) which, unfortunately, was not supported by the Government parties or by Sinn Fein, Labour or the Social Democrats and therefore was defeated.
Anything less than the condemnation of the apartheid state of Israel for its war crimes and crimes against humanity and ensuring they face the consequences of breaking international law is unacceptable
People Before Profit is calling on the Irish Government to:
- Expel the Israeli ambassador
- refer Israel to the International Criminal Court
- Cut all diplomatic, trade and military ties with Israel
- Demand EU does the same and demand the immediate resignation of Ursula von der Leyen
- Use official Government statements to criticise role of the US in enabling Israeli war crimes
- Do everything in its power to stop the impending barbarous flattening of Gaza
There is still time for the Irish Government to take a different stand from other Western leaders. But they will have to be pressured into doing so. We need thousands on the streets to send a signal to all parties where people in Ireland stand on this question.
TD [Member of Parliament] Richard Boyd Barrett hosted a meeting in the Gresham hotel, in Dublin on Oct. 25th which was packed to capacity. He was joined by Omar Barghouti (founder of the BDS campaign) and Leila Shomali (Palestinian activist) who spoke about the next steps in trying to end the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the 75-year occupation of Palestine. With energetic engagement from the floor, discussions about how we can practically support the Palestinians included more solidarity rallies nationwide and upping the support and vigilance of the BDS campaign.
Richard Boyd Barrett, Omar Barghouti (on screen) and Leila Shomali at the Gresham hotel.
There have been a number of large demonstrations recently that People Before Profit have endorsed, the next event we are aware of is organised by The Irish Neutrality League on Saturday 4th November @ 2pm ‘Stop Israel’s Assault in Palestine, Stop the War on Ukraine’, assembling at the Garden of Remembrance.
People Before Profit TDs joined the tens of thousands in Dublin on Oct. 21 in solidarity with Palestine: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=344595348120095.
Further links to Paul Murphy & Richard Boyd Barrett, speaking on Palestine – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PISs0AwztGQ & https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1000356741171893
Amendment to Government Motion
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To delete all the words after “That Dáil Éireann” and to substitute with the following:
- expresses horror at the indiscriminate killing and targeting of civilians in the current terrible escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians;
- condemns as an atrocity and war crime the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city which has claimed the lives of at least 500 innocent people and holds Israel wholly responsible for the atrocity;
- rejects any inference that Israel’s barbaric assault on Gaza, which has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, including disproportionate numbers of women and children, represents an act of “self-defence”;
- condemns Israel’s public declaration of its intention to commit the war crime of collectively punishing the entire population of Gaza by cutting off all food, water, fuel and preventing the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged area;
- condemns Israel’s public declaration of its intention to commit the war crime of ethnic cleansing (forcible transfer) of approximately one million Palestinians from Northern Gaza, under threat of relentless and on-going bombardment by the Israeli occupation forces;
- condemns the targeting by Israel in Gaza of multiple medical facilities, schools, residential areas and vital civilian infrastructure – targeting which carries with it the certainty of mass civilian casualties and threatens the entire Gaza population with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis;
- notes and condemns recent announcements by leading figures in the Israeli government that they intended to target the entire population of Gaza, including a recent press conference by the Israeli President, Issac Herzog, where he stated that the entire Gaza population were “responsible” for the 7th October attack on Israel;
- notes the frequent dehumanisation of the entire Palestinian population by leading government and military figures in Israel, likening Palestinians to animals, and further notes that such characterisations of Palestinians by Israel long pre-date the recent escalation of violence;
- notes that the health authorities in Gaza believe that as many as 1,200 people are trapped beneath the rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli bombardment, and that because of the Israeli blockade, the Gazan authorities do not have the equipment they need to rescue those buried alive.
- notes in relation to the above and condemns the recent visit of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Israel where she offered unconditional and uncritical support to Israel at the same time that Israeli leaders were making public declarations about their intent to commit the war crimes against the entire Gaza population, and that she did so without mandate from the EU;
- notes that prior to the latest escalation of violence Gaza has been subject to a 17-year long siege by Israel, which according to the UN had already reduced the entire area to the state of a “permanent humanitarian crisis” – a siege which in itself represented a collective punishment and holding hostage of the entire Gaza population and therefore a war crime;
- notes that prior to the current escalation that 2023 represented the deadliest year for Palestinians in recent years with hundreds of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military;
- notes that prior to the current escalation Israel held over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in captivity, most of them under the system of administrative detention without charges or trial and many of them children;
- notes the reports published over the last two years by multiple human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem and the UN Special Rapporteur to Palestine which accused Israel of decades of ongoing crimes against humanity perpetrated against Palestinians, particularly the crime of apartheid;
- notes the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, the ongoing illegal annexation of Palestinian territory, the ongoing efforts at the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from areas such as East Jerusalem, Hebron and multiple other locations and the recent escalation of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, actively supported by leading figures in the Israeli government;
- notes that under International law millions of Palestinian refugees ethnically cleansed from their homes, towns and villages since the Nakbah of 1948, living ever since in refugee camps in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere, have the right to return to the homes, towns and villages from where they were forcibly expelled by Israel but that they are denied that right by the state of Israel;
- notes that Israel is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court and refuses its jurisdiction and as such refuses any accountability in terms of the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or violations of international law;
- notes that despite the ongoing violations by Israel of international law, the US continues to give billions every year in military and financial aid to Israel, the EU continues to give favoured trade status to Israel and many EU states continue to do billions in military and arms trade with the state of Israel;
- notes that despite its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of international law, including the siege of Gaza, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation and annexation of territory, denial of the Palestinian right to return, arbitrary killing and many other violations, Israel has never been subject to any sanction by the EU or any international body;
- notes that under international law an occupied people have the right to resist their occupation by all means, including by force of arms; and
- notes no provision of international law confers the right on any state to defend a regime of apartheid or a regime of systematic or ongoing oppression;
resolves:
- to publicly demand that Israel immediately ends the barbaric military assault on Gaza and that it removes all obstacles to the supply of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza;
- to call on the Government to expel the Israeli Ambassador from Ireland;
- to call publicly for Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and all other Israeli government and military officials responsible for the current military assault and siege of Gaza to be referred to the International Criminal Court for war crimes and violations of international law;
- to state publicly that a sustainable end to the conflict between Palestinians and Israel can only be achieved through the dismantling of the entire Israeli apartheid regime, the ending of the siege of Gaza, the ending of the occupation of all Palestinian territory, the dismantling of all illegal settlements and the vindication of the right to return of Palestinian refugees displaced since 1948;
- to announce the immediate withdrawal of support for Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission and to call for her resignation; and
- to urge support for public demonstrations and direct actions in solidarity with the people of Palestine in Ireland and across the world, including the boycott of Israeli goods, divestment from Israel and sanctions against Israel, strikes and trade union actions to prevent transfer of arms and dual use technologies to Israel, until all rights of the Palestinians are fully vindicated, and Palestinians enjoy freedom, justice and self-determination.”.
Richard Boyd Barrett TD
Brid Smith TD
Gino Kenny TD
Paul Murphy TD
People Before Profit is an Irish socialist political party formed in October 2005, active promoting peace, economic and social justice, and a sustainable environment. People Before Profit defends Irish neutrality and opposes U.S. military use of Shannon Airport.