Palestinian recognition overdue; sanctioning 'Israel' needed: Irish MP

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
23 May 2024 05:22
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Teachta Dala Richard Boyd Barrett says Western governments should implement meaningful sanctions against "Israel", amid growing popular pressure.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators march in support of the Palestinian people in Boston, Massachusetts, the United States, on May 21, 2024. (AP)

Al Mayadeen interviewed Richard Boyd Barrett, an Irish Teachta Dala, following Dublin's recognition of the Palestinian state.

Boyd Barrett shared his views as a member of the Irish Parliament on several issues, from the tragic crash that led to the death of the Iranian president and his accompanying delegation to the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people.

Discussing the flawed Western attitude toward the incident that befell the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Boyd Barrett pointed to the double standards employed by Western regimes when it comes to Iran.

"I think the Western policy in terms of Iran is riddled with double standards as we've seen in other instances," the Teachta Dala explained when asked about the reaction of Western regimes to the tragedy.

"To be quite honest I want to send my sympathies and condolences to the people of Iran for this terrible event," he added.

"I think most people's feeling [was that this is] a terrible event and a terrible tragedy, but it is not an issue that has been discussed in huge detail in political circles or at [the] media level, but I think more generally we have of course very significant double standards of play in terms of the attitudes of Western governments to Iran and other peoples and states in the Middle East," Boyd Barrett highlighted, as he spoke about the slight media and official attention that event garnered in Western countries, despite the fact that it involved the killing of a president and a high-ranking delegation.

'Israel' exposed itself, pressuring governments to take action

As for the ongoing Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the Irish Teachta Dala said that the war on Gaza has exposed "Israel" as a "barbaric regime."

"First of all Israel has exposed itself for the barbaric regime that it really is over the last seven months with its genocidal assault on Gaza," he noted.

"While there were many people campaigning for many years trying to highlight the brutal apartheid character of the Israeli regime the brutality of the occupation, the ongoing campaign of [and] the ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, the events of the last seven months have exposed for millions and millions of people across the world, fully, the really cruel and barbaric nature of the Israeli regime," the Irish lawmaker said.

Boyd Barrett underlined the importance of exposing Israeli crimes, saying that it produced protests and "enormous public outrage," which has put pressure on the Irish, Spanish, and Norwegian governments to recognize the State of Palestine.

He also stressed the importance of the resistance of the Palestinian people, which when paired with public pressure in the aforementioned nations, has produced a historic decision to recognize the Palestinian state.

"Many many people [are] turning against the Western policy of supporting the Israeli regime when the regime could be guilty of such terrible genocidal crimes," he asserted.

The Irish lawmaker also highlighted the role of other Western governments such as Belgium, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus who he believes have been vocal in condemning Israeli crimes.

Palestine's recognition: Long overdue

However, Boyd Barrett did not explicitly praise the Irish government for recognizing Palestine, but explained that the decision was "long overdue."

"Obviously Palestinian state recognition is welcome. It's long overdue. To be honest, if Western governments, including my own, had have recognized Palestine earlier, maybe we wouldn't be in this horrific situation."

The Irish legislator underscored the need to turn the recognition into effective action by sanctioning the Israeli regime.

"Certainly what many people are saying is we do not want this recognition to be purely symbolic. We want it to be accompanied by meaningful sanctions," he added.

The Teachta Dala called on governments to accompany the decision with the recognition of the Israeli regime's turn nature.

"In fact, I would say that this should be accompanied by finally recognizing that the Israeli regime is a regime that is built on illegitimate occupation, brutal apartheid, and on ethnic cleansing," he explained.

"It is a regime that needs to be dismantled," he said emphatically.

Israeli crimes are isolating its key allies

Boyd Barrett pointed out that such action would be welcomed by millions of Europeans, adding that Israeli crimes continue to isolate its key allies such as the United States, Britain, Germany, and other European countries.

"I would hope that what we are seeing is the explosion of a global movement of the sort that we saw against apartheid South Africa or indeed if you go back further of the sort of movement that eventually ended the Vietnam war," he said.

"Obviously it was the resistance of the Vietnamese people the South African people, today the Palestinian people, but that combined with a global movement of solidarity that finally makes it unsustainable for the big Western governments to continue their support for this barbaric regime," he said.

Boyd Barret is one among a growing movement in the West calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, as well as declaring their support to the resistance of the Palestinian people in the face of the daily atrocities that they face. Boyd Barrett's call for meaningful sanctions against "Israel" and his support for the pro-Palestine movement, will hopefully aid a growing global movement calling for the rights of the Palestinian people.