Israel-Palestine Conflict: Ireland lights the fire.Will it catch on?

In a historic move, the Irish parliament has passed a motion that condemns Israel's "de facto annexation" of Palestinian territories, after the recent bombardment of Gaza by Israel. Ireland has become the first EU member state to pass such a motion.

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney during the debate said, "we need to be honest with what is happening on the ground and call it out." John Brady, foreign affairs spokesman of Sinn Féin—the party that tabled the motion—asserted, "we are boldly stating that Israel is acting illegally under international law". Sinn Fein's leader Mary Lou MacDonald tweeted, the motion "must mark new assertive, consistent confrontation of Israeli crimes against Palestine".

An EU member state officially recognising the "de facto annexation" of Palestinian lands by Israel is a significant development for Palestinians who have endured Israeli aggression and suppression for decades now. Especially since the 1967 annexation of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, along with Sinai (Sinai was later returned to Egypt and the US under the Trump administration has recognised Golan Heights as Israeli territory), the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are living under increasingly insecure conditions.

Over the decades, Palestinian families have been evicted by Israel in the occupied territories and replaced with Israeli settlers. In recent years, especially with the Trump administration in the US, the Israeli settlements have expanded exponentially. According to a CGTN report, "In the first two years of Trump's presidency, Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem grew 60 percent compared to the two years before Trump was elected, the watchdog group Peace Now has found after battling for the data from the city… At least 112 Palestinian housing units were demolished in the first seven months of 2019, the most in any since at least 2004, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem reported."

The recent escalation between Israel and Hamas was sparked after the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. Israeli courts earlier ordered the eviction of 13 Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where they had been living for generations. This triggered protests from the families living in the neighbourhood, which the Israeli forces then tried to quell through violent means. Some media reports also suggest that radical Israeli groups joined the Israeli forces in suppressing Palestinian protestors.

At one point, these protests spiralled out of control and spread to the compound of the al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan. Later, the mosque was raided by Israeli forces who used rubber-coated steel rounds, stun grenades and tear gas among other mechanisms to attack protestors and worshippers alike. Hundreds were injured and many were arrested during multiple raids.

When Hamas fired rockets in retaliation, Israel got the chance to attack Gaza in the guise of self-defence. Thus began Israel's Operation Guardian of the Walls that claimed the lives of 248 Palestinians, including 66 children. On the Israeli side 12 were killed, including two children.

Even when Gaza was being bombarded by Israel, communal tensions increased in many parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and more than 25 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank alone by Israeli forces.

In a report titled "Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories 2020", Amnesty International wrote, "Israel continued to impose institutionalised discrimination against Palestinians living under its rule in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). It displaced hundreds of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as a result of home demolitions and imposition of other coercive measures… Israeli forces killed 31 Palestinians, including nine children, in the OPT; many were unlawfully killed while posing no imminent threat to life."

"The Israeli authorities arbitrarily detained in Israel thousands of Palestinians from the OPT, holding hundreds in administrative detention without charge or trial. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, including children, were committed with impunity. The authorities used a range of measures to target human rights defenders, journalists and others who criticised Israel's continuing occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights", the report further added.

Occupying another state's land is in itself a crime. Evicting people from their homes in those illegally occupied territories, killing adults and children alike, and refusing their right to self-determination amount to gross violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and apartheid.

While most world leaders conveniently turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed by Israel against the Palestinians, Ireland has chosen to rise above the mundane protocol of "expressing concern" and has decided to take a formal stance against what is wrong.

Ireland's motion acknowledging and condemning the illegal actions of Israel might not alleviate the sufferings of the ill-fated Palestinians but it has sent a clear message across the world: what Israel is doing is illegal, and world powers must act to stop it. At a time when many Arab nations, including the Emiratis and the Bahrainis, have normalised ties with Israel, Ireland's recognition of Israel's illegal annexation should set an example for the rest.

Bangladesh recently dropped the phrase "all countries except Israel" from its passports, saying this has been done to "maintain global standards", adding this "does not mean that there has been a change in Bangladesh's position" with regard to Israel.

Unfortunately, this has sent a very wrong signal to Israel, whose Deputy Director General at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gilad Cohen, tweeted, "Great news! #Bangladesh has removed the travel ban to Israel. This is a welcome step & I call on the Bangladeshi government to move forward and establish diplomatic ties with #Israel so both our peoples could benefit & prosper," in reaction to Bangladesh's decision.

Bangladesh—a nation that has had to snatch its own freedom from occupying forces with the blood of millions of its citizens—should have given more thought to the consequences of its actions. The Father of the Nation himself had advocated a pro-Palestine foreign policy, and this was adhered to for just reasons by all the successive regimes in the country. Bangladesh—a staunch supporter of Palestinians' right to self-determination—deviating from its five decade-long Middle East policy would only endorse Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Israel's belligerent abuses of the human rights of the people of Palestine, its war crimes against them, and its actions that reek of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, are not hidden from the world. Israel does this in broad daylight. Even the UN, from time to time, condemns the actions of Israel, but thanks to the support of its allies, it has never been held accountable for its actions. And given the way the US is cajoling the Arab countries to "normalise" ties with Israel, it seems justice for the Palestinians is still a far-fetched dream.

But even amidst the gloom, the stance of Ireland gives hope to humanity, hope that someday the Palestinians will have enough moral support to drive home their right to self-determination. No people or nation should have to endure being dispossessed, displaced from their own lands, and forced to live a life robbed of basic dignity and security.

Let Ireland's actions—despite its limitations—be a signal fire for other nations.

Tasneem Tayeb is a columnist for The Daily Star.

Her Twitter handle is: @tasneem_tayeb