While words of solidarity are welcome, it\u2019s beyond time Ireland takes action to sanction Israel, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney, who\u2019s the party\u2019s foreign affairs spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now over 60 days into Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza, one of countless blatant war crimes committed by Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s genocidal state in the past two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 20 months of bombing and vicious attacks, 51,000 people have been killed, while a further 117,000 have been injured – we\u2019re witnessing evil on a scale not seen for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a genocide characterised by countless violations of international law – bombing hospitals, torturing detainees, targeting children and blocking life-saving aid are just a few of the atrocities Israel has committed since October 7th, 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cTanaiste Simon Harris\u2019 words are welcome, as are those of Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, and I\u2019ve no doubt that they mean them on a personal level – but their government has not matched these words with actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s irrefutable hypocrisy for the Tanaiste to say that \u2018the world is not doing enough\u2019 while his government refuses to make substantial moves to sanction Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must see the immediate enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill, which puts into effect the International Court of Justice Ruling of July last year – the government cannot continue to renege on its promise of progressing this essential legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlone, this is not sufficient – we must stop the sale of Israeli bonds from our Central Bank, scrap the endorsement of the ill-fitting IHRA definition of anti-semitism, and prevent the use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace to facilitate flying weapons and munitions to a genocidal force.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland has a unique opportunity to represent the strong sentiment of its people on an EU level by urging the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the recognition of Palestinian statehood, and sanctions that are consistent with those against Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfathomable that Israel will be allowed to partake in the Eurovision Song Contest next week while innocent children continue to be slaughtered indiscriminately – I back the National Union of Journalists\u2019 call for RT\u00c9 to formally oppose the terror state\u2019s inclusion in the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard enough talk on Israel\u2019s war crimes – it\u2019s time for action.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 7th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While words of solidarity are welcome, it\u2019s beyond time Ireland takes action to sanction Israel, according to Social Democrats TD Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney, who\u2019s the party\u2019s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: \u201cWe\u2019re now over 60 days into Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza, one of countless blatant war crimes committed by Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s genocidal state in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,595,7,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaza","category-occupied-territories-bill","category-press-release","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n