“Justice delayed is justice denied for Palestine” – Chris MacManus MEP

Sinn Féin MEP insists Dublin & Brussels must hold Israel to account for human rights violations

Midlands Northwest MEP Chris MacManus, a member of the European Parliament Delegation to Palestine, believes the EU must addresses Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. 

MacManus commented:

“Yesterday marked the third commemoration of the start of the Great March of Return. I think everyone will remember those horrific events in 2018, when 189 Palestinians were killed and 6,103 were injured, for protesting their ongoing occupation by Israel.”

“Only this month, we seen the first steps being taken by the international community to address Israel’s repeated atrocities against the Palestinian people. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has opened a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine. This is a welcome development, considering the investigation will cover a period where in total 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, were killed, while on the Israeli side 67 soldiers and six civilians were killed.”

The Sinn Féin MEP accused the EU of taking an ‘a la carte’ approach to sanction mechanisms. “As a Member of the European Parliament, I expect the EU block to defend the values it speaks of, by addressing Israel’s ongoing systemic human rights violations. The European Union has sanctioned many countries for such perceived human rights violations and Israel’s absence from that list illustrates perfectly that the sanction mechanism is used as a form of political point scoring against enemies, rather than genuine concern for oppressed peoples.”

“Indeed, in the 2019 UN Human Rights Committee vote on accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 9 out of the 10 EU countries on the Committee did not support the text, Spain being the only country in support. An urgent debate is required on what the EU genuinely stands for, when a significant portion of the block wishes to ignore reality.”

MacManus concluded by calling on the government at home to use Ireland’s growing influence for the good of Palestine’s persecuted. “I believe the Irish Government must use its new position on the UN Security Council as well as Membership of the European Council, to stand up for the rights of the Palestinian people in their fight for justice. We often reflect on events of the past and wonder why nobody intervened. The occupation and imposition of an apartheid regime in Palestine is a travesty that is renewed every day and it is our responsibly to play a part in ending this injustice.” ENDS