Upcoming Events

Dublin | Anti-War / Imperialism

no events match your query!

New Events

Dublin

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Can Science Tell Us the Meaning of Life? Mon Dec 23, 2024 19:54 | Dr David Bell
At Christmas time, Dr David Bell reflects on what has true value in this world, the limits of science to tell us what that is and what a baby in a manger might have to say about it.
The post Can Science Tell Us the Meaning of Life? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Non-Crime Hate Incidents Surge in Half of Police Forces Despite Government Crackdown Mon Dec 23, 2024 17:46 | Will Jones
The number of?non-crime hate incidents?recorded by police has surged in half of Britain's forces despite attempts by the previous Government to crack down on the practice, official data show.
The post Non-Crime Hate Incidents Surge in Half of Police Forces Despite Government Crackdown appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Reeves?s Simplistic Thinking Spawned This Budget from Hell Mon Dec 23, 2024 15:44 | David Craig
Simplistic linear thinking by Rachel from Accounts and the Treasury spawned this Budget from hell, says David Craig. A systems thinker would have known it would send the economy into a doom loop of recession and decline.
The post Reeves’s Simplistic Thinking Spawned This Budget from Hell appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link British Drivers Steering Away From New Cars In Their Droves Mon Dec 23, 2024 13:00 | Sallust
British car-buyers are turning away from new vehicles in their droves and keeping their reliable old petrol models going for far longer as Labour's Net Zero war on affordable motors heats up.
The post British Drivers Steering Away From New Cars In Their Droves appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Britain on Brink of Recession After Growth Revised to Zero Following Reeves?s Horror Budget Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:09 | Will Jones
Britain is on the brink of a recession after official figures were revised to show zero growth in the third quarter of the year and living standards fell, with Rachel Reeves's horror Budget blamed.
The post Britain on Brink of Recession After Growth Revised to Zero Following Reeves’s Horror Budget appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

offsite link Pentagon could create a second Kurdish state Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:31 | en

offsite link How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en

offsite link Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Pressure forces Luas to cancel deal with illegal Israeli tramline

category dublin | anti-war / imperialism | feature author Saturday August 19, 2006 22:26author by Hugh H - IPSC Report this post to the editors

featured image
Highway to hell?

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) won a small but significant victory in the international struggle against Connex and the illegal Israeli tramline being built by them on occupied Palestinian territory.

Connex (who in Ireland now operate under the name Veolia) also run the “Luas”, Dublin’s light-rail system. The Luas has only been running for a few years and it is likely that the tramline currently being built by Connex in occupied East Jerusalem is a near identical system. For this reason, representatives from Israel had been in negotiations with Veolia Ireland to have Israeli engineers and drivers trained on the Dublin Luas, with a view to then operating the illegal tramline in Jerusalem. The training was due to begin next month, and a contract was being finalised.

But in recent days, Veolia has been forced to cancel the proposed deal with its Israeli counterpart following pressure from Irish trade union representatives, in turn responding to overtures from the IPSC.

An IPSC spokesperson stated: “This is a small but significant victory for the Palestinian right to self-determination. This tramline, like the Apartheid Wall, is an integral component of Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. You would expect a tramline to be fairly innocuous, but the lesson is no: when you do business with Israel, you invariably do business with the Occupation. Veolia clearly understand that there is a growing awareness of this within Irish society. People are realising that diplomacy has utterly failed to curb Israeli crimes. We must cut ties with Israel in order to force it to end its Occupation,”

The spokesperson further stated, “Veolia’s position, however, is extraordinary. In cancelling this contract, Veolia acknowledge that the Israeli line is illegal and unsupportable. Yet it is they who are building it! The hypocrisy is inexcusable, and their attempts to deny that they bowed to pressure are laughable. Since the Minister for Transport and the Railway Procurement Agency have ultimate control over who runs the Luas, the IPSC now calls on Martin Cullen and the RPA to cancel Veolia’s contract unless they cease building this illegal tramline on occupied Palestinian territory.”

The tramline being built by Connex/Veolia will run between Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. The settlements, which have been built on annexed Palestinian land, are illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention, and are recognised as such by the Irish government. If completed, the Israeli tramline will permanently link Jewish-only settlements such as Pisgat Ze’ev, French Hill, Neve Ya’akov and Gilo, to Israeli West Jerusalem, thereby cementing Israel’s hold on occupied East Jerusalem, and ensuring that there can never be a Palestinian state.

