The Government\u2019s omission of a ban on services from the Occupied Territories Bill is neither moral nor legal, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government has been dragged kicking and screaming by public and opposition pressure to take any amount of credible action on Palestine. I welcome that there is finally a firm commitment to pass the OTB, but it is shameful that this has taken so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the decision to exclude a ban on services means that the Bill will not have teeth – this is a half measure designed to quell the public outcry at the abuse of Global Sumud Flotilla members by Israeli forces last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a legal obligation to ban trade with illegal territories – trade includes goods and services. This is the very least that the Government should be doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the point of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee\u2019s lengthy pre-legislative scrutiny if the Government is intent on ignoring its recommendations? We know from leaked Attorney General advice that there is no legal impediment to the inclusion of services in this Bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as our 18 hours of scrutiny of the Bill, we heard from a range of legal experts who stated there were no issues precluding Ireland from including services in the OTB. The Committee produced a report which unanimously agreed that services should be included. This could and should be the form in which the OTB is passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cServices make up the majority of Ireland\u2019s trade with the Occupied Territories, and if the Bill is to apply any pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s murderous regime, their inclusion is absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2014, the Government correctly banned the trade of goods and services with Crimea. This coalition has created a double standard by inventing reasons not to do the same in the case of the Occupied Territories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 is not the Occupied Territories Bill and will not meet our legal obligation to ban trade. This is a half-hearted gesture designed to gloss over the Government\u2019s shortcomings when it comes to standing up for Palestine and international human rights.<\/p>\n
May 26th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government\u2019s omission of a ban on services from the Occupied Territories Bill is neither moral nor legal, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cThe Government has been dragged kicking and screaming by public and opposition pressure to take any amount of credible action on Palestine. I welcome that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,595,738,641,7,732],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-occupied-territories-bill","category-palestine","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release","category-west-bank"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n