RAMALLAH, July 12, 2018 (WAFA) – The Ramallah-based Palestinian human rights group, Al-Haq, hailed on Thursday the passing the day before of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, in Ireland’s upper house, Seanad Éireann, saying it shows respect for international law.
The bill, proposed by Senator Frances Black and the Seanad Civil Engagement Group, provides for the banning the import of unlawful settlement goods in Ireland. It was passed in the upper house with 25 voting in favor and 20 against.
“The bill reflects the will of the Palestinian people for third States to intervene to stop trading in goods which have been obtained through force, and the dispossession of the Palestinian people from their lands, maintained through the enforcement of a brutal 70-year continuing Nakba of the Palestinian people and prolonged 51-year military occupation of the Palestinian territory,” said al-Haq in a statement.
It said the bill “ensures that Ireland is in compliance with its international law obligations not to recognize or give effect to Israel’s unlawful settlement enterprise. Furthermore, it ensures that Ireland is respecting and ensuring respect as a third party State to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to prevent and put an end to the destruction of Palestinian property, appropriation of lands, exploitation of natural resources, and the forcible transfer of Palestinians from and transfer of Israeli settlers into unlawfully acquired Palestinian properties and land.”
In 2016, UN Security Council Resolution 2334 called upon all States to “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967” in light of the flagrant violation of international law constituted by Israel’s settlement enterprise.
Unlawful settlement goods are exported directly to international and European markets. The European Union (EU) is Israel’s largest trading partner, accounting for approximately €32 billion per year – including €300 million from goods produced in Israeli settlements illegally located in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Despite overwhelming international opposition to the settlements, virtually no action has been taken to prevent their development. At the EU level, the European Commission (EC) has issued several Notices to Importers and an Interpretative Notice stating that the Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The EC’s Interpretative Notice also stated that goods produced in those settlements are not covered by the EU-Israel Association Agreement of 2000.
Al-Haq said that despite these declarations, illegal settlement goods continue to reach the EU market. Especially troubling is Israel’s export of goods produced in settlements to the EU market, despite these products being outside the scope of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. “The Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 ensures the enforcement of existing EU policy by the least restrictive method necessary to stop settlements from illegally profiting in the EU market,” it said.
“The passing of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 through Ireland’s Seanad, represents a critical first step in differentiating between unlawful settlement products and products originating from Israel. It further gives effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016 and makes Ireland the first State internationally to formally enforce the differentiation requirement.”
Al-Haq urged European States to follow Ireland’s example. “Critically EU Member States have the power to enforce a unilateral ban on settlement goods under the public policy exception of Article 27 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In this vein, recognizing an internationally illegal situation as legal is against public policy, thus a restriction on imports resulting from an illegal situation is permitted,” it said.
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