Last update - 19:47 27/02/2007
By The Associated Press
A group of Irish Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday called into question Ireland's commercial ties with Israel, saying Israel has made the Gaza Strip "little more than a large prison" for Palestinians.
"Where there is evidence of systematic abuse of human rights on a large scale, as in the Occupied Territories, there are questions that must be asked concerning the appropriateness of maintaining close business, cultural and commercial links with Israel," said auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Raymond Field.
There is a long history of support for Palestinians in Ireland, particularly among nationalist parties such as Sinn Fein, which equate their own fight to end British rule in Ireland with the desire by Palestinians for their own state.
Field, chairman of the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA), which advises Ireland's top Catholic clerics on social issues, described travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as an "injustice."
"We are calling for an end to restrictions on family reunification, and an end to humiliating treatment of people at checkpoints," Field said in an ICJSA statement ahead of a meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern.
Field said restrictions, which Israel says protect it against Palestinian attacks, also make it difficult for Christians to worship at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
"In effect, the communities of Bethlehem and East Jerusalem are forced to live divided by a 25 foot wall," said Field.
"We also intend to raise with Minister Ahern the intolerable situation that is the daily lot of the Palestinians who live in Gaza," Field said.
The ICJSA's statement also questioned the way in which the European Union handled its dealings with Israel.
"While we welcome cooperation between the EU and its neighbouring countries, nevertheless such cooperation should not be at the expense of a large segment of the indigenous population - in this case the Palestinians."
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Probe: Belfast Police Covered Up Killings
Monday January 22, 2007 11:31 AM
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
Associated Press Writer
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - Police intelligence officers covered up at least 10 killings and other crimes committed by Protestant outlaws who were on the payroll as informants, an investigation found Monday.
Following a 3-year probe, Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan concluded that former officers in the Special Branch paid informants in the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force who were permitted to pursue killings, bombings, drug dealing and extortion.
Her report called for police to reopen dozens of cases from the 1990s and investigate ex-officers involved in cover-ups of their informants' crimes.
The commander of the predominantly Protestant police force, Chief Constable Hugh Orde, said he accepted O'Loan's conclusions and recommendations in full. In the report, both he and O'Loan noted that the police force's intelligence-gathering arm had been overhauled since 2003.
Britain's secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, said the report illuminated ``a very dark corner of behavior by a limited number of Special Branch officers in the 1990s.'' He said both UVF veterans and former police officers should stand trial.
O'Loan, a Catholic who has the power to investigate complaints against Northern Ireland's police, started her investigation with the 1997 killing by that UVF unit of a 22-year-old Protestant man, Raymond McCord Jr., who had been a member of the paramilitary group.
The victim's father, Raymond McCord, said he had evidence that the UVF unit's commander at the time, Mark Haddock, was protected by police because he was on the Special Branch payroll providing tip-offs on UVF activities.
McCord said he turned to O'Loan after senior police officers dismissed him as ``some sort of crank.''
The published report did not identify by name any of the retired Special Branch officers involved in collusion. A secret version of the report that includes these names was delivered Friday to Orde, Hain and a handful of other British officials.
One of the former detectives questioned by O'Loan's investigators, Johnston Brown, said many rank-and-file detectives were prevented from doing their jobs by a Special Branch elite that hoarded information.
Brown, who was a detective in the police's Criminal Investigations Division, said Special Branch colleagues repeatedly stymied his efforts to solve crimes involving members of the UVF and another outlawed Protestant group, the Ulster Defense Association.
In a statement, a group of former Special Branch officers rejected the reported findings. The ex-officers said they ``always acted in the best pursuit of justice and had nothing to be ashamed of.''
