This petition calls on all Carlow Councillors to support the motion put forward by People Before Profit Cllr Adrienne Wallace in the council on Monday June 14th, to urge the Irish and UK Government to expel the Israeli ambassador from office. Lots of words of condemnation have been spoken, but until concrete action is taken against the apartheid state of Israel, there will be no end to Palestinian suffering.

There has been a long-standing tradition of solidarity between the people of Ireland and Palestine, and Carlow is no exception to that. Hundreds of Carlow people took to the streets in recent weeks, and hundreds more have given their signatures to this petition in person.

If Carlow councillors were to pass this vote, Carlow would be one of the very few councils on this whole island to have firstly condemned, and secondly motioned to expel the Israeli ambassador.

We call on the council to:
CONDEMN the actions of the apartheid state of Israel, write to the Irish Government to EXPEL the Israeli ambassador from office, so the world and Palestine can see that Carlow and Ireland stands in SOLIDARITY with the people of Palestine against the war crimes committed by Israel.

The motion put forward by People Before Profit reads:

Ø  That the current escalation of violence was instigated by the attempt to evict 28 Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah area of Jerusalem as part of an ongoing and systematic campaign of illegal Israeli settlements and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land;

Ø  That Israel’s military operation in Gaza amounts to war crimes;

That the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and illegal settlement expansion, represents flagrant breaches of international law;

Ø  That a growing list of human rights organisations have determined that Israel’s action amounts to apartheid, including the latest report by Human Rights Watch;

Ø  That normal co-operation with the Israeli state is therefore untenable in these circumstances;

Ø  Council recognises the rich history of solidarity and activism in Ireland with Palestinians, including very recent demonstrations; and that such solidarity can be an important tool in dismantling support for Israel’s actions. 

Ø  Council therefore condemns the actions of the Israeli state, as listed above, and agrees to write to the Irish Government and the UK Government, urging them to expel from office Israeli ambassadors, with immediate effect.