Richard Boyd Barrett: Calls for Blanket Sanctions on Israeli Regime
Richard Boyd Barrett accuses the Irish government of staging a cynical exercise over proposed sanctions on Israel, arguing the measures are designed to avoid any real impact. He calls for broad, regime-wide sanctions rather than limited measures that exempt services and protect corporate interests.
Richard Boyd Barrett charges the government with protecting corporations and countries that profit from or arm Israel, while offering token measures that will have no meaningful effect on the occupation of Palestinian territories. He says the current approach excludes services on the false basis of complexity and is therefore deliberately toothless.
Boyd Barrett highlights the scale of trade with Israel and contrasts it with the minimal goods the government’s measures would affect, arguing that the proposed exclusions render the bill ineffective. He warns that the narrow scope - a few settlement products worth a small sum - will not alter the regime’s capacity to continue the occupation.
He proposes a clear alternative: impose sanctions across the board on the Israeli regime, not only on the Occupied Territories. By refusing all business in goods and services with the regime, Boyd Barrett argues Ireland could mirror the logic used for sanctions on Russia, aimed at degrading a regime’s ability to wage occupation and war.
Boyd Barrett concludes that the government’s stance amounts to gaslighting the public about its intentions, and urges a genuine, consistent policy of sanctions if Ireland is serious about opposing occupation and upholding international law.
Key accusation
Richard Boyd Barrett charges the government with protecting corporations and countries that profit from or arm Israel, while offering token measures that will have no meaningful effect on the occupation of Palestinian territories. He says the current approach excludes services on the false basis of complexity and is therefore deliberately toothless.
Trade figures and impact
Boyd Barrett highlights the scale of trade with Israel and contrasts it with the minimal goods the government’s measures would affect, arguing that the proposed exclusions render the bill ineffective. He warns that the narrow scope - a few settlement products worth a small sum - will not alter the regime’s capacity to continue the occupation.
Proposed solution
He proposes a clear alternative: impose sanctions across the board on the Israeli regime, not only on the Occupied Territories. By refusing all business in goods and services with the regime, Boyd Barrett argues Ireland could mirror the logic used for sanctions on Russia, aimed at degrading a regime’s ability to wage occupation and war.
Political consequences
Boyd Barrett concludes that the government’s stance amounts to gaslighting the public about its intentions, and urges a genuine, consistent policy of sanctions if Ireland is serious about opposing occupation and upholding international law.
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Transcript
The government is engaged in the most cynical exercise to try and convey to the public the idea that they want to sanction Israel for its obscene crimes against the Palestinian people while actually making sure that no serious sanction whatsoever is imposed because the Irish government wants to dance to the tune of corporations that profit from their involvement with Israel and from states that continue to arm and support the state of Israel while it's committing its genocidal crimes. That's why you don't want to do anything. So against a background where we have four billion worth of goods coming from the Israeli regime into this country where we end up with a bill that may impact on 200,000 euros worth of vegetables and a few goods from a few settlements in the West Bank which will have no impact whatsoever but that's the point. The government doesn't want to have any impact that's why it's excluded services and it excludes it on the completely sort of dishonest basis that it's too complicated services. Well I give you a solution to dealing with the complexities of services which doesn't involve gutting the Occupied Territories Bill but in fact could make it have a real impact and that is impose sanctions all across the board against the Israeli regime not just on the Occupied Territories but for the entire regime. That will solve the complexity we just don't do business in goods or services or any business whatsoever with the Israeli regime because the state is uh underwriting and orchestrating and enforcing the occupation of the Palestinian territories and I know that when I asked a question about what was the purpose of sanctions against Russia the government gave me the following answer it said it was with the aim of weakening Russia's economic base depriving it of critical technologies and markets and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war. In other words you didn't just sanction the Occupied Territories of Ukraine you sanctioned the Russian regime's ability to sustain its war efforts and that occupation. That's what we should be doing if we're serious about dealing with the occupied uh the illegal occupation of the Occupied Territories is sanctioning the regime that is underwriting that in total. But you won't do that because actually you don't have a problem with the Israeli regime and you're just gaslighting the Irish public about your real intentions.