Petitions against Annexation Wall in Palestine handed in to Government

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Wednesday July 12, 2006 20:05

by David L - IPSC

Labour, Sinn Fein and Greens take part in handover of petitions against Israel’s illegal wall

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) yesterday marked the second anniversary of the landmark International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that Israel’s wall in the West Bank is illegal. The IPSC paid a visit to the Department of Foreign Affairs to deliver some 5,000 petitions collected in recent months by its Dublin and Limerick branches. The petitions were handed in at 12.30pm, preceded by a ceremonial signing of the petition by Senator Brendan Ryan of Labour, Mary Lou McDonald, MEP of Sinn Fein and Trevor Sargent, TD of the Greens. Also signing the petition was Graham Ó Maonaigh, Chair of Labour Youth

Senator Brendan Ryan and Mary Lou McDonald, MEP waiting to sign

The IPSC called on the Department of Foreign Affairs to re-assess its policy towards Israel-Palestine, and – in accordance with the ICJ ruling – to push for sanctions against Israel given its failure to dismantle the Annexation Wall.

Raymond Deane of the IPSC said: “This time two years ago there was great hope among Palestinians when, on the 9th of July 2004, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s Wall to be illegal and affirmed that all states were under obligation ‘not to render any aid or assistance to the Wall and its associated regime.’”

“Yet two years on, the world again looks on as Palestinians are massacred and civilian infrastructure is destroyed in Gaza. There is not even a murmur as the bantustans of the West Bank take shape behind this Apartheid Wall, and as Palestinians are forced out of Jerusalem by racist Israeli laws. Over 9000 Palestinians sit in Israeli prison cells whilst Palestinians who remain on their 1948 lands do so as second-class citizens of a vicious and discriminatory Apartheid system.”

The IPSC petition called on the Irish government to take action against Israel’s illegal Wall, and also against Irish companies who are helping to build it. “It has been perfectly clear for a long while”, said Mr Deane, “that the EU are happy to let Israel do whatever it wants to the Palestinians. The Irish government has given no indication that it is pushing for an alternative approach within the EU, nor has it taken any independent action against this monstrous wall. Indeed, by such consistent passivity in the face of what even Amnesty are calling ‘Israeli war crimes’ in Gaza, the government has become de facto pro-Israeli, despite its pretensions to solidarity with the Palestinians. Also, it is outrageous that the Irish government has failed to act against Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH), who have a 25% stake in Israel’s only cement company and must be making a tidy profit from this Wall.”

Trevor Sargent arrives. Signatories no.5001-3

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Petitions against Annexation Wall in Palestine handed in to Government