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Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6It's important there's a good turnout to the demo today to put pressure on councillors to back Joan's motion. She deserves a lot of credit for putting it forward. But it's a long way down the agenda. (Everything before 37 are reports and correspondence). Joan's is 49.
49 COUNCILLOR JOAN COLLINSDublin City Council recognising1. That Veolia is a leading partner in the consortium contracted to build a light railway system linking Israel to illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem;2. That the Irish government and the U.N does not recognise Israel’s annexation and occupation of East Jerusalem and have repeatedly stated their views that the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank contravene international law;3. That Veolia’s involvement in the project is in contravention of the UN’s stated demand that Israeli settlement activities and occupation should not be supported;This Council calls on the City Manager not to sign any new or renew any existing contracts with Veolia as it would be in contravention of the wishes of this Council. Galway and Sligo City/County Councils have supported similar motions.
The light railway is to serve both parts of the city -
if peace is to be maintained the Luas type
railway should serve all the citiizens and not stop half way at the former 1949 armistice
line evn if it is decided eventually fo divide Jerusalem again .
This is gesture politics being carried to the extreme by your usual suspects .
Have they nothing else to worry about at City Hall ?
It clearly will not 'serve all the citizens', Sean. There are only 3 stops planned for Palestinian areas. And there is no guarantee that Palestinians will even be allowed travel on it. At most only Palestinians with Jerusalem Residency permits, used by Israel to prohibit Palestinian population growth in Jerusalem, will be allowed travel on it. Jewish Israelis are subject to no such residency restrictions
http://www.diakonia.se/sa/node.asp?node=3274
if or when it begins to operate it is possible that some sort of segregation may be enforced, such as separate carriages for Palestinians , if the are allowed to travel at all
Don't forget, Veolia also operate a bus service serving settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank on the infamous Apartheid Road route 443. And the Tovlan landfill in the West Bank Jordan valley.
Also, the formulation that 'better transport' = 'maintaining peace' is problematic on at least two levels.
1) There is no 'peace' - for the most part there (in the West Bank at any rate) is an absence of armed Palestinian resistance. However, the Israeli military still occupies the West Bank, still regularly kills, injures and detains Palestinians, still operates a humiliating (and at times murderous) checkpoint regime that denies Palestinians freedom of movement, and the Israeli state continues building the Apartheid Wall and the colonial settlements (whose inhabitants act with almost complete impunity) - both of which the International Court of Justice deemed illegal. And that's without even mentioning what's going on in Gaza.
2) 'Peace' will not come about without justice. Some improved services - and I'm not simply talking about the Light Rail here - is not justice. At best it would be an attempt at pacification and normalisation - an attempt that will fail.
Finally re: "gesture politics being carried to the extreme by your usual suspects"
The "usual suspects" - the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign - exists to build solidarity with the people of Palestine and their struggle for justice and freedom. The call for actions aimed at Veolia for their complicity with Israeli Apartheid comes from Palestinian civil society who have asked international solidarity activists to engage in actions such as this - indeed, the Palestinian Boycott National Committee (BNC) wrote a letter of support to Dublin City Council with regard to this motion. We are following their lead.
As for 'gesture politics' - a gesture it may be. A powerful gesture that a European capital city rejects dealings with a company that shows disregard for Palestinians living under occupation and is in fact engaged in the process of normalising Israeli Apartheid. That's a strong message would add the defeats Veolia has suffered in recent times, both in Ireland (Galway and Sligo councils have passed similar motions) and internationally.
Finally, an update on tonight's demo. I'd like to thank everyone who came along to the IPSC demo this evening - there were around 40 of us (I will post a report & pics here tomorrow) - and those who lobbied councillors in advance. Alas, once again Dublin City Council didn't get around to actually voting on it (a shame as - based on conversations with councillors during the last month - it would have been passed). It has now been re-tabled for the next DCC meeting in May.
Let's keep the pressure on Veolia!
Should I NOT take the Luas or the Dart to day as a gesture ?
Sean, if you want to avoid taking the DART, that's entirely your own affair, and nothing to do with Veolia. It's also up to you to decide whether you want to travel by bus, bicycle, helicopter or however - and if you'd like to share your transport options with indymedia - again, please feel free.
What Veolia does is run the Luas, and we in the IPSC are not encouraging people to avoid taking the Luas, but rather to contact Veolia and demand they pull out of the Jerusalem tramline and the other apartheid projects it is running. We are also asking people to contact the RPA and demand that they not grant the Metro North project to Veolia, while it is helping build apartheid in Israel/Palestine
This information is available on our website: www.ipsc.ie, but thanks for giving me the opportunity to post it up here.