Political Party Positions
One of the aims of Sadaka is to work alongside all political parties with a view to strengthening their policies on Palestine. This page provides information on the current positions of parliamentary political parties (in both Dáil Eireann – Irish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly).
Parties are presented below in alphabetical order.
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DUP |
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Fianna Fáil |
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Fine Gael |
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Green Party |
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Labour Party Central Council Policy Statement: The Central Council recognises with great disappointment and increasing alarm that, in the year since the last Labour Party National Conference, the situation regarding the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples has continued to deteriorate. The ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza has resulted in rapidly deteriorating living conditions for its residents and the creation of a severe humanitarian crisis. Gaza has been invaded, demolished and its reconstruction actively prevented. This constitutes a glaring and flagrant failure by the Israeli authorities with respect to their legally binding humanitarian obligations. Life for Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem continues to be a daily grind of casual abuse by Israeli soldiers and colonisers, systematic obstruction of daily life by an extensive network of roadblocks, travel restrictions, intrusive and aggressive security operations and the now infamous separation wall, as well as the illegal and often violent evictions of people from their homes. All of this amounts to the systematic humiliation of an entire people. We further note that the colonisation by Israel of the West Bank and East Jerusalem continues unabated in clear breach of International Law and United Nations resolutions. The Central Council considers this appalling situation to be unjust, unacceptable and unsustainable.
The Central Council also notes the continued threat of terrorism faced by the people of Israel, including the resumption of missile attacks on Israel from the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, and the continued detention of Guilad Shallit contrary to Geneva rules on Prisoners of War by Hamas.
The Israeli people have legitimate concerns for their own security, which are best addressed by a mutual agreement with the Palestinians for two States living in peace side by side based on the pre-1967 borders.
The Labour Party in government will work strenuously for a just and multilateral peace agreement which respects international law, secures the legitimate interests of Israel to live in peace, security and prosperity with its neighbours, and delivers for the Palestinian people a secure, viable, contiguous, internationally-recognised state of their own which includes the West bank, Gaza and with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
The Labour Party in government will press with our partners in the European Union, and the United States the need to apply even-handed pressure on all parties to the conflict to reach a sustainable peace agreement.
Ireland's capacity to influence events in the Middle East is primarily implemented through, our membership of the European Union. We recognise the Quartet Roadmap for peace, consisting of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the USA, along with the Arab Peace Initiative as an essential basis for a negotiated settlement. We welcome the statement adopted by the European Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers on the 8th December 2009 as a key reference document for action by the EU. All members of the Quartet including in particular the USA should be encouraged adopt it as a reference document as a means of reinvigorating their role.
Central Council therefore:
1. Encourages the Irish government to ensure that the European Union does not upgrade any of its diplomatic, trade, agricultural, cultural, and academic or other relations with Israel while that State is acting in a manner inconsistent with International Law and humanitarian principles. In addition, the Irish government should ensure that the European Commission effectively implements the provisions of the EC-Israel Association Agreement (EUROMED) by which the preferential trade relations conducted between the contracting parties are linked to their mutual observance of human rights, as outlined in Clause 2 of the EUROMED agreement.
2. Applauds the work undertaken by Joe Costello TD, in gaining the agreement of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs to hold formal hearings into whether Israel is in violation of the terms of the EUROMED agreement and to communicate its findings to the Irish Government and the European Commission for action so as to implement fully the human rights requirements of clause 2 and, should this not be achieved, to suspend the agreement.
3. Welcomes the decision of the European Court of Justice in the Brita case, which found that goods originating in the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of 18 the West bank and East Jerusalem are not entitled the privileges under the Euromed agreement. Consistent with this ECJ judgment we call on the Irish government to insist that the importation of goods from Israel has sufficient documentation to guarantee that they do not originate in the settlements. We also call on the Irish Government to require that all those involved in the supply chain and retail sectors to ensure the correct labelling of the origin of all goods imported into the EU from Israel and the Occupied Territories so that consumers can make informed choices about their purchases.
4. Welcomes the EU Heads of Mission Report of September 2009 and calls for the implementation of its recommendations, especially with respect to the actions that the EU can take to reinforce the official and legal status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem which was occupied and illegally annexed by Israel following the 1967 war.
5. Calls for greater international efforts to encourage reconciliation between the Hamas and Fatah movements in the Occupied Territories to enable the representatives of the Palestinian people to better represent the interests of Palestinians in the negotiations.
6. In order to create the conditions in which the Hamas party, which has significant electoral, support, can if possible be drawn into negotiations, calls on the Irish government to use its role in the EU Foreign Affairs Council to encourage the Quartet to specify the basis on which the conditions placed on them for participation, can be regarded as fulfilled.
7. Welcomes the decision of the European Parliament and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) to call for the implementation of the findings of the Goldstone Report which found evidence of war crimes during the war on Gaza by Israel (Dec '08/Jan '09) in which 1400 Palestinians died, mostly civilians and including 300 children, and 13 Israelis died, including 3 civilians. The Labour Party supports Goldstone's call for independent credible inquiries to international standards by all sides in the that conflict both with regard to individual incidents and also with regard to policy decisions by Israel and Palestinian authorities.
8. Believes the Irish Authorities should in accordance the (Irish) Geneva Conventions Act, 1962, examine the possibility of prosecutions in Ireland of those responsible for alleged war crimes during that war.
9. Strongly condemns the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on the 19th January 2010 which is widely believed to have been committed by members of the Israeli Security Services. We are deeply concerned that the identities of Irish citizens were stolen and Irish passports abused in order to facilitate this murder. We condemn the failure of the Israeli government to properly account for this crime and the abuse of Irish sovereignty.
10. Finally, in view of the present indications that the parties may engage in final status negotiations this year, under pressure from the EU and the USA, the incoming Central Council are called on to keep developments under review as to how best to campaign at national and European level for the rights of the Palestinian and Israeli people, including the question of boycott disinvestment and sanctions on Israel and political pressure on the Palestinian authorities to respect universal human rights.
The information on the Labour Party's position on Palestine is taken from their conference document which may be found here
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SDLP |
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Ulster Unionist Party |
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