ICTU condemns the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza and calls for urgent Irish Government action

24 Jan 2008


As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions condemns the Israeli Government's continued illegal siege of Gaza and calls on the Irish Government to urgently intervene.

The Israeli siege has resulted 1.5 million people being denied food, fuel, electricity, essential medical care and freedom of movement.

The past week has seen the most severe phase of the Israeli siege of Gaza since 1967. Within the past 24 hours the people of Gaza have breached the siege wall surrounding their city and are pouring into Egypt in tens of thousands, in search of fuel, supplies, medical treatment and their thousands of family members who have been trapped on the Egyptian side.

Israeli army incursions into Gaza in the past week alone have resulted in the deaths of 27 Palestinians, including a child, two brothers and an elderly man and have wounded 51 others.

Patricia McKeown, President of ICTU stated

"Israel's collective punishment of the people of Gaza is a clear breach of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is, in effect, a war crime and Israel must be held to account. It is not sufficient for the EU and the UN to express 'concern'. The International Community must take firm and immediate action.

The ICTU has adopted a strong policy in support of the Palestinian People. In our recent visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza we witnessed at first hand the fundamental denial of the human rights of the Palestinian People. We have a responsibility to bear witness and to demand international action.

We made approaches to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The people of Gaza cannot wait.

  • We call today for an appropriate and effective response from the Irish Government under its international obligations.
  • We are also calling for the international trade union movement, through the ETUC and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to follow our lead in speaking out in support of the Palestinian People.
  • We call on the international human rights community to speak out to support both the Palestinian and Israeli Human Rights organizations who are challenging the fundamental denial of Palestinian human rights."

ends

Note to Editors:

  1. Fuller details of the current position are available on the website of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, an internationally honored organization based in Gaza which documents human rights violations by all parties. www.pchrgaza.ps
  2. The Director of UNRWA, the UN Relief programme in Gaza, is Irishman John Ging. He has spoken internationally about the level of the crisis. Contact information on www.un.org/unrwa