National Women’s Council calls for immediate sanctions against Israel

Published: Saturday, October 05, 2024

National Women’s Council calls for immediate sanctions against Israel

NWC says women and children in Gaza, wider Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen are bearing the brunt of Israeli brutality

Press release for immediate release

As the one-year anniversary of Israel’s war on Gaza approaches, the National Women’s Council (NWC) has called on the government to impose sanctions on Israel, and to push for sanctions at EU and UN level. The organisation, which represents almost 200 women’s groups across Ireland, condemned the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people by the Israeli State at its annual general meeting in June. NWC also committed to ensuring the rights of Palestinian women, including their fundamental right to self-determination, are recognised and respected.

NWC Director Orla O’Connor said:

“We are appalled and distraught by what we have been bearing witness to in Gaza over the past year, particularly the horrendous treatment and killings of women and children. More appalling still has been the response of the international community. As a country, we cannot continue to stand by. There are legal obligations on Ireland to act, but more importantly, there are moral obligations.”

Women and girls are bearing the brunt of the Israeli aggression. Conservative figures show that more than 6,000 women and 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the last 12 months. Oxfam recently found that more women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades. The UN Human Rights Council has said it received credible allegations of sexual assault, rape, and naked strip searches by Israeli authorities. UNFPA has continually sounded the alarm about the situation for pregnant women, with many giving birth in unsanitary conditions and without pain relief. Female dignity kits have been blocked from entering Gaza by Israel, alongside a host of other life-saving medical relief.

NWC will march today as part of the Women’s Block at the Irish-Palestine Solidarity march. A key call of protesters will be sanctions on Israel, and the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban Irish trade with any territory under illegal occupation.

With the International Court of Justice conclusion that Israeli actions in Gaza could amount to genocide, alongside its ruling that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories, Ireland is obliged to act. Weapons cannot continue to move through Irish airspace, and sanctions must be imposed.

As the conflict in the Middle East escalates to alarming proportions, we cannot allow the international system of human rights and cooperation to be made a mockery of. Israel’s actions in Gaza and beyond are a flagrant violation of international law and must be met with appropriate action by the Irish government.

Ends/

For comment: Orla O’Connor

For more information, please contact Vicky Masterson on 087-1000385

Notes:

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/more-women-and-children-killed-in-gaza-by-israeli-military-than-any-other-recent-conflict-in-a-single-year-oxfam/

https://arabstates.unfpa.org/en/crisis-gaza

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/israels-escalating-use-torture-against-palestinians-custody-preventable

https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192
 

What: IPSC march to mark one year of genocide in Gaza

When: 5 March, 1pm

Where: Garden of Remembrance

About NWC

The National Women’s Council is the leading national representative organisation for women and women’s groups in Ireland, founded in 1973. We have over 190 member groups and a large and growing community of individual supporters.

The ambition of the National Women’s Council is an Ireland where every woman enjoys true equality and no woman is left behind. This ambition shapes and informs our work, and, with our living values, how we work.

We are a movement-building organisation rooted in our membership, working on the whole island of Ireland. We are also part of the international movement to protect and advance women’s and girls’ rights. Our purpose is to lead action for the achievement of women’s and girls’ equality through mobilising, influencing, and building solidarity. Find out more on www.nwci.ie