PBP TD calls on Tánaiste to make a statement condemning Israeli settler violence
People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny has said that reports of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank are “a shocking indication as to the violence that the Israeli state is facilitating against the people of Palestine”.
Reports of increased violence from Israeli settlers, encroaching on Palestinian land, against farmers and civilians living in the West Bank have been highlighted to Deputy Kenny by The Mission of the State of Palestine.
The Mission of the State of Palestine reports: “In these violent incidents, settlers, some of them carrying firearms, physically assaulted Palestinians with the aid of clubs, axes, electroshock weapons, stones and assault dogs, in some cases causing severe injury. Settlers also attacked homes, torched cars, vandalized and uprooted olive trees and other crops, and stole livestock.”
Deputy Kenny said: “Reports of these actions by Israeli settlers are truly shocking and disgraceful in their own right but the fact that these attacks come in the midst of a global pandemic is truly outrageous. It seems the Israeli state are using the Covid-19 crisis as cover for increased attacks on Palestinians.
“I am calling on Tánaiste Simon Coveney to make a public statement condemning the actions of the settlers and the Israeli state who have aided and abetted the oppression of the Palestinians and a land grab for decades. The Israeli embassy should be clearly told that Ireland will not accept these illegal actions and that Ireland stands with the people of Palestine against these despicable acts.”
The TD also said that PBP would fully support the passing of a Bill to ban imports of goods from illegal settlements when the new Dáil resumes.