Dún Laoghaire Rathdown council votes in support of BDS

Councillors on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown council have voted to endorse a motion that supports the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

The BDS movement involves boycotting, divesting, and calling for economic sanctions to be placed on Israel.

The movement has seen a revived interest in recent weeks following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

The motion, proposed by People Before Profit councillor Melisa Halpin and seconded by independent councillor Hugh Lewis and Social Democrats councillor Dave Quinn, aims to pressure Israel into complying with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights.

The outcome of the vote saw 23 councillors in favour of the motion, 11 against, and three abstentions.

In a statement, Halpin said “I am absolutely delighted that Dún Laoghaire County Council has voted to support the international BDS Movement. ”

“The state of Israel is guilty of war crimes, has consistently ignored United Nations motions over decades,  and Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch considers the state to be guilty of apartheid against Palestinians. ”

“Just like South Africa, it deserves to be boycotted and sanctioned.  It was a combination of resistance within South Africa and the international boycott movement that finally brought an end to that rotten, racist state,” she noted.

Halpin drew parallels between the current situation in the Middle East and the boycott of South Afican goods in the 1980s.

“Ireland should be proud of the role that Dunnes Stores strikers played in popularising and raising support for that movement, and we need to do this again. ”

Halpin said that support for Palestine is becoming “unstoppable” and the BDS is part of the movement.

“The councillors from Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party who voted against our motion will, I think, be on the wrong side of history.”

Councillor Lewis said “the decision of the council to fully endorse the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel is a leap forward for Palestinian solidarity and the efforts for viable long-term justice and peace in the region. It is the appropriate political response to a brutal and apartheid regime. We hope the vote will encourage other councils to take similar steps and ultimately pressure our national government to do the right thing and follow suit.”

Social Democrats councillor Dave Quinn said “we do want to take sides – we want to take sides in favour of international law and human rights,” adding “we should go much further than this,” pointing to the Social Democrats’ Dáil motion that looks to remove the diplomatic status of Dana Ehrlich, the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

Green Party councillor Oisin O’Connor said that the motion simply sought formal support for the BDS movement, which the council has the authority to do.

O’Connor’s Green Party colleague Tom Kivlehan was not in favour of the motion, stating that the movement is affiliated with Hamas.

During the debate, Fine Gael’s councillor John Kennedy voiced frustration saying that his motion to honour Charlie Bird, a constituent in his ward in Stillorgan, was being overlooked.

He accused the chair of prioritising discussions on the situation in the Middle East and said that “there is an overemphasis on what is happening in Gaza”.

Labour councillor Lettie McCarthy told the meeting that visited Palestine two years ago, and described the situation as “harrowing, devastating and heartbreaking.”

Justin Moylan of Fianna Fáil said that a ceasefire is required in the region.