Cork councillors want Occupied Territories Bill to be passed without delay

A joint motion from Social Democrats councillors Isobel Towse and Eamonn Horgan calling for the urgent passing of the Occupied Territories Bill passed with full support at last Monday’s Cork County Council meeting.

The motion stressed the importance of the inclusion of a ban on both goods and services from illegal settlements.

Ms Towse and Mr Horgan criticised the years of delay since the bill’s introduction in 2018 and urged the council to write to the Taoiseach and the foreign affairs minister to demand the immediate enactment of the bill.

Ms Towse, a councillor for Skibbereen, West Cork, said: “There is a man-made famine and a genocide going on in Gaza right now. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. We must do more to ensure there are consequences for Israel, or they will not stop, and we will be complicit in the destruction of Palestine.

“If we are unwilling to pass this legislation, to do what we know is right, out of fear of consequences, then our values, laws, and international agreements are not worth the paper they are printed on.

“A ban on services must be included for this bill to truly have an impact on Israel. We cannot allow our response to genocide to be held hostage to the interests of multinational corporations and bullies in the White House.”

Mr Horgan, a councillor for East Cork, said: “When we allow trade from such settlements to enter our markets, we do more than purchase products and services — we legitimise the illegitimate. We turn a blind eye to the bulldozed homes, to the uprooted olive groves, to the walls that divide neighbour from neighbour. We become silent partners in occupation.

“If a ban on services is not included in the bill, a major component of trade with these illegal settlements will continue to flow.

“Ireland risks setting off a domino effect, with every country introducing legislation as weak as ours.”