Ireland Postpones Anti-Settlement Bill under «Israeli» Pressure

Local Editor

Under from the "Israeli" apartheid regime, the Irish Senate postponed a vote on a bill that forbids the import and sale of products from "Israeli" settlements as well as the services originating from the occupied territories.

The bill, entitled Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, states that it is "an offence for a person to import or sell goods or services originating in an occupied territory or to extract resources from an occupied territory in certain circumstances; and to provide for related matters."

It also says that those who "assist another person to import or attempt to import settlement goods" would be committing a crime punishable with up to five years in prison.

The Irish Senate debated the motion on Tuesday. Senator Frances Black, who had put forward the motion, described the "Israeli" settlements in the occupied West Bank, East al-Quds [Jerusalem] and the Golan Heights as a "war crime."

She also stressed the anti-settlement bill was actually about respect for international law and standing up for the rights of vulnerable people.

"It is a chance for Ireland to state strongly that it does not support the illegal confiscation of land and the human suffering which inevitably results," Black said.

"In the occupied Palestinian territories, people are forcibly kicked out of their homes, fertile farming land is seized and the fruit and vegetables produced are then exported to pay for it all," she added.

However, the Irish Senate suddenly decided to adjourn the debates regarding the bill until July as the regime in Tel Aviv scrambled to torpedo the measure.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney "had asked today for time...He has given a commitment in writing that if the debate is adjourned today the government will facilitate time for this debate to be resumed before the summer recess in July," Senator Alice Mary Higgins said.

The cancellation came after "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Irish bill, saying it seeks to harm the regime and support the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which campaigns for Palestinian rights.

"The initiative gives backing to those who seek to boycott 'Israel' and completely contravenes the guiding principles of free trade and justice," Netanyahu's office said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The "Israeli" premier further ordered the entity's so-called Foreign Ministry to summon Irish Ambassador to Tel Aviv Alison Kelly.

About 600,000 "Israelis" live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories.

In recent months, Tel Aviv has stepped up its illegal settlement construction activities in the occupied Palestinian lands in a blatant violation of international law and in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team