Motion: Implementation of our BDS support in relation to PSNI/An Garda Síochána partnerships with Israeli security forces and companies with involvement in illegal Israeli settlements.

“As a Council who has adopted and is supportive of the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council hereby call on the Chief Constable of the PSNI and the Garda Commissioner, as well as the Department of Justice & Policing Board in the North and Minister for Justice & Policing Authority in the South, to immediately withdraw their respective forces from any and all partnerships with the Israeli ministry responsible for police and prisons (Ministry of Public Security) and from     companies which are involved in surveillance in illegal Israeli settlements.

The Israeli Human Rights Organisation, B’Tselem, and the UN Human Rights  Watch have both recently reported that Israel is guilty of crimes of apartheid  and persecution, and the ‘Ministry for Public Security’ was strongly criticised for their treatment of Palestinians in the HRW report.

Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International noted that “as a matter of   urgency, the PSNI should suspend all programmes with the Israeli police and     security services where there’s a clear risk of involvement in human rights  violations…[the] police service must ensure it is not implicated in Israel’s human rights violations. The distressing scenes from East Jerusalem and  Gaza should now be a wake-up call.”

As such, and mindful of our BDS commitments, we call on the PSNI Chief Constable and Garda Commissioner to immediately cease all partnership and         involvement with the security forces of apartheid Israeli.  In support of this we  call on all Councils on this island to back this motion and lend their voices in  support of the Palestinian call for international solidarity and BDS action”.