The Irish authorities has been criticised by Richard Boyd Barrett MP for what he described as its “double requirements” when coping with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in contrast with Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“It took 5 days for sanctions in opposition to Putin and his thugs however imposing sanctions for 70 years of oppression of the Palestinians would ‘not be useful’,” said the left-wing lawmaker from the Folks Earlier than Revenue Occasion. “You are glad to appropriately use essentially the most robust and strong language to explain the crimes in opposition to humanity of Vladimir Putin however you’ll not use the identical power of language in the case of describing Israel’s therapy of the Palestinians.”
The MP listed Israeli violations in opposition to Palestinian rights, together with assaults on Gaza and the annexation of land. “You do not need to even use the phrase apartheid, by no means thoughts sanctions,” he instructed parliament.
Boyd Barrett reminded his fellow MPs that Amnesty Worldwide has known as for Israel to be referred to the Worldwide Felony Court docket for crimes in opposition to humanity, together with apartheid. “[Amnesty and Human Rights Watch] are calling for focused sanctions in opposition to Israeli officers perpetuating the system of apartheid, precisely the identical forms of sanctions you’ve got simply initiated in opposition to Vladimir Putin.”
READ: Syria opposition slams West’s “double standards” over response to Ukraine war
