Will Ireland Use its Security Council Seat to Challenge ‘Israel’?

THIS ISSUE: PALESTINE ○ Palestine Studies at SOAS ○ Consequences of decline  ○ Reinforcing the structures of occupation ○

DALE SPRUSANSKY

Street art in Belfast, Northern Ireland draws a connection between the Irish and Palestinian struggles. Photo taken on July 30, 2014. (BRIAN LAWLESS/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES)1111111111

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May 2021, pp. 57-58

Waging Peace

On Jan. 1, Ireland began its two-year term as a member of the United Nations’ Security Council. Upon being selected to occupy one of the 10 non-permanent seats, the country said three principles would guide its time on the council: building peace, strengthening conflict prevention and ensuring accountability.

Comhlámh, a Dublin-based social justice organization, held a webinar on Feb. 3 to assess if and how Ireland will apply these principles to the Israel-Palestine issue.

Richard Falk, the former U.N. Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine, said Ireland should focus on holding Israel accountable for its “flagrant, continuing defiance of U.N. authority on the [illegal West Bank] settlements.”

Dublin ought to also raise the controversial apartheid issue, Falk said. “Ireland, by its experience, it has a credibility, probably greater than any other country except South Africa, to raise the issue of both settler colonialism and apartheid in the context of the ordeal endured by the Palestinian people for so long now,” he said.

Abeer al-Mashni, a social safeguards specialist at the World Bank’s office in Jerusalem, said Ireland should forgo promoting the failed, decades-old “peace-process.” The international community, she urged, needs to realize such an outcome has become a fantasy in light of the de facto one-state reality on the ground. “If Ireland would like to really take a step on this issue, they need to speak in the name of reality,” she said.

Eamonn Meehan, the former director of Trócaire, an Irish organization dedicated to tackling poverty and injustice around the world, sees no reason to believe the Irish government will use its Security Council post to push a radical new approach on Israel-Palestine. It’s “highly unlikely that Ireland will put itself out there in that place of danger, that position of being honest,” he said. “Frankly, I haven’t seen any evidence that they will do that.”

Indeed, the issue of Israel-Palestine was not included in a fairly lengthy list of topics Dublin said it would prioritize on the council.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney did condemn settlements, express support for two states and condemn settler violence in his first Security Council speech. However, Meehan believes that such statements do “very little to take Ireland beyond anything that it has said over the last ten years, or indeed that the European Union has said.”

Recycling valid, but ultimately “platitudinous” talking points does very little to advance a just resolution to Palestinian suffering, Meehan argued. The international community can no longer just condemn settlements and de jure annexation, he emphasized. “There needs to be a complete change of the narrative, and Ireland could lead on this.”

If Ireland is serious about actualizing its “very strong commitment” to the Palestinian people, Meehan said it needs to be bold, push buttons and be willing to “put itself out there into a place of potential danger and criticism in support of Palestine.”

Meehan is keenly aware that any sharply worded resolution condemning Israel put forth by Ireland would almost certainly be quickly shot down by permanent Security Council members, most notably the United States. “But what’s the point in being there if we don’t try that?” he asked. “If you’re not speaking the truth, you share the guilt.”

Even if it’s dead on arrival, Meehan believes Ireland could help move the international discussion forward by introducing a resolution that clearly describes the reality of apartheid in Israel-Palestine. He also thinks Dublin should create an opportunity for Palestinian civil society organizations to address the Security Council about the realities they face on the ground.

Ultimately, Meehan thinks Dublin will not be willing to ruffle any feathers with the U.S., which has long shielded Israel from criticism at the U.N. “No Irish government is going to do or say anything in the public sphere without somebody at the minister’s shoulder whispering in his ear, ‘What will the U.S. think of this?’” Meehan also noted that many of Ireland’s closest allies on Capitol Hill are strong supporters of Israel. “There is a very strong pro-Israel lobby within the Irish Caucus in Washington,” he pointed out.

Falk urged the people of Ireland to pressure their government to speak clearly and honestly about Israel’s violations of international law. “It’s up to Irish civil society to make the government uncomfortable if it doesn’t make that case,” he said. “It’s not only the government that’s challenged by this election to the Security Council, it’s also the people of Ireland—do they care enough to make this issue a priority?”

Dale Sprusansky

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