Israel has been in breach of multiple international laws and United Nations resolutions for several decades. It has never faced a single meaningful consequence for these violations.
Little wonder, then, that Israeli leaders feel they can act with impunity. This has led to an arrogance that has resulted in the catastrophe we have witnessed unfold in Gaza. Objective independent analysis of Israeli actions in occupied Palestine has determined that international humanitarian law is being flagrantly disregarded.
Collective punishment, illegal occupation, annexation, false imprisonment, cruel and degrading treatment, targeting of innocent civilians – each illegal under international law and each conducted by Israel systematically over decades.
There are other states that ignore and breach the UN charter. None does so while enjoying such a prolonged period of substantial financial, military and diplomatic assistance from the international community, especially the western world. Israel enjoys the most preferential economic, trading and diplomatic relationship with the EU that it is possible for a non-European country to have.
The human rights clauses within the EU-Israel Association Agreement have proven to be worthless in restricting the actions of a state that has targeted every single healthcare facility in Gaza, most on multiple occasions, since October 2023.
History tells us that states that engage in such barbarity will continue to do so until the world says stop. There are some within the world – the US, Britain and the EU included – who refuse to say stop. That will be to their eternal shame.
ust as was the case in responding to apartheid South Africa, some countries must take the lead. Just as was the case with South Africa, Ireland should be among those countries.
What can Ireland do? We are a small country, militarily neutral with an independent foreign policy, albeit bound by the restrictions of EU competencies. What we can and should do are those things that are within our gift to uphold international law.
At its core, the Occupied Territories Bill is a legal response to breaches of international law. Settlements in occupied territories, such as those in the West Bank, are widely recognised as violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into occupied land.
This Bill simply prevents goods and services from these settlements from being traded in Ireland. Trade policies are not just economic tools – these reflect a nation’s values. Refusing to trade in such goods aligns Ireland’s economic practices with our ethical commitments.
The Bill was passed by the Dáil and Seanad six years ago. From the outset, Fine Gael committed to block its passage. They succeeded. Fianna Fáil has supported this blockage over the past five years, despite having brought the Bill to the Dáil.
When Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins introduced the Bill he asked “if this is not the time to act, when will that time come?”
Since then, and long before the despicable Hamas attacks of October 2023, Israel continued to intensify its occupation, annexation and apartheid policies without fear of sanction. For the past 15 months Israel has carried out war crimes on a regular basis.
Were it not for the mobilisation of tens of thousands of campaigning citizens, for the political pressure exerted by Sinn Féin and others in opposition, and for the abhorrence of the Irish people at what they have witnessed in Gaza, then we wouldn’t have the commitments, given on the cusp of an election, from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to finally move on this Bill.
In a world where principles are often compromised for political or economic convenience, this legislation can be a beacon of moral clarity. It is not merely about trade policy – it is about Ireland stating clearly that international law must mean something.
The alternative is a return to the “might is right” doctrine. We Irish know better than most that this is the real threat to society, the economy and our collective futures. The time to act is now.
