Sanctions against State of Israel
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What sanctions are being proposed against the State of Israel?
A bill to impose sanctions on the State of Israel will be debated in the Dáil today. It would result in a complete boycott on all economic relations between Ireland and Israel, if enacted. Joining me now for more on this is Richard Boyd-Barratt, People Before Profit TD for Dun Laoghaire, who drafted the bill, and also Barry Ward, Fine Gael TD, also for Dun Laoghaire. Good morning to you both. Richard Boyd-Barratt, good morning to you. Your bill is coming up for a second stage debate, I think.
Second stage debate, yeah.
So what is the argument for introducing this legislation?
Very simply, Israel is guilty of the worst crime possible, which is genocide. It is in violation of the Genocide Convention. It's slaughtered 75,000 people in Gaza. It's destroyed Gaza. It's engaged in an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing on the West Bank. It operates an apartheid system. It's guilty of the collective punishment of the people of Gaza for nearly 20 years. It is in violation of just about all human rights law internationally. And yet we still haven't imposed any sanction on this state. I mean, it's now helped in unleashing a war across the Middle East, which is impacting the entire world. It's a complete rogue regime.
Is it the only rogue regime on earth? No.
No.
So why are you uniquely picking out Israel for sanctions?
Because it is a uniquely horrific regime in the sense that it is based, the entire state is predicated on a campaign of ethnic cleansing, starting in 1948 with the Nakba, the anniversary of which is coming up this weekend. which ethnically cleansed 750,000 Palestinians, millions of whom are still living as refugees, displaced all across the Middle East, whose right to return is established under international law but denied by the Israeli regime. And yet they continue.
What is the argument for introducing sanctions on Israel?
Not only do they not give those people the right to return, but they continue in an ongoing systematic campaign on... of ethnic cleansing, and then, of course, the worst crime of all, the genocide, for which it's now in the dark. And yet we don't impose a single sanction. Well, it's in the dark. It hasn't been convicted. Yes, but our government has joined with South Africa under pressure, I would say, but it has done it because presumably our state believes it is guilty of genocide. And I think any reasonable person looking at the horror that has been visited on Gaza and if just they listen to the statements of the leaders of the Israeli regime talking about the annihilation of the people of Gaza, referring, saying it's justified to kill all adults in
In Gaza, the Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Parliament. You know, I mean, you just don't hear this sort of horrific rhetoric or the practices from any other regime. And it should be treated, in our view, in the same way as apartheid South Africa was treated. OK.
I want to bring in your constituency colleague, Barry Ward of Fine Gael. Morning, Barry.
Morning, David, how are you?
Now, as Richard points out, our government, your party leader, the Tóniste, also the Taoiseach, have said that Israel is guilty of genocide. We're a signatory of the UN Genocide Convention. We've taken a strong stance on Gaza, stronger than many other EU countries. Surely the government should be supporting this legislation if it believes that Israel is guilty of genocide.
Well, the first thing is I agree with much of what Richard has said. I'm appalled by the actions of Israel. I think most Irish people are. I agree with the notion that there should be sanctions on Israel and I would like to see that come to pass. So there's lots in Richard's bill and the spirit of it that I absolutely agree with. The difficulty I have is that sanctions are not something we do unilaterally as a country. And Richard, I know, has previously spoken about this. He's referred to the swiftness with which sanctions were imposed on Russia when they behaved similarly in terms of invading Ukraine. The difference is those sanctions were imposed by the European Commission and at European level, not at national level within the European Union.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What sanctions are being proposed against the State of Israel?
0:00–1:51
2
What is the argument for introducing sanctions on Israel?
1:51–5:32
3
How does Richard Boyd Barrett justify the sanctions against Israel?
5:32–12:12
4
What is Barry Ward's perspective on the proposed sanctions?
12:12–15:28
5
What legal challenges exist for Ireland in imposing sanctions?
15:28–17:00