Sir, – On behalf of the Palestinian people, I wish to thank members of Dáil Éireann for their unanimous support last Wednesday for the motion which calls on the Government to “officially recognise the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital”. This followed the passing of a similar motion in Seanad Éireann on October 22nd.
A total of 135 states in the world have already recognised Palestine as a state, including nine members of the EU, most recently Sweden. I hope that Ireland will become the 136th in the near future.
For many years, Ireland has been to the fore in seeking justice for the Palestinian people, for which we will be eternally grateful. In February 1980 in the Bahrain Declaration, Ireland was the first European state to declare explicitly that the Palestinian people “had a right to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state in Palestine”.
Ever since, successive Irish governments have remained committed to the establishment of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state, in the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza, existing alongside and at peace with the state of Israel.
In November 2012, Ireland voted in favour of a resolution in the UN general assembly, which granted Palestine observer rights as a “non-member state” at the UN. The success which Ireland helped to achieve then opens up the possibility of Palestine becoming a member of organisations associated with the UN, including the International Criminal Court.
Our quest for a two-state solution was crowned in November 1988 when the PLO declared the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem as its capital. With this declaration, the PLO adopted the objective of establishing a Palestinian state on only 22 per cent of our historic homeland, with the Israeli state continuing to exist in the other 78 per cent. This was a compromise of extraordinary generosity on our part, which opened up the way to a two-state solution.
However, rather than work for the two-state solution, Israel dramatically consolidated its control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by accelerating the colonisation process, especially following the Oslo Agreement in 1993.
There were around 135,000 Jewish settlers living in occupied territory in 1993, now the total number is approaching 600,000. And the colonisation process is continuing relentlessly. An obstruction to the creation of a viable Palestinian state that was manageable in 1988 is a major obstacle today – and it continues to grow. The possibility of a viable Palestinian state being established is fast disappearing.
Ireland has been to the fore in demanding that Israel cease this colonisation, which is contrary to international law (since Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bans an occupying power like Israel from transferring its own civilian population into territory it has taken over by force). However, as everybody knows, Israel has simply ignored all requests to desist, including those made by the UN security council.
In The Irish Times on November 26th, Minister of Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomioja, wrote: "We have time and time again called on the Israeli authorities to end this settlement policy, which clearly contradicts international law. But commitment is nothing without action. Continuation of this policy must bring a strong response from the international community, including the EU, if our commitment to upholding international law is to be taken seriously."
If this is an indication that the EU is prepared to supplement words with effective action to halt Israeli colonisation, then it is greatly to be welcomed – and not a moment too soon. – Yours, etc,
AHMAD ABDELRAZEK,
Ambassador
of the State of Palestine,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.