IPSC expresses anger over Irish Government’s shameful refusal to support Settlements Divestment Bill
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign this evening expressed anger and frustration that the Irish government earlier refused to support the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill, introduced into the Dáil by John Brady TD. Instead, the government will tomorrow vote to amend the Bill to delay any further discussion for nine months.
The Bill seeks to prevent the Irish Strategic Investment Fund from investing in companies that appear on the ‘UN Database of Companies Operating in Illegal Israeli Settlements’, of which the fund currently has shares in nine such entities, including four Israeli banks that finance the building of settlements.
Zoë Lawlor, IPSC Chairperson stated: “The government’s decision is, frankly, shameful. How long must Palestinians wait for even the slightest smidgen of accountability for those who profit from their suffering?”
Ms Lawlor continued: “The government’s threadbare excuses this evening are an insult to Irish taxpayers whose money is helping the commission of war crimes, an insult to the UN Human Rights Council and to those who painstakingly prepared the UN Database. But above all, this is yet another insult to the Palestinian people on the 75th Anniversary of the Nakba.”
Ms Lawlor concluded: “If the government truly believes that the Irish state should operate an ethical investment policy for taxpayers’ money, then it should remove its opposition to the Bill and tomorrow allow it to proceed to committee stage, where any genuine wrinkles in the text can be ironed out – not kick it down the line for nine months.”