Left parties in Ireland slammed the ruling coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Greens for their abetting war crimes committed by Israel in the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. On November 15, ruling bloc parties in the Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament, voted down proposals by the Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats, calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador in Ireland.
One motion called for imposing economic sanctions on the apartheid state of Israel and to refer the Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Another motion was also voted down which called for the Irish government to use its influence in Brussels to seek a suspension of the EU-Israel trade deal, invoking a human rights clause in the agreement, and suspend Israel from participation in the Horizon Europe research funding initiative.
Left-wing, Republican groups in Ireland including Sinn Féin, Workers Party of Ireland, People Before Profit, Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), Connolly Youth Movement (CYM), Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), and Trade Union Left Forum, among other have been calling for the expulsion of the Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, protesting the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Major Palestine solidarity mobilizations have also been organized in multiple cities, including Dublin, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands.
Read: The roar of a US warplane over a civilian Irish airport
On November 12, peace activists and anti-imperialist groups led by Shannonwatch assembled at the Shannon Airport denouncing the long-running use of the civilian airport by imperialist powers of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Activists read out a list of names of children who have been killed in Gaza since October 7, as well as lists of children killed in Israel and other conflicts in West Asia.
Activists have also denounced the increased transit of the US military through Belfast International Airport. Earlier on November 6, protesters occupied the Department of Transport offices in Dublin, calling on transport minister Eamon Ryan and workers in the department to stand with the Palestinian people by halting any transportation of weapons bound for Israel through Shannon Airport.
Chris Andrews, a Sinn Féin MP, stated in the Dáil “We are witnessing genocide in Gaza. There has to be a cost to Israel. Ireland must step up and refer Israel to the International Criminal Court. The double standards are sickening. There was no problem referring Russia to the ICC.”
The ongoing bombardment of Gaza by Israel has already killed more than 11,300 people and has displaced 1.5 million people.
