TODAY Wednesday 19th November will see a protest organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign outside the Dáil ahead of a vote on a joint left opposition motion calling on the Irish government to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, including a ban on trade with both goods and services. The protest will take place at 5.30pm on Molesworth Street.
The motion calls on the government “as a matter of the utmost urgency” to “bring the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill, amended to include services, before the Dáil, and do everything necessary to ensure the Bill can be enacted before the end of this year”. Speakers at the rally will include Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett, and Independent Senators Alice Mary Higgins and Frances Black.IPSC Chairperson Zoe Lawlor said: "This government promised to pass the OTB after the election… then it was kicked to a Committee for review. The Committee fully endorsed it… but the government did nothing. Then they promised it after the Summer recess… and still nothing. Now, as we approach the Dáil’s Christmas break there is still silence.
"This Bill is a ‘bare minimum’ action that Ireland should have taken a long time ago – it is astounding to think that it remains stalled. We urge all TDs to support the motion: the government must stop stalling and pass the full Bill, as recommended by the Joint Committee, many of the world’s foremost legal experts, and the vast, vast majority of Irish voters!"
