Occupied Territories Bill unlikely to fall despite Oireachtas meeting

RTÉ News​

4 days ago

When the Occupied Territories Bill has been debated in the Oireachtas recently, it's usually framed in the context of the Opposition parties putting pressure on the Government to go further and faster with its proposed legislation.
The Bill should include a ban on services as well as goods, the Opposition argues, and the Dáil and Seanad should sit in August to get the legislation passed into law as quickly as possible.
Yesterday it was very different.
That is because delegates from the Ireland Israel Alliance were before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with some representatives of Ireland's Jewish community.
They wanted to give all political parties - Coalition and Opposition - a piece of their mind.
There was a slight degree of apprehension as everyone took their seats in Committee room 2, and so Chairperson John Lahart took the opportunity to say at the outset that while there are "strongly held views" on the Bill, every participant should be treated with respect.
He also urged those in the public gallery not to interrupt.
The first to speak was Maurice Cohen, who is Chair of Jewish Representative Council of Ireland.
He declared: "I speak as an Irish citizen, born and raised here in Dublin," adding that the "small, long established Irish Jewish community" in Ireland "is now increasingly fearful".
Part of that fear he said was down to the Occupied Territories Bill.
Mr Cohen declared: "While this Bill may not set out to target Jews or Jewish life, its message is unmistakably felt by us."
He continued: "Let me clear: criticism of Israel is not antisemitism, but when criticism becomes a campaign... we must pause."
"This Bill is not a plan for peace. It is not a policy. It is a performance of misguided effort."
"It won't bring two states closer, but it might drive Jewish communities here in Ireland further into fear and isolation," he warned.
Mr Cohen was followed by the former Fine Gael Minister Alan Shatter who was more combative in the language he used.
He claimed the Bill is the "first initiative of any European government to enact legislation to intentionally boycott and discriminate against Jews since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945."
"This antisemitic symbolism is reinforced by the absence from the Bill of any prohibition on the importation of goods originating from any other occupied territory'", he said.
That was a theme which was continually raised during the Committee's hearing - only Israel was being targeted by the planned legislation.
The Oireachtas was not going after Hamas which had triggered the latest conflict by killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 others on 7 October 2023.
The Oireachtas was also not going after Iran which had financed Hamas in Gaza, and other entities like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
That is why Yoni Wieder, Chief Rabbi at the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, suggested the Bill "demonises Israel".
The original Occupied Territories Bill which was introduced by Independent Senator Frances Black in 2018 didn't contain that distinction.
It only said:"Illegal settler means a member of the civilian population of an occupying power who was or is present within the relevant occupied territory and whose presence is being, or has been, facilitated directly or indirectly, by the occupying power."
In his opening statement, Alan Shatter claimed the Government's revised legislation - the Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Bill - is "essentially a sectarian measure based on falsehoods, riddled with obscurity and anomalies".
One of the guests appeared via video link from London - Natasha Hausdorff, Legal Director of the UK Lawyers For Israel.
She too zoned in on this issue, arguing: "This version of the Bill now abandons all pretence of going after so-called occupied territories and targets Israel explicitly."
Ms Hausdorff also predicted that it could trigger a departure of US companies from Ireland due to "longstanding US anti-boycott legislation" which would pose grave risks for such firms continuing to trade in Ireland."
When the moment came for engagement between the Committee members and their invited guests, a time limit came into play.
Each TD and Senator had a total of 4 minutes to ask questions and for the invited guest to reply.
The Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins pushed back against the anti-Israeli narrative which had been directed against Ireland in the opening statements.
She told the Committee that the Taoiseach Micheál Martin had repeatedly clarified that this is "not a boycott of Israel".
"It does not affect Israeli goods," she said. "It only affects the settlements."
She asked if the guests accepted that the settlements built in the West Bank are "illegal settlements".
"Do you believe that they are part of Israel?" she inquired.
That was followed-up by Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire Bary Ward who asked all the witnesses if they accept that "Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory are contrary to International Law."
Deputy Ward asked for a yes or a no.
Maurice Cohen said he would not be forced into single word answers.
"I don't have a yes or a no because there isn't one," said Alan Shatter.
He added he "does not accept" that the Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank are illegally occupied land.
Natasha Hausdorff said: "One cannot occupy what is one's sovereign territory."
The exchanges were pointed, but not more than that.
Later, Labour's Duncan Smith said all the witnesses had failed to recognise that the settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal.
"That's a fundamental point of divergence," he said, and contrary to international law.
The only time that the tone of the debate frayed was after Mr Shatter claimed the Bill was a token gesture and akin to an episode of "Father Ted".
The Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan recounted how he'd recently visited Cairo and met Palestinians from Gaza.
He sat on the bed of a young man in the prime of his life who was dying, and held the hand "of a two year child that had bullet wounds".
Responding to Mr Shatter's claim that the Occupied Territories Bill was nothing more than performance politics and a token gesture, Deputy Brennan said robustly: "How dare you come in here and make such statements!"
Having referenced that he'd visited Israel, the West Bank and Gaza on countless occasions, Mr Shatter replied: "I don't think a single visit, deputy, to Egypt is the be-all and end-all to resolving the conflict. And this Bill certainly won't resolve the conflict.".
Barrister Natasha Hausdorff went further and said the Bill was "succour to Hamas" and "antisemitic".
That drew a something of a rebuke from the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart.
He said a claim of antisemitism being levelled against TDs and Senators was hugely hurtful and slanderous.
"It is the descent by the Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Forces into the darkest of places that certainly motivates - as far as I can see - all members of this Committee, from a humanitarian perspective."
He added: "There isn't an antisemite in this room. There isn't an antisemite in the Dáil."
Deputy Lahart said he believed Mr Shatter was "influential" and he urged him "to take that on board", including when dealing with those in the US establishment.
Whatever about that request, Mr Shatter did not concede an inch of the Occupied Territories Bill.
He maintained that Palestinian supporters of the Bill were being "fooled and misled" about it having any impact, and that resulted from the fact that "critical faculties are suspended" at Leinster House.
In keeping with the Committee's broad approach, Sinn Féin's Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire sought to find some common position with the guests.
The Cork South Central TD said the Jewish community in Ireland should feel welcome and a full part of Irish society.
He added it is not right to put the responsibility of the actions of Israel's government on individual Jewish people.
Deputy Ó Laoghaire then asked Alan Shatter if he accepted that Ireland is bound by international law and compelled to act.
Mr Shatter said he studied international law but claimed that it has been "politicised and weaponised and distorted in political debate".
The former Fine Gael minister maintained he believed that Ireland could play a real role to try and bring Israelis and Palestinians together.
But that would require an even hand and, by extension, the Occupied Territories Bill would have to fall.
The mood of the Committee suggested such a development was highly unlikely to happen.