Dáil Returns

Dáil Éireann has returned. it is now urgent that Government introduces the Occupied Territories Bill.

On 15th September, representatives of the 43 member organisations and groups of the Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill came together outside Leinster House to remind Government of their commitment and to demand it brings the Bill before the Dáil without any further delay.

In July the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade presented its report on pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill to Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris TD.

The members of the Committee unanimously recommended that the Bill should ban both goods and services from Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Government must accept this recommendation and introduce a strong Bill as the Committee agrees that the International Court of Justice ruling from 2024 defines trade as including both goods and services.

The situation in Gaza becomes more desperate by the day. Since the Dáil went into recess a famine has been declared and Israel is now attacking Gaza city and displacing more than one million people with nowhere safe to go. At least 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians by Israel’s own admission.

UNICEF reported in July that a classroom of 28 Palestinian children has been killed by Israel every single day since October 2023.

Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have recognised that Israel is committing a genocide. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide.

Also, other European countries have either banned or agreed to ban settlement trade. We are not alone in taking action.

There can be no more excuses or delays. The Irish people demand a strong Occupied Territories Bill which bans trade in goods and services. The Palestinian people are crying out for justice and peace. Introduce the Bill now.