South Dublin County Council has passed a motion that would make the area an “apartheid-free zone” and boycott all Israeli goods.
The motion, proposed by People Before Profit councillor Jess Spear, was agreed at this month’s meeting of South Dublin County Council.
“Israel continues to pass red line after red line, words of condemnation are not enough, we need to see action,” she told the meeting.
“A boycott of Israeli goods by a small county council in a small country is a small act, but nonetheless it is what we can do, so we must do.”
A similar motion by Fingal County Council was passed over the summer which saw the council announce a boycott of HP goods owing to their involvement with the Israeli military, but both councils were told that such a boycott would be against Irish and European Union procurement laws.
“If action is taken against the council, so be it,” Spear said.
Independent councillor Mick Duff said, “there are times when we need to stand up and make a statement, no matter how much it goes against the tide.”
“We’re a small country, we need to say to America ‘stop – you are funding this war.”
Independent councillor Paddy Holohan said the Dunnes Stores workers who refused to handle South African goods in the 1980s were an example of pressure successfully being applied to a state.
“This is the first time we’ve ever seen a genocide being proclaimed and shown day by day, scene by scene. It revealed governments for what they are,” he said.
Sinn Féin councillor Niamh Whelan said “I remember being in school and learning about The Holocaust and thinking ‘how did people sit back and let this happen? – we’re living it, folks.”
“It’s kind of become normal to watch these videos now,” she said.
“If a small council like us stands up and does it, I guarantee you people will follow suit.”
Labour councillor Joanna Tuffy was opposed to the motion, saying that campaigns against Israel to Jewish people being attacked both in Ireland and aboard.
She said the boycott would cause Israeli citizens in Ireland to “live in fear,” and results in stigmatisation.
“Many of them also oppose the actions of the Israeli state,” she noted.
Tuffy’s Labour colleague Pamela Kearns noted that within Labour “we often have completely different views on things, and we have in this instance.”
“I know we are going to be breaking the law and quite honestly, I’m quite happy to break the law in this instance. Men, women and children are dying morning, noon and night.”
Independent councillor Ronan McMahon said, “we need to see peace, and we need to encourage both sides to stop bombing each other.”
“We also have to consider the Jewish community, a very vibrant community in over the years in Ireland, who are living here still, and how they feel.”
“Living here with the media, society and certain politicians making them feel like outcasts – it’s just not nice.”
McMahon said, “I’m not supporting either side in this war, I just want the war and the killing to stop.”
Fine Gael councillor David McManus said the motion makes him “uneasy,” as it would involve council management to act outside the law.
“It has become the policy of this council, at least in theory, that this is what we believe in.”
“We are elected by the people here; if elected members want to break the law and engage in civil disobedience, that’s their decision. I would be cautious of urging employees of the council and management to engage in that.”
Independent Ireland councillor Linda De Courcy said “there are currently 70 conflicts going on around the world; what is happening in Israel and Palestine is horrendous, but the same things are happening around the world.”
“There are babies being slaughtered all around the world; why are we all just focused on one state?”
“In fairness, they were attacked and they still have hostages that have still not been released,” and called the motion “a virtue-signalling waste of time.”
“I don’t see the point in having these conversations when we can’t do anything about it.”
Referring to the criticism of the motion, Councillor Spear said the criticism was “telling.”
“The awful conflation of Jewish people with Israel is wrong,” she said.
“The comments talking about both sides completely ignores that it’s a violent occupatio that goes back 75 years. I really urge the management to not accept tender from Israeli companies.”
“Think about how you’re going to feel 10, 15, 20 years down the line when everybody’s gonna be against this,” she told the chamber.
Lorna Maxwell of South Dublin County Council noted that Ireland acted alongside the Spanish and Norwegian government in recognising the state of Palestine earlier this year and that the European Union is currently in the process of investigating its trade deal with Israel.
“I fully respect the motion and the intent around it. The debate that has ensured reflects the complexities of the situation and as a council, if this motion was passed, we will do whatever we can within the legal basis to implement it.”
The motion was passed by 17 votes in favour, three against, and five absentations.