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Irish Jews and Zionism
Related
Traditional Jews still oppose Zionist state
---
Wednesday, 13 December 2006
The Irish Times
Abstract:
Madam, - Last Friday, I landed in Dublin a few hours after my article appeared in The Irish Times("Traditional Jews Still Oppose Zionist State", December 8th). The following morning, as usual for an observant Jew, I walked to the nearest synagogue to celebrate the Sabbath and to say publicly a thanksgiving blessing that is recited after crossing the ocean.
However, when I attempted to do so, two synagogue officials blocked my way to the bimah (platform from which the Torah is read and public blessings are recited) and prevented me from reciting the benediction. Visibly angry, they whispered: "You will not be allowed to say blessings here". When utterly surprised I inquired why, I was told "You know why". Apparently, they deem hostile and illegitimate even writing about the history of Jewish opposition to Zionism. Mindful of the serenity of the Sabbath, I preferred to leave rather than to provoke tension.
All over the world, from Cochin in India to San Francisco in California where I have spent the Sabbath in my frequent travels, fellow Jews have invited me to say this blessing of gratitude, to share meals, have offered help and hospitality. Welcoming guests is an important commandment in Judaism and an honoured part of Jewish life. The only explanation of the anomaly I encountered in Dublin comes from the observation made by a reviewer of my recent book, A Threat from Within: a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Zed Books, 2006), who expressed his hope that it "will force many Jews to come to terms with the contradictions between the religion they profess to believe in and the ideology that has in fact taken hold of them". Apparently, some Dublin Jews are yet to come to terms with these contradictions.
Since Zionism seems to have eclipsed their Judaism, it would be logical to expect some of them to attend my public lectures in Dublin and to contribute their views to the discussion of the relationship between Zionism and Judaism. To my regret, this did not happen.
My article in The Irish Times quotes the Israeli philosopher, Joseph Agassi, of Tel-Aviv University, who argues that "to recognize the legitimacy of religious anti-Zionism is crucial for an honest debate about Israel and Zionism - which remains stifled since the Zionists, both Jewish and Christian, deny all legitimacy to anti-Zionism." Dublin Zionists also prefer honest debate to remain stifled.
Conversely, in Israel such debate is more open. It so happened that last week two major Israeli newspapers, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, gave prominent place to my book on Jewish opposition to Zionism and conducted public debate in English about its topic. This openness should inspire those who seek to support Israel from beyond its borders. Otherwise they risk appearing hopelessly irrelevant by becoming "more Catholic than the Pope". - Yours, etc,
YAKOV M RABKIN,
Professor of History,
University of Montreal.
Traditional Jews still oppose Zionist state
---
Wednesday, 13 December 2006
The Irish Times
Abstract:
Madam, - Last Friday, I landed in Dublin a few hours after my article appeared in The Irish Times("Traditional Jews Still Oppose Zionist State", December 8th). The following morning, as usual for an observant Jew, I walked to the nearest synagogue to celebrate the Sabbath and to say publicly a thanksgiving blessing that is recited after crossing the ocean.
However, when I attempted to do so, two synagogue officials blocked my way to the bimah (platform from which the Torah is read and public blessings are recited) and prevented me from reciting the benediction. Visibly angry, they whispered: "You will not be allowed to say blessings here". When utterly surprised I inquired why, I was told "You know why". Apparently, they deem hostile and illegitimate even writing about the history of Jewish opposition to Zionism. Mindful of the serenity of the Sabbath, I preferred to leave rather than to provoke tension.
All over the world, from Cochin in India to San Francisco in California where I have spent the Sabbath in my frequent travels, fellow Jews have invited me to say this blessing of gratitude, to share meals, have offered help and hospitality. Welcoming guests is an important commandment in Judaism and an honoured part of Jewish life. The only explanation of the anomaly I encountered in Dublin comes from the observation made by a reviewer of my recent book, A Threat from Within: a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Zed Books, 2006), who expressed his hope that it "will force many Jews to come to terms with the contradictions between the religion they profess to believe in and the ideology that has in fact taken hold of them". Apparently, some Dublin Jews are yet to come to terms with these contradictions.
