Current Occupied Territories Bill “not nearly enough” say Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The current Occupied Territories Bill (OTB), which has excluded services from the trade ban between Ireland and the occupied Palestinian territories, has faced backlash from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and other rights groups.

On Tuesday, Opposition parties vowed to "amend" the legislation to make it "stronger" as it makes its way through the Oireachtas, with the Government planning to have it enacted before the summer.

The Opposition wants to amend the OTB to expand the proposed ban on trade with illegal settlements to explicitly include services as well as goods.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that extending the scope of the Occupied Territories Bill to include services is "not implementable".

“The government is set to pass their version of the Occupied Territories Bill, but excluding services which comprise the majority of our trade with Israel's illegal settlements," a social media post from IPSC reads.

“They have been pushed to this by the solidarity movement but it is not nearly enough. It is our legal obligation to act to prevent genocide, to not assist in the illegal occupation and to end complicity in the apartheid state's genocide of the Palestinian people.

“The OTB is the bare minimum to uphold international law, we demand it include services. Then we demand full sanctions on Israel".

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) have also urged the Government to ensure that the proposed OTB includes both goods and services.

"The International Court of Justice has made clear that states must avoid economic or trade dealings that support or entrench Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick. "That obligation does not distinguish between goods and services, and neither should this legislation.”

“If Ireland is to give real meaning to its commitment to international law and human rights, the Bill must include services as well as goods. This is a moment for courage and principled leadership.”

"The Government have been very clear that we will bring forward legislation to respond to what we believe is totally unacceptable behaviour and an escalation in violence, but also very clearly illegal settlements in the West Bank by the Israeli government," said Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee, when asked if the legislation was strong enough.

“I’ve been very consistent – and I think as a government we’ve been consistent – that we want to bring forward legislation that can be implementable, that we can bring into effect as soon as possible.”

The main difficulties with implementing services lies in making it legally enforceable and compatible with EU trade laws. In simple terms, goods can be stopped at the borders while services such as bookings, legal advice, advertising and insurance are harder to police.

This is why the Government argue that they cannot implement a ban on services. However, critics argue that the exclusion of services weakens the bill as much of the economic activity linked to occupied settlements comes through finance and technology as well as physical trade.

"The advice, which is detailed and extensive, identifies a number of legal and practical issues with the regulation of member state of trade in services with a country or territory outside the EU," said Neale Richmond, a junior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Dáil in February.

"Following detailed consideration by officials in the department, clarification has been sought from the Attorney General on a number of legal issues... Any legislation must be legally robust, able to withstand challenge."