This Nakba Day, Sadaka, the Ireland Palestine Alliance, has called on the Irish Government to convert their sentiments on Israeli plans for Palestinians into tangible actions to stop the genocide and ethnic cleansing – the continuing Nakba – that is unfolding in full view of the world.

Nakba Day, which takes place on Thursday May 15th, commemorates the great catastrophe suffered by Palestinians in 1948 when over 700,000 people were violently expelled from their homes under widespread attacks from Israeli militias. Sadaka said that the Nakba has continued relentlessly since 1948 and is now unfolding with its most deadly, destructive and relentless chapter in Gaza, with the full knowledge and complicity of the international community.

The Taoiseach has recently condemned Israeli plans for Palestinians as “wholly unacceptable”, calling Israel’s blockading of food as “a war crime”. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has warned: “When people look back at this moment in history…they’re going to say the world did not do enough. Be clear about that, the world is not doing enough”.

 
Eamonn Meehan, Chair of Sadaka, suggested that the Government was indeed not doing enough and now had to act.

“To stop Israel’s declared intention to expel Palestinians from Gaza and reverse its de facto annexation of the West Bank, the Government must convert these sentiments into tangible action,” Meehan said.

 
“It must immediately pass the Occupied Territories Bill; ensure Irish airports and Irish airspace are not used to transfer armaments to Israel; and divest State funds from Israeli government bonds and from investments in enterprises operating in Israeli settlements as demanded by the ICJ ruling of 19th July 2024. Taking these actions may ensure history will judge us better than others. Without them we will deserve history’s harsh judgement.”

He said that Israeli officials now make no effort to conceal that their ultimate objective is the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the isolation, encirclement and control of any who remain. Israel’s security cabinet has established a new directorate to “facilitate the voluntary emigration” of Gaza’s population as well as approving the forced displacement of most of the population and the indefinite occupation of all the territory.