‘No Complicity’ – Ireland’s Central Bank Urged to Cease Sale of Israel’s War Bonds
Ireland should “not be facilitator or accomplice” in the flow of money and arms, said independent senator Alice Mary Higgins, who attended the protest.
Scores of protesters gathered outside the Central Bank of Ireland on Friday against the sale of Israel’s war bonds which they said funds its genocide in Gaza.
“Stop Irish complicity” and “Stop Funding Genocide,” the protesters demanded at the demonstration organized by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Protesters said the bank’s approval of Israeli bonds was “unethical” and called for halting their sale across Europe, reported the Anadolu news agency.
‘No Complicity’
Ireland, which along with Norway and Spain recognized Palestine in May, is the home country of Israeli bonds sold in the EU, with the Central Bank of Ireland designated as the competent authority to approve prospectuses for the securities.
The bonds are said to have been used as a means to support Israel’s brutal war efforts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Independent senator Alice Mary Higgins, who attended the protest, told Anadolu that the bank’s support for Israel was a serious breach of international law.
Higgins said the bonds, previously sold through the UK, were taken over by Ireland after Brexit.
She said Ireland should “not be facilitator or accomplice” in the flow of money and arms.
ICJ Case
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin announced last week that the country intends to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) before the year ends.
“At my direction, work is progressing on the preparation of Ireland’s Declaration of Intervention, which it is intended will be filed before the end of this year,” said Martin, adding that “In formulating this Declaration, Ireland will set out a robust basis for its intervention before the Court.”
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,736 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 103,370 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Millions Displaced
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)