Ireland should ‘go further than just issuing statements’ on Palestine, UN commissioners say

Countries like Ireland need to “go further than just issuing statements” on the Israel-Palestine conflict and need to increase action, members of a United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry have said.

In May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council decided to establish an ongoing international commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory following an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza.

Speaking on a visit to Ireland, two members of the commission – which is accused by Israel of bias – commended Ireland’s contribution in speaking out against the conflict.

Chris Sidoti, an international human rights consultant and an expert in national human rights institutions, said: “Ireland has been outstanding among a minority that has approached this in very legal terms.

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“It’s been a cross-party approach here in Ireland. This is a conflict that has a legal analysis and it is the legal analysis that is the way in which policy should be developed. [Ireland] has a leadership role among a small number of countries,” he told The Irish Times.

Fellow commissioner Miloon Kothari said within the European Union, Ireland and Luxembourg “have been leading on that front”.

“People often ask why are we going to a country that already has support and the reason is we need countries like Ireland to go further than just issuing statements,” he said.

“They’ve been very progressive holding Israel accountable on a range of issues, speaking out against the settlements but at this stage of the situation on the ground, mere statements – no matter how progressive – are not sufficient. We need more action.”

Mr Kothari said there could be action on a diplomatic level or there could be an examination of trade policies – referring to the Occupied Territories Bill, a proposed law that would ban and criminalise trade and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law.

[ Ireland can help Palestinians and Israelis by being a more robust voice in Europe ]

“There is a bill in the parliament on that. We are trying to understand why a bill like that hasn’t been adopted. We have been given some reasons. But our concern is there should be more action,” he added.

Mr Sidoti said their job was “not to give Ireland a checklist of things it must do but there is a long list of options”.

“The important thing is to move from a law-based policy to action that will implement that policy,” he added.

The members met officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs, members of the foreign affairs and defence committees and 15 Irish civil society groups. They will officially publish their third report, which focuses on civil society, in Geneva on Tuesday.

A statement from the Israeli Embassy in Ireland said the Commission of Inquiry “against Israel has no legitimacy. It never had.”

“Their political activism only serves to advance pre-existing biased prejudices against Israel, under the guise of a supposedly independent UN mandate,” the statement said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.