News & Views No. 16 Diarmuid Breatnach
(Reading time: 3 mins.)
The main political opposition parties in the Irish parliament have made a united call on the Irish Government, a Coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Greens, to join in the genocide case against the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice.
The original case was opened recently by the South African government and the Israeli Government, to some surprise, indicated it would attend and defend itself. It is due to begin public hearing 11-12 January.
The Irish Opposition parties represented in the call on the Irish Government represent a cross-section politically: Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party and People Before Profit. Other smaller parties have one TD1 and there are many Independent TDs of varying hues.
Accompanying the party representatives at a press conference were Frances Black, independent Senator who moved the Occupied Territories Bill to ban products from those regions, also Fatin al Tamimi, from Palestine and Chairperson of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Some of these parties have moved motions in Leinster House, home of the Irish Parliament, for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland. The Irish government successfully opposed that motion and also opposes joining the South African motion.
The motivation of the concerned party representatives may well mirror their own personal or political feelings, some more than others but it is undeniable that it reflect the feeling across most of Ireland (with the notable exception of Loyalist areas in the British colony).
That has been the general case for decades but has grown enormously since the Zionist State’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza. Every week has seen large marches, rallies and smaller pickets in solidarity with Palestine in Irish cities and towns.
The Department of Foreign Affairs’ main office was paint-bombed in red, the company leasing the Israeli Ambassador’s offices was occupied, as was a hotel bought with a loan from an Israeli bank and also Axa Insurance, the Embassy was briefly occupied and is regularly picketed.
MacDonald’s and Starbucks have also been picketed in various areas and supermarkets have seen regular protests over their sale of goods from the Zionist State. Drivers regularly beep their horns in support as they pass Palestinian solidarity demonstrations.
THE PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES SUPPORTING THE CALL
The number and pitch of the protests and the numbers involved have definitely pushed some of the parties forward in parliamentary action, in particular Sinn Féin, widely expected to form the next Irish government coalition (though with whom remains to be seen).
Though the party was quick to ride the earlier anti-Russian publicity and call for the Russian Ambassador’s expulsion, it initially balked at doing the same with regard to the Israel one; however it had to support the call in answer to popular opinion and no doubt within its own membership.
The position of the Social Democrats on the question has been surprisingly strong and it was their leader who moved the Ambassador expulsion motion in Leinster House.2 The Labour Party3 has not been generally vocal on the issue though supported the expulsion call.
People Before Profit4 has always had a strong pro-Palestine stand but one of its leading members and TDs5 also attacked the Palestinian incursion on October 7th. Later the party developed the slogan for demonstrations that “In the face of occupation, resistance is an obligation!”
The South African case of genocide against the Israeli State seems to be gaining some support but few governments have so far joined it, despite the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and others advocating its support. The EU itself has hardly blinked in its support for the Israeli State.
THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
The ICJ is an organ of the United Nations and, like the International Criminal Court, with which it is often confused, is based in the Hague, Netherlands. There have been criticisms of its effectiveness and its likelihood of bias according to the state origin of each Judge.
At this moment, the main benefit of the legal charge against is the Zionist state is of public opinion against its genocidal bombing but the ICJ can also impose interim restrictions. Whether the Israeli State will obey those or indeed accept an eventual ruling against it is another matter entirely.
The Israeli state’s founding philosophy of Zionism is a genocidal one as is also its very nature of a white European settler occupation of a land already occupied by indigenous populations. It is difficult to imagine how it can tolerate condemnation of its very essence.
Nevertheless, for the moment the case and increased support for it has publicity value. However, the solidarity movement cannot afford to relax on iota and in fact needs to up the pressure on the Zionist entity and all its supporters, be they states or corporations.
End.
Footnotes
1TD = Teachta Dála, elected Parliamentary representative.
2Her speech to the rally outside Leinster House the evening of the debate was more militant than Sinn Féin’s representative.
3The party, though founded by militant syndicalist Jim Larkin and revolutionary James Connolly, has been in coalition government a few times, mostly with the right-wing Fine Gael and was noted for attacks on the working class, despite its trade union support base.
4Like its namesake in Britain, it is mainly a version of the Irish iteration of the Socialist Workers’ Party, founded in the UK.
5Richard Boyd Barrett.
Reference
Criticism of ICJ: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jul/13/law.features11
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