Ireland to ban trade – but not services – from Israeli settlements, but not Israel itself

Half-baked measure will infuriate both Zionists and anti-genocide campaigners

Irish Taoiseach (PM) Micheál Martin has claimed his government is not banning services from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) along with its new legislation banning goods because it’s ‘more complex’.

Ireland is to become the first European nation to formally ban trade with the OPT after legislation was approved by Martin’s Cabinet this morning, with deputy PM Simon Harris describing the move as “an important measure, because we are speaking up and speaking out on behalf of the people of Ireland in relation to this genocidal activity.”

However, neither goods nor services from ‘Israeli’ territory are being banned, despite Israel’s genocide of almost 400,000 people in Gaza, its starvation blockade on 18 million survivors, its assaults on Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen and its theft of all that territory from the Palestinian people in the 1948 ‘Nakba’ that drove around 800,000 Palestinians from their lands and homes at gunpoint and massacred many.

The Irish government, which in some ways is streets ahead of most other European governments and has formally recognised Israel’s genocide in Gaza as genocide and recognised Palestinian statehood, but still prevaricates and has been accused of allowing Israeli military aircraft to use its airspace during the genocide, has managed both to outrage the Israeli regime by daring to take any action against it at all and frustrating opponents of Israel’s genocide by not going nearly far enough. Its recognition of the Gaza genocide obliges it to take every action available to it to prevent or end the slaughter, but it has not yet done so and the OPT bill does not fulfil that obligation.

Opposition party Sinn Féin’s foreign affairs spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD condemned the European Union today after it confirmed that no decision would be made on the EU-Israel association agreement until July at the earliest – and he called for the Irish government to impose immediate sanctions on Israel as a whole. Ó Laoghaire said:

The failure of the EU to suspend the agreement in the context of a genocide of the Palestinian people is inexplicable and utterly shameful. For the EU to confirm that no decision would be made until July at the earliest is nothing short of cowardly and ignores the obvious situation on the ground.

The failure by the EU to impose any meaningful sanctions against Israel and the fact that a decision is being delayed even further, makes clear that the EU lacks credibility in relation to such matters. The EU has enormously undermined any credibility it had as a voice for international law and human rights.

The EU’s inaction of the last 20 months has provided political cover to Israel and what we needed was an immediate and total suspension of the trade agreement with Israel, and a two way arms embargo. Consistent, persistent, and egregious breaches of human rights should result in sanctions. The EU’s own review found that Israel was guilty of breaching article 2 of the association agreement. And plainly so. As we speak, hundreds of people are being killed as aid itself is being weaponised by Israel backed by the US.

Alongside their total violations of international law amid Israel’s ruthless genocide in Gaza – these are clear grounds on which the EU could suspend the agreement. Israel’s impunity must end. This includes speaking out internationally but also acting domestically.

The Irish Government must now act without any further delay and ensure the passing the Occupied Territories Bill, including services, impose sanctions on Israel and halt the sale of war bonds through the Central Bank.

All nations also have a responsibility to ensure that food is not weaponised and that children are not allowed to be starved and murdered by a genocidal state. Until Israel is held to account, all nations and the European Union are completely failing in their responsibility to uphold international law.

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