Since Zionism seems to have eclipsed their Judaism, it would be logical to expect some of them to attend my public lectures in Dublin and to contribute their views to the discussion of the relationship between Zionism and Judaism. To my regret, this did not happen.
My article in The Irish Times quotes the Israeli philosopher, Joseph Agassi, of Tel-Aviv University, who argues that "to recognize the legitimacy of religious anti-Zionism is crucial for an honest debate about Israel and Zionism - which remains stifled since the Zionists, both Jewish and Christian, deny all legitimacy to anti-Zionism." Dublin Zionists also prefer honest debate to remain stifled.
Conversely, in Israel such debate is more open. It so happened that last week two major Israeli newspapers, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, gave prominent place to my book on Jewish opposition to Zionism and conducted public debate in English about its topic. This openness should inspire those who seek to support Israel from beyond its borders. Otherwise they risk appearing hopelessly irrelevant by becoming "more Catholic than the Pope". - Yours, etc,
YAKOV M RABKIN,
Professor of History,
University of Montreal.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Significant Victory on Boycott Front in Ireland
Sean Clinton, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, 26 November 2006
An international peace activist argues with an Israeli soldier during a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village of Bil'in west of Ramallah, November 24, 2006. (MaanImages/Fadi Arouri)
On Saturday 25th November the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) mounted a successful picket outside the entrance to the Limerick branch of the Atlantic Homecare chain store in Ireland. After refusing to move the picket when approached by security guards the protestors eventually agreed to call off their action after the store manger removed from sale all of the Israeli manufactured Keter Plastic products in the store. Within two hours of the commencing the action IPSC members witnessed pallet loads of the Israel made plastic storage boxes, wheelbarrows and garden sheds being taken off the sales floor. Some assembled garden sheds which were too large to shift right away had sales notices removed and replaced with Out Of Stock stickers. The store manager indicated that the items would remain off sale until management had an opportunity to discuss the matter further with the IPSC.
This latest success is part of the IPSC's campaign calling for a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the pariah Israeli state. It follows the publication last August of a letter by 61 Irish academics calling for a moratorium on EU aid to Israeli universities, until Israel abides by international law and basic human rights norms. In the run up the Christmas shopping spree the IPSC is stepping up its BDS campaign to increase public awareness about the sale of Israeli manufactured good in some Irish shops.
Sean Clinton is a member of the National Executive of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and is Coordinator of the Limerick Branch of the IPSC.
Related Links
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)
BY TOPIC: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6115.shtml
An international peace activist argues with an Israeli soldier during a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village of Bil'in west of Ramallah, November 24, 2006. (MaanImages/Fadi Arouri)
On Saturday 25th November the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) mounted a successful picket outside the entrance to the Limerick branch of the Atlantic Homecare chain store in Ireland. After refusing to move the picket when approached by security guards the protestors eventually agreed to call off their action after the store manger removed from sale all of the Israeli manufactured Keter Plastic products in the store. Within two hours of the commencing the action IPSC members witnessed pallet loads of the Israel made plastic storage boxes, wheelbarrows and garden sheds being taken off the sales floor. Some assembled garden sheds which were too large to shift right away had sales notices removed and replaced with Out Of Stock stickers. The store manager indicated that the items would remain off sale until management had an opportunity to discuss the matter further with the IPSC.
This latest success is part of the IPSC's campaign calling for a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the pariah Israeli state. It follows the publication last August of a letter by 61 Irish academics calling for a moratorium on EU aid to Israeli universities, until Israel abides by international law and basic human rights norms. In the run up the Christmas shopping spree the IPSC is stepping up its BDS campaign to increase public awareness about the sale of Israeli manufactured good in some Irish shops.
Sean Clinton is a member of the National Executive of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and is Coordinator of the Limerick Branch of the IPSC.
Related Links
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)
BY TOPIC: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6115.shtml
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