Dublin woman among hundreds appealing for Irish Gov to assist Palestinians

This Saturday, July 4, at 1pm, at the Spire in Dublin, people are being urged to join a protest to assist the Palestinian people whose houses and land are being destroyed by the Israeli military.

There are also protests in Derry and Limerick.

Dublin woman and long-time activist, Betty Purcell, of Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “Since 1948 there has been increasing pressures on Palestinian people, who were forced out of their own homes. Israeli people took over those homes, that was the start of what happened, and since then, there has been increasing encroachment. At the moment the main problems are the building of the illegal settlements, being threatened by military, and being forced to leave. There is a plan is to legitimise and standarise this, with the Israeli and U.S. backed annexation plan of the West Bank area of Palestine, but it is against international law. Israel will go and take over the West Bank, an area delineated by the UN to be part of the Palestinian state for Palestinian people.”

Ms Purcell, who spent time in Beith Sahour and Bethlehem, in 2014, is appealing for the Irish Government to support the Occupied Territories Bill, which essentially bans Ireland trading with illegal settlements. Since 2014, Ms Purcell has been passionate about getting rights for Palestinians.

Ms Purcell said: “What they are basically saying is that Israel is going to take over nearly half of the West Bank.

I was always involved in human rights. In more recent years, my daughter Clara came back from Palestine, she came back, and said to me, “Mum you have got to go out and see what they are doing to Palestinian people.” I went over in 2014, and ever since then I have been involved."

She said: “I saw with my own eyes, with what I would call apartheid.”

Ms Purcell said: “The Palestinians live under separate laws, they have to go through checkpoints, they have no freedom of movement, even those who work in Israel and Jerusalem go through three to four hours of checkpoints, only allowed on Palestinian roads. The best roads are for the Israelis. They have separate registration plates on their cars. If I got a taxi being driven by an Israeli, it would be 20 minutes to get there, though by a Palestinian, it would be a few hours more. If you are sick, the there are separate hospitals, and Palestinians don't get as good hospitals as the Israelis."

She said:"In Gaza, electricity is rationed. They only get electricity for three to four hours per day. The teenagers are constantly being goaded and harassed by the military, it reminded me of the worst of the days in Northern Ireland, they are running a military regime over the Palestinian people totally.”

Ms Purcell spent three weeks in Palestine, and said: “I was working with YMCA, running olive planting and picking, working with Palestinian farmers. It was an intensive immersion, seeing on one side the hospitality and kindness, from Palestinian farmers who gave us lovely lunches, in afternoons and speaking to various interest groups about what was going on.”

She said:”It is so sad, we were made to feel so welcome, people were coming to shake our hands, and saying thank you for being a witness to what is happening here, they need international support. Ireland needs to support the Occupied Territories Bill. It is becoming more of a situation of apartheid, and Senator Frances Black has looked at the law,  they got top international experts on trade, it is legally watertight, it is saying that any products from illegally occupied settlements in the world should not be bought.”

Ms Purcell is calling for the Government to take action in supporting Palestine, by making sure that the Occupied Territories Bill becomes law. She said; “What they can do is that they can immediately bring in the Occupied Territories Bill, and make sure that it is brought into law, and argue that illegal Israeli settlements should not get preferential treatment. Ireland should stop all trade with illegal settlements.”

Ms Purcell said: “We need to pressurise the new Government, which is why we are holding the protests, Ireland should be taking a leadership position in this.”

Ms Purcell said: “What is the point of Ireland being on the security council if it is not going to use it's position to stand up for human rights. Palestinians have been refugees since 1948, people living there under military law, what is the point of having titles, unless we use it to support human rights and equality, we are looking for equal rights for Palestinians, it is apartheid.”

She said: “Where I was staying was in Bethlehem, a lot of people work across the Israeli border, so that means getting up 4am or 5am in the morning, to be at work at 8am. The two sons of the family left the house before 4am in morning, if they got in an Israeli car, they would be there in about 20 minutes, but they have to go through a Palestinian checkpoint, so it takes hours. It is a deliberate humiliation. They queue there for hours on end, and then they arrive and do their days work. It is so horrific, they have people who work in local industry, ceramics and glass, but because so much of the tourism trade is being controlled by Tel Aviv, tourists are told, do not spend any money with Palestinian people, and a lot of them are children.”

She said: “The Palestinians are very big in education, sometimes they get out for education, universities in West Bank, all going on to third level, they are ambitious people, all talking about being doctors and lawyers. People in the West Bank have enough to eat, in Gaza, they don't have enough to eat, the Israeli control all the electricity and water going into the Gaza strip, they stop fishing men from using the area, if they go beyond two miles, they get shot, only allowed two miles, in shallow waters.”

Ms Purcell said: “ This is all their land originally, it has been called an open prison by the UN, the Israelis count the calories of Gaza, to keep them alive but hungry. There are pictures of children in Gaza queuing after school to get water, to bring home for the evening There is the demolition of Palestian houses and burning of Palestinian olive trees, most of them just want to make a living, or travel to Israel and work in industries there, make a living, they didn't want a fight.”

She said: “Not enough Israeli people are opposing the racist policy of the Government. The Israeli people will use Palestinian labour, some of them are living in actual Palestinian homes.”

She says that it would be 'embarrassing' if the Irish does not support Palestine.

She said: “I think that the Irish people have been very supportive of Palestine.

I think that Ireland's reputation as a fair minded country and one that supports human rights is at stake here, we have always had a reputation, we always tried to do what we could, what we could do for freedom and justice, Ireland has to take a stand.”

Ms Purcell said: “The Trump plan allows them to take over another 30% of the West Bank, and to give the people of settlements all the rights of Israeli citizens, what is left of Palestine is 15% of original land of Palestine.”

She said: “On Saturday, the protest is 1pm, at the Spire in O'Connell St, we will be socially distant, we will be spread out along O'Connell St. We will be doing the protests in Derry and Limerick too.

I hope that what it will show is that Irish people  want change, want action, and the Israelis are grabbing more land, and to make even more Palestinians a subject population."

She said: “The number of TDs who are supporting the Frances Black bill shows there is a lot of support, there is no doubt that Irish people care, but it is a question of our political class supporting that. “

She said: “I worked in Central America, El Savador and Nicaragua, a lot of really good people working with poor communities, it made me feel that I wanted to do more. I think that all lives matter and Palestinian lives matter. The whole push is to get rid of the Palestinians out of the territory, the Palestinians did not do anything to them.”

Ms Purcell hopes to see Ireland being in leadership again in the struggle against apartheid.