US senator slams Irish ban on trade with Israeli settlements as ‘hateful’
Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has accused Ireland of “blatant” anti-Semitism for its plan to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
“Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,” Risch said in a post on X.
“If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties,” Risch added.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said last week that Ireland had become “the first country in Europe to bring forward legislation to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Harris said.
The Israeli Settlements Bill, approved by the Republic of Ireland’s cabinet last month, would make it an offence under the Customs Act to import goods from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
US says UN expert is waging ‘warfare against the American economy’
The US Mission to the UN has accused Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese of committing “political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy” after she released a new report mapping the corporations aiding the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
The mission accused Albanese of using “deeply flawed legal arguments to support extreme and unfounded accusations” that “dozens of entities worldwide, including major American corporations”, are “complicit in gross human rights violations, apartheid, and genocide”.
The mission called for UN Chief Antonio Guterres to condemn Albanese’s activities and for the removal of the independent rapporteur, who was appointed to her role by the UN Human Rights Council, a body made up of 47 member states.
The American economy is committing genocide... Complicity in genocide is a crime under international law.
UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?
We’ve been reporting on the US response to a UN report that maps the corporations aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its “genocidal” war on Gaza. The report by the UN expert on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, names 48 corporate actors, including US tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, and Amazon.
A database of more than 1,000 corporate entities was also put together as part of the investigation.
“[Israel’s] forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing significant supply and demand, little oversight, and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions profit freely,” the report said.
“Companies are no longer merely implicated in occupation – they may be embedded in an economy of genocide,” it said, in a reference to Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.
The report stated that its findings illustrate why Israel’s “genocide” continues – “Because it is lucrative for many.”
