Latest news with #AlanShatter
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
‘How dare you' – former minister Alan Shatter criticised in committee on Israeli settlements bill
Former justice minister Alan Shatter has been criticised for comparing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements to TV sitcom Father Ted, with one TD asking 'how dare you' use that description.
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Alan Shatter criticised for comparing Occupied Territories Bill to 'Father Ted'
Former justice minister Alan Shatter has been criticised for comparing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements to the TV show 'Father Ted'. Ex-Fine Gael TD Mr Shatter appeared at the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee in his role as a member of the Ireland Israel Alliance, opposing a draft law banning trade with Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands that have been deemed illegal. Mr Shatter repeatedly described it as a "Father Ted" measure and compared it to Jews being targeted during the Second World War. Mr Shatter said the bill was "based on falsehoods" and "abandons all lessons learned in our own peace process". He said a lack of definition around the word 'originated' in the bill "creates a myriad of difficulties". "The bill is the first initiative of any European government to enact legislation to intentionally boycott and discriminate against Jews since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945," he said. Committee member Brian Brennan said that he had met seriously injured and orphaned Gazans as well as "hardened" charities in Cairo at the weekend. "I went and I sat on a bed with a young man who was in the prime of his life and has two months to live because of what's happening in Gaza," the Fine Gael TD for Wexford-Wicklow said. I played football with teenage kids who are orphans because of what's happening in Gaza. I held the hand of a two-year-old child who had bullet wounds because of what's happening in Gaza. "How dare you come in here and make such statements as 'a Father Ted bill'." Responding, Mr Shatter said the bill is "a thing of complete irrelevance" to peace and did not deal "with the lives of people". "What you're doing is trying to ban the importation of a small amount of olives and avocados from the West Bank of East Jerusalem, the total value of which, over five years, came to €685,000." Asked by Fine Gael TD Barry Ward if there is acceptance that settlements were contrary to international law, Natasha Hausdorff, barrister with the Ireland Israel Alliance said that "one cannot occupy what is one's own property". Committee chair John Lahart said the idea that the bill is antisemitic was "hugely hurtful, hugely offensive, slanderous" and he "rejected it in its entirety". You won't find antisemitism here, and you would do this country — which you love, and we all love — a great favour by promulgating that view as widely and as strongly as you possibly can. Mr Shatter responded that this is "the perception the bill internationally creates". Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, called the bill "misguided" and "not a plan for peace". He said that "while this bill may not set out to target Jews or Jewish life, it is a message unmistakably felt by us". He said the "bill may feel good", but "does it do good?" Labour's Duncan Smith said that there was a "fundamental point of divergence" on whether settlements were illegal. Earlier, Tánaiste Simon Harris responded to Mr Shatter's Father Ted reference by saying there was nothing humorous about the killing of children in Gaza. Mr Harris told Newstalk radio that the Irish Government can differentiate between a people and their government, and that the actions of the Israeli government are "despicable". Read More Israeli strikes kill 30 in Gaza, health officials say
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Sharp exchanges follow Alan Shatter's comparison of occupied territories trade ban with 1930s Germany
Former minister for justice Alan Shatter has claimed that the proposed ban on trade with the occupied Palestinian territories is a 'boycott Jews Bill' reminiscent of policies from 1930s Germany . There were appeals for respect at the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee on Tuesday amid terse exchanges between politicians and Mr Shatter, who compared the Bill to something from Father Ted . The proposed legislation, which has become known as the Occupied Territories Bill, would prohibit trade in goods with Israeli companies operating in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Mr Shatter told TDs and Senators that the Irish Government was producing legislation that was 'anti-Semitic'. Could Mary Lou McDonald be about to enter the presidential race? Listen | 41:13 'It is the first boycott Jews Bill published by any European government since 1945. And it replicates the type of legislation that was initiated in 1930s Germany,' said Mr Shatter, who was appearing before the committee in his capacity as a board member of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations . READ MORE Foreign affairs committee chairman John Lahart said it was 'hurtful', 'offensive and slanderous' for it to be suggested that the motivation behind the Bill was anti-Semitism. Mr Shatter also claimed that the legislation, which focused on limited imports of 'olives and avocados', resembled the 'Father Ted-like provisions' of a 1980 family planning law that sought to license the importation of condoms. Mr Shatter was challenged by Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan , who told the committee that he had travelled to Cairo in a personal capacity last weekend and met injured and orphaned Palestinian children. 