As a result of Israel’s latest round of aggression against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem (known as al-Quds in Arabic), besieged Gaza, and within ‘48 Palestine– a number of governments and international institutions have taken welcome positions in support of Palestinian liberation.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) would like to commend the Irish position in particular. On Wednesday this week (26th May), the Irish parliament (or the Dáil, as it known in Gaelic) passed a motion condemning “the recent and ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian communities in the occupied Palestinian territory” and affirming that “Israel’s actions amount to unlawful de facto annexation of that territory.”
The motion was passed unanimously. Subsequently, Mary Lou McDonald, President of Sinn Féin, the party which presented the motion, said “we condemn the illegal and ongoing annexation, the illegal seizure of Palestinian land by the Israeli occupier.”
AOHR UK welcomes this motion and the new position of the Irish government – the first time an EU government has taken the official view that Israel’s actions constitute “de facto annexation” of Palestinian territory.
At the same moment, the UN’s 47-member Human Rights Council passed a motion calling for an international commission to “investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law leading up to and since 13 April 2021”.
This investigation will address “all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity”.
AOHR UK notes that Germany, Austria, and Britain voted against the motion and that the United States is not a member of the Council. The organisation again condemns those countries’ general stance towards the recent Israeli aggression.
AOHR UK thanks the Dáil for its courageous decision and welcomes the UN Human Rights Council’s call for an investigation.
