Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady appeared as a guest witness in front of the Oireachtas Finance Committee last week, where he laid out an argument for the introduction of his 2023 Illegal Israeli Settlement Divestment Bill which has the support of the United Nations, has been obstructed by the government at every opportunity since its introduction last year.
The Bill which is intended to mandate the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to divest itself of all current assets, and to prohibit future investments in any companies which operate in the illegal Israeli settlements, and which are included on the UN Database of companies, was before the Committee for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS).
Brady said:
“Since this Bill came before the Dáil at second stage last May the government has attempted to obstruct its progress at every turn. They first introduced a timed amendment for 9-months, during which they did nothing. Then at the conclusion of the 9-month stay they insisted on PLS despite the fact that the Chairperson of the Finance Committee Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness had written to the Dáil Business Committee requesting a waiver of PLS to allow the Bill to be introduced more quickly.
There are currently over 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers in 144 illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Last month, the Attorney General Rossa Fanning stated at the International Court of Justice that Israeli settlers had continued to unlawfully destroy and appropriate property throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, and Israel had a policy of encouraging and facilitating the expansion of settlements. He said this was a clear breach of international law and the Geneva Convention.
Yet, Ireland is currently investing tax-payers money into business entities that finance, support and sustain these illegal settlements. ISIF has directly invested in four banks deemed essential to the operation of the illegal settlements. This has the effect of economically wedding Ireland to the financial infrastructure of the illegal settlements. It is utterly shocking and unacceptable that the government is fighting attempts to divest from this.
Generally speaking, the Irish people are unaware that their hard-earned taxes are being invested in Israeli banks and other enterprises essential to the continued existence of the illegal settlements. I believe that if they knew where their pension fund was being invested that they would be outraged. Consequently, the government has a legal and moral obligation to progress the legislation here today as a matter of urgency.
Over 30,000 people have already been killed in Gaza since the Israeli onslaught began, the people of Gaza are enduring what UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described as horrifying levels of hunger and suffering, with children literally dying of starvation.
This is a continuation of a sustained Israeli strategy designed to annex Palestinian territories through a process of isolation, fragmentation, and dispossession. They seek to separate Gaza from the West Bank. With the further fragmentation of Palestinian territories into a series of Bantustans, cut off from each other and unsustainable. Israel is seeking to break down Palestinian communities and societies. Ireland’s policy is a two-state solution, yet the single biggest obstacle to the achievement of this is the illegal Israeli settlements.
Israel has been emboldened by international failure to hold it to account for its genocidal actions, we currently see this in Gaza and the West Bank, and it is incumbent that we align our stated national policy of condemning the actions of Israel with the financial actions of the state, which currently act to embolden Israeli actions by divesting in businesses enmeshed in Israel’s illegal enterprises.
The coalition government needs to back up the timbre of its narrative on Gaza with tangible action. Action that has the capacity of impacting Israeli policy and strategy. Words are no longer enough. Ireland cannot condemn Israeli actions yet continue to invest in business entities that are essential to both the continuing function of its illegal settlements, but also its military operations in Gaza.”