Letters to the Editor: Irish Government must fulfil its international obligations
![Letters to the Editor: Irish Government must fulfil its international obligations Letters to the Editor: Irish Government must fulfil its international obligations](/cms_media/module_img/7700/3850387_5_articlesmall_ISRAEL_20Gaza_20121462.jpg)
Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike on the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Picture: Leo Correa/AP
Pursuant to those obligations, we call upon the Government to urgently exert its influence to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, and to call on Israel to ensure the urgent and adequate provision of food, fuel, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and the unconditional restoration of water and electricity; the protection of medical facilities; and the facilitation of safe passage for the critically ill and those requiring treatment abroad including, where necessary, the issuance of temporary travel documents for people unable to travel on their own passports. We note with deep unease, the comments of An Taoiseach in an interview on RTÉ Radio 1 with Claire Byrne and his refusal to consider extending the protections of the Temporary Protection Directive to Palestinian nationals (as was done for Ukrainian nationals), particularly in circumstances where citizens of Israel are entitled to travel to Ireland visa-free.
We call on the Government to make every effort to give effect to the Geneva Conventions Act 1962 and to publicly remind all state parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions of their obligation to exercise universal jurisdiction over serious war crimes.
We call on the Government to use its best endeavours to secure the urgent return of the hostages from Gaza, as well as the 2,070 Palestinians now interned without charge or trial by Israel.
We call on the Government to clearly state its support for the investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court into the situation in Palestine and provide financial and other relevant support in this respect, as it has done with regard to the situation in Ukraine.
While the State of Palestine has already made a referral to the International Criminal Court, Ireland should consider whether a multi-state referral (as in the situation in Ukraine) could strengthen the efforts for accountability in the face of potential international crimes.
In the midst of the heartbreaking indiscriminate killing of the Palestinian people of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces, the decision of the UK Supreme Court in rejecting the UK government’s ‘cash for people’ Rwandan proposal reasserts the universal moral value of human solidarity, and gives the rest of the world faith that the principles of justice are still alive.
The catastrophic situation in Gaza cannot be allowed to continue, as it has since 1948.
The UN General Assembly must act now, as it is entitled and obliged to, by utilising its powers under a procedure known as the ‘uniting for peace resolution’.
This process has been used successfully in the past including in 1956 to establish UNEF 1 in the Sinai Desert when British and French vetoes prevented the UN Security Council from acting. A substantial UN peacekeeping mission is needed immediately in Gaza to end the killing.
Israel must not be allowed to take physical control of or to annex Gaza, as it has done with substantial parts of the Syrian Golan Heights and the Palestinian West Bank.
The UN General Assembly must authorise a UN mission to fully take over the administration of Gaza. There are successful precedents for such UN administrations, including the UNTAES mission in East Slavonia in Croatia in 1996, and the UNTAET in East Timor in 1999 where the UN became the temporary government of these regions.
The clocks should stay at summer time all the year round for the sake of people’s mental health; it would result in a much healthier and happier nation.
Why not have a referendum and let the people have their say?
As regards England, they could do the same there and give their people a say.
This would also take an awful lot of pressure off the health service.
Democracy should allow people to voice their opinions.