Oxfam Ireland chief calls for Gaza to be central issue in General Election campaign
Jim Clarken described the conditions in northern Gaza as a “crime against humanity. File picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
The chief executive of Oxfam Ireland has called for Gaza to be a central issue for all political parties in the General Election campaign.
Jim Clarken referred to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza as “a campaign of ethnic cleansing”, with the humanitarian situation now at the worst point since hostilities began more than a year ago.
“Over the past month, Israeli forces have accelerated their efforts to bombard, de-populate, deprive and to erase the Palestinian population of northern Gaza,” he said.
A scorecard has been released by Oxfam and seven other humanitarian organisations which assessed Israel’s progress against the demands of the US secretaries of State and Defence.
The scorecard was issued on October 13 this year, with a deadline for compliance of November 13. Oxfam has found that Israel has “utterly failed” to comply with US demands, with this failure coming at an enormous cost to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
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The charity found that people are being starved and Israeli military groups have denied Palestinians access to critical food and basic necessities. This, in turn, has resulted in famine-like conditions, affecting almost 800,000 civilians in Gaza.
Conditions are worst in Gaza’s north, following a major operation in October by Israel, cutting off humanitarian aid to the area. Earlier this week, there was a warning that famine was imminent in northern Gaza.
Mr Clarken described these conditions as a “crime against humanity”, urging Ireland to take a stand for what is right.
He said:
He called on all political parties to implement an EU-wide arms embargo, while also demanding that the US ceases "lethal trade". “The EU-Israel trade agreement should be immediately suspended,” he said.
The passing of the Occupied Territories Bill should be completed as a priority by the incoming Irish government, he urged.
“This is a critical step in holding Israel to account for continuing to expand illegal settlements. It sends a strong message that Ireland will not tolerate, nor support, the denial of human rights and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” he said.
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