'I held the hand of a two-year-old child who had bullet holes because of what's happening in Gaza. So when you say to me, and you say to this committee, that is a 'token gesture, this is fantasy politics, this is performance politics', I totally reject [that],' said Mr Brennan. 'How dare you come in here and make such statements? A 'Father Ted Bill'! You speak to the people on the ground that matter, listen to what they've got to say about this Bill ... I just think the humanity coming from yourself, with all due respect, is just simply lax.' [ More than 300 sportspeople sign letter urging Central Bank to change stance on approving Israel bonds Opens in new window ] In terse exchanges, Mr Shatter said: 'I don't think a single visit, deputy, to Egypt is the be-all and end-all to resolving the conflict. And this Bill certainly won't resolve the conflict.' In response to Mr Brennan's remarks, Natasha Hausdorff of the Ireland Israel Alliance said that he had spoken 'very powerfully' about Palestinian suffering. 'But it is important that the cause of that suffering is correctly identified, and that is not as a result of Israel's policy here, that is squarely on the shoulders of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups who continue to abuse and subjugate and terrorise their own civilians,' she said. All of the Israeli and Jewish witnesses appearing before the committee declined to agree that the occupied territories in the West Bank were illegally occupied land. Mr Shatter said he 'does not accept' that the Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank are illegally occupied land. Ms Hausdorff said that 'one cannot occupy what is one's own sovereign territory'. Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said that anti-Semitism would be the result of the Bill. 'I'm not necessarily certain that that is the motivation behind it,' he said. In a separate session shortly afterwards, the same committee heard from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Sadaka - the Ireland Palestine Alliance, who support the Bill. Sadaka chairman Éamonn Meehan said the same arguments against the Bill had been made against the anti-apartheid campaign in the 1980s and 1990s, but that legislation had been 'highly effective'.
BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
‘Everybody will follow' Irish ban on Israeli settlements trade, committee told
A ban on trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements will prompt other countries to follow suit, a committee has heard. Irish-Palestinian woman Fatin Al Tamimi, who is vice-chairwoman of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said Ireland passing the Bill would give Palestinians hope. Advertisement 'Ireland, the world is watching. Please do your best to (do) the right thing, to pass this occupied territories Bill and give the Palestinians hope. 'When Ireland starts, everybody will follow on because it's a legal obligation, it's a moral obligation for all countries, including Ireland. 'It is important for Ireland to start, and then everybody will follow.' Israeli, Palestinian and Jewish representatives, including former justice minister Alan Shatter, appeared before TDs and senators on Tuesday to discuss the draft laws. Advertisement Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said the Bill was 'performance politics dressed as principle' that does not help Palestinians. Describing himself as a Dublin-born Jew, he said that criticism of Israel was not antisemitism, but 'when criticism becomes a campaign and becomes law… we have to pause'. He said the support for the Bill was done in 'good faith' but was not a plan for peace. He said 'selective outrage' was not foreign policy and double standards do not serve peace efforts. Advertisement 'This Bill, in tone and in consequence, isolates moderates and powers extremes and undermines the credibility that Ireland has built as a voice for reason and reconciliation in the field of peacebuilding.' Natasha Hausdorff, a barrister with Ireland Israel Alliance, said the Bill would create 'a government-required partial boycott of Israel'. She said this would force US companies based in Ireland to violate federal anti-boycott laws that could see them given fines or prison sentences. Both Mr Shatter and Ms Hausdorff said they did not accept Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands are illegal. Advertisement Ireland 'How dare you': Alan Shatter criticised in committ... Read More Labour TD Duncan Smith said that as Mr Shatter, Ms Hausdorff and Mr Cohen had not recognised that Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands were illegal, it 'heavily' caveated their evidence. 'I think that's a fundamental point here, in terms of this entire hearing (with Israeli/Jewish representatives), is that there is that fundamental disagreement. 'So we diverge at the very start with all witnesses on this.'
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
‘How dare you': Former minister Alan Shatter criticised in committee on Israeli settlements bill
©Press Association Former justice minister Alan Shatter has been criticised for comparing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements to TV sitcom Father Ted, with one TD asking 'how dare you' use that description. Ex-Fine Gael TD Mr Shatter opposes the Irish Government's draft law banning trade with Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands that have been deemed illegal by the UN's top court.
