Take Urgent Action: Dáil to vote on Palestinian Statehood on WED
On Wednesday evening the Dáil will vote on a Private Members’ motion on the recognition of the State of Palestine, submitted by Sinn Féin. The full text of the motion can be found here.
If you support a two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel region, we ask you to please contact your local TDs (TDs from the government parties are especially important) and let them know that you expect them to vote in favour of this motion. You might also like to inform TDs that you believe that should this motion pass, it should in no way prejudice the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the Right of Return for the millions of Palestinian refugees, who form the majority of the Palestinian people.
Below is a suggested letter you can send, although it is always better to send your own composition – and you can easily contact TDs using the brilliant Contact.ie website here.
MODEL LETTER
Dear Deputy,
I am writing to ask you to support the upcoming Dail motion calling on the Irish government to recognise the State of Palestine, thus joining the 135 countries other countries that have also officially done so to date, most recently Sweden.
For the Irish government to adopt this motion would be an important expression of support for Palestinian statehood, freedom and peace in the region.
International recognition of the State of Palestine is an important gesture that will increase diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its occupation, its ongoing colonistaion of Palestinian land, and the apartheid system it operates against the Palestinian people.
However, while actions such as recognition of the State of Palestine are important and welcome, they are not a substitute for concrete and meaningful action by states, civil society and individuals.
In urging your support for this motion, I also urge the Irish government to go further than simply recognising the Palestinian right to self-determination (which is a right of Palestinians wherever in the world they live), and ask that it impose political and economic sanctions on Israel until it ends its occupation of Palestine and abides fully by its obligations under international law, thus allowing a truly independent and free Palestine to exist.
Furthermore, in voting for this motion, I would ask you to recognise that if passed, this motion does not and can not in any way invalidate any of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – including the Right of Return for the millions of Palestinian refugees, the majority of the Palestinian people.
Yours Sincerely,