Ireland's main opposition party calls for action as report finds Israel guilty of apartheid

Irish political party Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, John Brady TD, has called for action after the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report finds Israel was guilty of committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. In 1997 Human Rights Watch shared in the Nobel Peace Prize as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The 213-page report was issued on 27th April 2021 with the title "A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution". It says Israel has a policy "to maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians", including those who are its citizens.  Human Rights Watch joins a growing number of commentators and rights groups who view the conflict not primarily as a land dispute but as a single regime,  in which Palestinians who make up roughly half the population of Israel are systematically denied basic rights granted to Jews. Responding to the claims, Israel’s foreign ministry accused Human Rights Watch of a “longstanding anti-Israeli agenda”.

In calling for action John Brady TD, Sinn Féin's Foreign Affairs spokesperson said: “To those of us who follow closely what is happening on the ground in Palestine, this finding comes as no surprise. The government of Israel has been engaged in a systematic campaign of absolute domination over the Palestinian peoples for decades".  Sinn Féin currently sits as the main opposition and the second largest party in Oireachtas (the parliament of Ireland). It is also one of the two largest parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

John Brady went on to say: "I call for a complete boycott of all Israeli goods, and I call on the Irish government to order the withdrawal of the planned IDA office in Israel."Ireland cannot be seen to be complicit in any way shape or form with a state found guilty of the crime of apartheid.

"The Irish government must begin by giving recognition to the State of Palestine as voted by the Dáil.”

Image above: Israel and occupied territories courstesy HRW

Image Below: John Brady TD