Deputy Carthy calls to sanction Israel following ‘vile’ bill to ban UNRWA
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs has said the Dáil should be recalled to sanction Israel following bill to ban UNRWA.
Matt Carthy TD has said that the Dáil should advance the Occupied Territories Bill and enact sanctions against Israel.
Speaking in response to the Israeli parliament adoption of a bill prohibiting the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in either Israel or Palestine, Teachta Carthy believes Israel "will continue until the international community ceases to fund and allow them to commit war crimes at will."
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people and waging war against the United Nations," he said.
He states Israel has "declared the United Nations Secretary General a persona non grata" and adds that they have “murdered" over 200 United Nations employees and "slandered" UNRWA "without providing a single shred of proof."
“A clear purpose of these actions is to undermine UNRWA, removing their ability to provide vital humanitarian and social supports to Palestine, especially in Gaza, and to deepen the occupation, but also crucially to diminish the status of Palestinian refugees and prevent them from ever returning home.
“The adoption of this bill that bans the work of UNRWA is a vile action on the part of a state that has gone beyond rogue," he said.
“Israel's rejection of the United Nations, UN Charter and international law arise from it having never been held to account.
“This must change and Ireland can lead the way.
“The Dáil should be recalled this week to progress the Occupied Territories Bill and further sanctions against Israel which fall entirely within the remit of the Irish government."
Deputy Carthy said such sanctions would include enacting Sinn Féin’s Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill, joining South Africa’s case taken against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice, suspending the issue of dual use export licences for products/service with military use to end users in Israel and taking "immediate action" to end the use of Irish sovereign airspace to resupply "Israel's war machine.”