Ireland’s Decision to Advance Boycott Bill Could be the Tipping Point for Justice for Palestine
The Palestinian people are in need of
some good news to boost their morale at an extremely difficult time in
their struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
There has been little good news, particularly since US President Trump took office, recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel, moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv in record time, defunded UNRWA and leaks of his “ultimate deal” for resolving the conflict indicated it could not be accepted
by the Palestinian people.
Palestinians in Gaza continue to march to
the fence separating them from their occupiers to demand that they be
allowed to return peacefully to their homes on the other side. Their
peaceful endeavour has been met with brutal force resulting in over 130 killed mostly by Israeli snipers and over 10,000 injured with some sustaining horrendous injuries and others losing limbs.
Most Western governments expressed concern
about the level of casualties but none acted in a way that would send a
strong message to Israel to refrain from its murderous acts. As in past
episodes of Israeli aggression, it was left to ordinary people all over
the world to show solidarity with the Palestinians, knowing that real
change in Israeli behaviour would only come when governments took action that translated words into real pressure on Israel.
Most western powers, including the UK and
other EU countries hid behind the tiresome and ineffective “we are
against boycotts as they are unhelpful when we are trying to bring the
two sides round the negotiating table”. In other words, they did not
have the bottle to call Israel’s ambassadors in to say, in no uncertain
terms, that unless Israel stopped the violence and its illegal policies,
it would face sanctions.
The recent escalation in demolition of
Palestinian properties, particularly targeting Bedouin Palestinians in
what Oslo defines as “Area C”, brought howls of displeasure but no
action. The strongest the UK could muster for example was a warning
that if the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahamr was demolished and its
residents forcibly transferred, this could amount to a war crime. At the
time of writing, the village had a brief reprieve as the Israeli courts revisit the decision to allow the demolition but the expectation is that Israel will demolish the village soon.
The demolition of Khan Al-Ahmar is linked
to the settlement enterprise, which Israel uses to tighten its grip on
the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The international community
considers the settlements “illegal under international law”.
Bizarrely, this position has not resulted
in what Palestinians and their supporters see as the logical extension
of this, which is that trade with the illegal settlements is illegal
too. Goods and products from the settlements have had little trouble
making their way to the EU market. The strongest action taken to
distinguish between products from the settlements and those from within
the internationally recognised Israeli areas has been to label them,
thus providing consumers with information on which to base their
decision as to whether to buy the products or to shun them. The extent
to which this has made any impact on the ground is difficult to assess.
However, it is reasonable to conclude that it has had little or no
difference as Israel has not been squealing about it.
![Funding for Settlements - Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/20150811_SA-Funding-for-Settlements.png?resize=933%2C654&quality=75&strip=all&ssl=1)
Funding for Settlements – Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]
Recently, Human Rights Watch reported
that Israeli banks “profit” from the illegal settlements as they “help
support, maintain, and expand” them by “financing their construction in
the occupied West Bank.”
In reality, change will only come when
governments begin to exert real pressure on Israel, which could come
through reassessing relations with it, perhaps reducing diplomatic representation
as South Africa has done, or imposing sanctions on it when it acts
illegally. The settlement enterprise is an open and shut case. They are
illegal and trade with them sustain them and should end to help
dismantle them if those governments are serious about peace.
Almost all western governments see
boycotts, including those of the illegal settlements as unhelpful and in
some countries those promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
(BDS) have faced hostility, been accused of anti-Semitism and efforts
to implement boycotts of companies that are complicit in the settlement
enterprise have come under attack,
as in the UK. Bizarrely, those same countries say that the settlements
are “harming” the chances of a two-state solution, are an “obstacle to
peace” and in the case of the E1 area, which provides the only access to
East Jerusalem for Palestinians, would “deal a fatal blow” to the
two-state solution.
If the world is serious about helping end
the conflict then governments must act. The EU can play a role in this
but is refusing to do so. It was therefore left to one of its smaller
members, Ireland to show leadership and for a brave independent Senator, Frances Black, to bring to Senate a bill to ban the import of settlement goods.
Under pressure from Israel, the Irish
Government, which does not support boycotts, postponed an initial
attempt to bring the bill to a vote in January of this year. However, on the 11th of July the “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018” was debated and passed.
The vote was 25 in favour, 20 against and 14 abstaining. While there
are still a number of stages to get through before it becomes law; this
now paves the way for Ireland to become the first EU country to ban the
import of products from the illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem and
the West Bank.
Israel’s response
was as expected. Its Foreign Ministry slammed Ireland after it passed
the bill, stating that the “Irish Senate has given its support to a
populist, dangerous and extremist
anti-Israel boycott initiative that hurts the chances of dialogue
between Israel and the Palestinians”. It further claimed that the law
will “have a negative impact on the diplomatic process in the Middle
East,” and that it will “harm the livelihood of many Palestinians who
work in the Israeli industrial zones affected by the boycott.”
Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erekat, congratulated Ireland on the decision to pass the bill, stating that he wished to
extend our sincere appreciation to the Irish Seanad for standing tall for the principle of justice by approving this historic motion banning trade with the illegal Israeli colonial-settlements in Occupied Palestine.
It is important that the Irish Government
now listens to the Irish people and moves to supporting this bill as it
actually supports the two-state solution and the illegality of the
settlements policy on the conflict. If it does that and successfully
navigates its way through any legal difficulties this may pose, then
Ireland, a friend of the Palestinian people, could be the pioneering
country that begins to deliver justice to the Palestinian people and
peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It will of course come under
pressure from Israel, its strong lobby and even the EU to find a way of
pulling back from the brink of implementing an ethical boycott of an
illegal enterprise. However, it must stand firm and remember that the
others have no credible policy to resolve the conflict, including the
United States. Israel has had decades of appeasement and faced no
accountability for its breaches of international law. It is time this
began for peace.
Ireland could be providing the necessary
tipping point that others could rally round, especially the EU, which
has in the past talked the talk but never intended to walk the walk to
deliver justice to the Palestinian people.
As for Israel and its shameful backers in
its illegal endeavours, the countdown to the end of the illegal
settlement enterprise started in Dublin on the 11th of July. The clock
is ticking.
*
Featured image is from The Irish Times.
The original source of this article is Middle East Monitor
Copyright © Prof. Kamel Hawwash, Middle East Monitor, 2018
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