Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
 RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Promoting Human Rights in IrelandHuman Rights in Ireland >>
Britain is Descending into Anarcho-Tyranny ? We Need a First Amendment Thu Sep 04, 2025 13:34 | Will Jones
Britain is descending into an anarcho-tyrannical state and needs its own US First Amendment to protect freedom of speech from our censorious overlords, says Allister Heath in his latest blistering Telegraph column.
The post Britain is Descending into Anarcho-Tyranny ? We Need a First Amendment appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Vandals Graffiti Rayner?s Seaside Home Thu Sep 04, 2025 11:32 | Will Jones
Angela Rayner?s seaside apartment has been vandalised with graffiti?branding her a "tax evader".
The post Vandals Graffiti Rayner’s Seaside Home appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Why Do Schools Now Resemble Prisons? Thu Sep 04, 2025 09:00 | Joanna Gray
Pity the schoolchildren returning to their prison camps this September, says Joanna Gray. Most will now be entering premises entirely surrounded with high security fences ? another sign our high trust society is gone.
The post Why Do Schools Now Resemble Prisons? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Was it Really the Hottest Summer on Record? Thu Sep 04, 2025 07:00 | Paul Homewood
It was the hottest summer on record, claims the Met Office. Really? Not according to our most reliable data, says Paul Homewood. 2018 and 1976 were warmer, and only two days topped 30?C, compared with nine in 1976.
The post Was it Really the Hottest Summer on Record? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Thu Sep 04, 2025 00:52 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Apology issued by Israeli Embassy in Dublin
 international |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
 Saturday September 08, 2007 16:39 by Mairead corrigan Maguire - Peace People
gassed and shot in Bi'lin
SUMMARY
Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Ann Patterson were invited to Dublin on Monday last, 3 September, by the Israeli Ambassador, Dr Zion Evrony. The Ambassador apologised on behalf of the Israeli Government for the assault and injury caused by Israeli soldiers to the two peace workers in Bil'in last April.
In accepting the apology, Ms Maguire asked that the human rights of Palestinians to non-violent protest be respected and upheld. She also asked that Israel engage in talks with Hamas. FULL STORY
Mairead Corrigan Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate) and co-worker Ann Patterson, today (Monday) met with His Excellency Dr. Zion Evrony, Ambassador of Israel to Ireland. The meeting took place in the Israeli Embassy in Dublin.
Dr. Evrony conveyed to both women an Apology on behalf of the Israeli Government for the Israeli Military’s assault upon them which took place on 20th April, 2007. During a peaceful demonstration in Bil’in both women were gassed and Ms. Maguire was shot in the leg with a rubber coated steel bullet by an Israeli soldier at a distance of 20 metres.
The women were taking part in a nonviolent peaceful vigil together with Palestinian villagers, international peace activists, and Palestinian and European parliamentarians. Bil’in is threatened by the proposed route of the Wall through the village, combined with potential expansion of the nearby settlement of Modi’in Illit. The impact of this Wall on the village will be severe, including loss of village land and restriction of freedom of movement for the villagers.
Every Friday villagers attempt to carry out a vigil near the Wall in order to protest the continuation of the building of this illegal wall and the annexation of their land (under International Law this wall is illegal) but they are constantly abused by Israeli military firing gas, metal bullets, and water canon at unarmed resisters.
Mrs. Maguire said ‘I accept the apology from the Israeli Government and thank Ambassador Evrony for meeting with myself and my colleague Ann Patterson. However, I would like to know further what kind of gas is being used. She also asked for an assurance that the human rights of the Palestinian people to nonviolent protest, against the building of this illegal wall on their land, be respected and upheld.’
HOLD PEACE TALKS WITH HAMAS
Mrs. Maguire expressed her hope and belief that peace between Israel/Palestine is possible and can be achieved through nonviolent conflict resolution. She said it was her hope that the Israeli Government would include Hamas in Peace talks, and that all parties, both state and nonstate, would put up their arms, and use the means of nonviolence and dialogue as the way to peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. ‘
Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Nobel Peace Laureate
Peace People, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast. BT9 (Tel: 90.663465)
www.peacepeople.com
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1An apology is always welcome and shows signs of civilization dwelling somewhere within an aggressor. Acceptance of an apology in a case of assault as serious as this one (See link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82119?&condense_comment...92681) is something so big as not to be expected of ordinary humans. Think Jesus, Gandhi, King.
Mairead and Ann, by accepting this apology you have become another example of satyagraha or truth force.
This apology was issued only days before a Supreme Court (Israel) ruling on the very issue that Ann and Mairead were protesting about - Bil'in. According to a Gush Shalom ad in Haaretz newspaper yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered the wall at Bil'in to be re-routed and land stolen from the Palestinians to be returned to them. The ruling came after 135 non-violent Friday demonstrations at the Bil'n wall. Though sometimes agents provocateurs tried to blemish the peaceful character of the protests, and although sometimes children threw stones contrary to the wishes of the organisors, they kept their non-violent character intact.
You, Mairead and Ann, along with your Jewish and international friends are partly responsible for this good news from Bil'in. Together you have stood by your Palestinian sisters and brothers and have helped them to earn a modicum of hope and relief in their struggle for justice and truth.
The news from Bil'in is not all good however. In the same ad by the (Jewish) Human Rights group, Gush Shalom, it records that the Supreme Court also gave legal confirmation to a settlement housing project that was built illegally on Bil'in land. The ad points out that the message to these illegal Israeli settlers is "Build quickly! Create facts!" - and the Court will approve retrospectively "all that you succeed in stealing!"
So, in spite of remedying one injustice, the Supreme Court encourages another one, almost identical in kind, to continue and rubber stamps it before it happens.
Which brings back the apology by the State of Israel to Ann and Mairead. If an apology is genuine, the wrongdoing will not be repeated. If the State of Israel is genuinely sorry that two non-violent peace protestors were savaged by soldiers of Israel's army while acting non-violently (as Mairead and Ann always have done on peaceful protest)s, surely the State of Israel will end this horrendous practice of gassing and shooting peaceful protestors in any part of Israel. A fortiori, they will stop shooting or killing defenceless Palestinian children in their homes. They have taken a welcome first step. Let us see the depth of their sincerity.
And another thing: peaceful protestors should not be violently attacked by the agents of any State. We have seen that Ireland is guilty of having allowed its law forces to abuse and batter peaceful demonstrators not once but on numerous occasions. No apology has been offered, as far as I know, for the May Day assaults or for the numerous assaults at Bellanaboy. This is an absolute disgrace and every Irish citizen should write to the Minister for Justice demanding that the scenes we have witnessed on TV and private videos will never be repeated. Israel has taken a first step, Ireland, stand up and own up to your crimes.