[DEBATE] : Irish parliament calls for sanctions against Israel

Mon Aug 7 11:08:27 BST 2006

The Foreign Affairs committee of the Irish parliament
has called for economic sanctions against Israel and for legal
action against Israel for its killing of UN personnel,
civilians and the destruction of facilities.

Unanimous statement of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs-

Condemning-

The fact that over 600 civilians, including many children have died in
Southern Lebanon and in Israel in recent weeks;

The damage done to civilian infrastructure in Lebanon on such a scale as
to
render over 750,000 people homeless;

The indiscriminate attack on a United Nations outpost in South Lebanon,
involving the deaths of four UN Peacekeeping personnel;

Recognising the important role of Unifil and the Irish Defence Forces'
contribution to that body;

Appalled at the most recent slaughter in Qana over the weekend just
passed;

Affirming its belief that the taking of civilian life is never lawful;

Condemns the loss of life that is occurring in Israel and in Southern
Lebanon;

Calls-

For an immediate ceasefire; for immediate support of initiatives along
the
lines of those set out by the Lebanese Prime Minister; including the
sustained deployment of humanitarian relief to the people affected by
the
violence;

For Ireland to use its influence at United Nations level to call on the
Security Council, and General Assembly, to give its support to such a
resolution as would facilitate an immediate ceasefire in the region;

That Ireland raise at the next meeting of the EU Council of Ministers
the
implementation of sanctions on Israel under the terms of Article II of
the
Euromed Trade Agreement on grounds of human rights abuses;

That consideration be given to taking legal action against Israel for
compensation for its killing of UN personnel and the civilian population
and
destruction of facilities;

Condemns the seizure of water resources by Israel in the region and
urges the
UN to establish a permanent specialized team to control and ensure the
fair
distribution of all water resources.

Further calls

For a rejection of militarism and a sustained engagement by the European
Union
and the UN on such a set of political proposals as would support the
establishment of a viable contiguous Palestinian state, and would enable
a
true security to be provided for Israel based on accepted borders, and
withdrawal from occupied territories;

For the International community to work for the demilitarisation of the
region, and to engage in such talks with all of the states in the region
as
would enable a demilitarisation to take place and the basis for
sustained
peace and development to be created.

For the Irish Government to advocate at EU and UN level the
establishment of
an internationally sponsored Peace Process, with a permanent
secretariat, to
bring together all sides including Israel and the United States for
negotiations. This process can build on existing peace efforts in the
region
such as the Road map. The Peace Process should have an eminent
independent
chair or chairs sponsored and funded by the UN and the Quartet and
should be
the instrument for agreeing a permanent political settlement which
reaches
the causes of the conflict.

For full text, see the Word document on the parliamentary website:

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/committees29thdail/foreignaffairrepor
ts/S
tatement_Lebanon.doc

The unanimous statement was issued after the following debate:

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=FOJ20060802.xml&Node=H3#H3

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