[ad_1]
The Irish Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to boycott products from settlements in the West Bank.
The bill was pbaded with 25 deputies voting in his favor, 20 against and 14 abstaining. The law prohibits "the importation and sale of goods, services and natural resources from illegal settlements in the occupied territories".
Earlier this year, a vote on the bill was delayed at the request of the Irish government. The government, at the request of Israel, then sought to soften the language but failed to find a compromise.
>> BDS is still a failure – do not let Netanyahu's Argentine football debacle fool you | Analysis ■ Israel rejects blame on typo that leaves Dublin mayor banned BDS from entering
Bill pbaded through legislators' votes. opposition and independents. Senator Frances Black, the independent who sponsored the bill, recently released a video urging the Irish to put pressure on their representatives for them to support it.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized Ireland after pbading the bill, saying that the "Irish Senate has backed a populist, dangerous and extremist anti-Israeli boycott initiative that is jeopardizing chances of dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians ".
The Foreign Ministry added that the law "will have a negative impact on the diplomatic process in the Middle East" and that it "will hurt the livelihood of many Palestinians working in the affected Israeli industrial areas. by the boycott ".
The ministry stated that Israel still considered its response according to the evolution of legislation.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat praised Ireland for the decision to adopt the bill, saying he hoped "to express his sincere appreciation to Seanad of Ireland for upholding the principle of justice in approving this landmark motion banning trade Colonial Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. "
"Today, Irish Seanad has sent a clear message to the international community and in particular to the rest of the European Union: the mere fact of speaking of the two-state solution is not enough without take concrete measures, "continued Erekat.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in the approval of this law, from the political parties to the Palestinian and Irish civil society, and in particular to Senator Frances Black for her courage to presenting this motion advances the cause of justice in Palestine, "he said.
Protest of Netanyahu
The vote was originally scheduled to take place in January, but it was postponed after the Foreign Ministry summoned the Irish ambbadador to Israel, Alison Kelly, and demanded an explanation. The ministry was acting at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Kelly told Rodica Radian-Gordon, head of the ministry's Europe office, that the bill was sponsored by independent legislators but was opposed by the Irish government. She also insisted that the bill was not a BDS proposal, but simply called for a boycott of settlements.
Netanyahu, however, did not accept this argument. In a statement issued by his office, he added that the bill "gives wind to those who seek to boycott Israel and is totally against the law." principles of free trade and justice. "
In a recent television interview, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he was considering opposing the bill. He said that he had told his sponsors that trade matters fell within the competence of the European Union, and that Ireland should not therefore act unilaterally on this issue. He also said that he did not expect the bill to pbad.
But three opposition parties – Labor, Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail – announced that they would support the bill, as did several independents. Therefore, the bill should now be pbaded in spite of the government's predictions.
[ad_2]
Source link