The IPSC had initially learned that a delegation from Israel was in Dublin last month to inspect the Luas. Subsequently, it has emeged that Veolia have hosted three Israeli visits to Dublin in the last eighteen months. The IPSC will ensure that there will be no further cooperation between the Dublin Luas and the Jerusalem tram, and indeed we will step up our campaign for the Irish government to cancel Veolia’s contract. However, the IPSC would also stress that we were completely unaware of the previous two visits from Israel. We thus urge solidarity campaigns, in countries where Connex operates, to contact the relevant unions and determine whether any support or assistance is being given to the Israeli tramline. Clearly, the Israeli drivers and engineers must get training from somewhere, and soon, if they are to operate this line in occupied East Jerusalem. This campaign thus has great potential. If human rights groups and Palestinian solidarity campaigns can ensure that no country will train Israeli engineers and drivers, then perhaps we can help to “derail” this criminal project entirely.
.
--------------------

Some information on Israel’s illegal tramline and Connex’s role in building it:

War on Want report (see pages 10 and 11 ): here

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Group report (see pages 42 and 43): http://www.euromedrights.net/english/emhrn-documents/co...G.pdf

Related Link: http://www.ipsc.ie

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Irish Times says different     DM    Sat Aug 19, 2006 01:59 
   Has also been published in the mean-time on Electronic Intifada     Anthony    Sat Aug 19, 2006 23:07 
   Proposed Jerusalem tramline     Michael Martin    Sun Aug 20, 2006 14:42 
   At least some sanity in the Trade Union Movement     MichaelY    Sun Aug 20, 2006 15:04 
   Michael Y     Israeli student    Sun Aug 20, 2006 15:37 
   Free software     Ali H.    Sun Aug 20, 2006 16:56 
   ZioNazi Trollware     Ali H.    Sun Aug 20, 2006 17:01 
   Questions to the Israelis     Omega supreme    Sun Aug 20, 2006 20:12 
   Israel     Big Red    Mon Aug 21, 2006 09:29 
 10   Big Red is a troll and a bigot     sovereignty    Tue Aug 22, 2006 03:09 
 11   Pot calling Kettle, State Colour over     Patricia Sullivan    Tue Aug 22, 2006 08:44 
 12   Re: Pot calling Kettle, State Colour over     Michael Martin    Tue Aug 22, 2006 15:36 
 13   God help us     Martin Michael    Tue Aug 22, 2006 17:17 
 14   Lebanon     Big Red    Wed Aug 23, 2006 02:14 
 15   The truth shall set you free     Big Red    Wed Aug 23, 2006 02:27 
 16   Collateral damage     Ali H.    Wed Aug 23, 2006 15:11 
 17   ali lies so much     ali    Wed Aug 23, 2006 15:23 
 18   2006 - 1982 = 24 years!     Ali H.    Wed Aug 23, 2006 15:35 
 19   For 'Big Red'     Michael Martin    Fri Aug 25, 2006 00:32 
 20   ali- you a racist     anonymou    Fri Aug 25, 2006 22:23 
 21   Ali     anonymous    Fri Aug 25, 2006 22:30 
 22   Joke     Cloud 9    Thu Aug 31, 2006 01:07 
 23   The Hatred Never Stops     Niamh    Sun Sep 03, 2006 14:42 
 24   Does anyone have a map of the tramline, + the Wall?     kvm    Wed Sep 13, 2006 09:47 
 25   A light rail system turns into an attack of Israel     Angry    Fri Sep 22, 2006 02:19 
 26   See     Big Red    Tue Oct 03, 2006 01:43 
 27   The BIG LIE     Cloud 9    Sun Oct 22, 2006 01:22 
 28   Boycott?????     Cloud 9    Fri Oct 27, 2006 18:44 
 29   Do us a favour - find a cliff, jump off it.     PaddyK    Sun Oct 29, 2006 15:30 
 30   What Have the Romans ever Done for US     Balar of the Baleful Eye    Sun Oct 29, 2006 18:37 
 31   A Free man in Jail     PaddyK    Mon Oct 30, 2006 13:26 
 32   lover     spliff    Mon Oct 30, 2006 13:51 
 33   Spliffheads do it slower.     PaddyK    Mon Oct 30, 2006 14:42 
 34   loving it!     Spliffhead    Mon Oct 30, 2006 15:18 
 35   Refuseniks do it fairer.     PaddyK    Mon Oct 30, 2006 16:59 
 36   active!     spliffhead    Mon Oct 30, 2006 17:09 
 37   Spliffie gets even slower     PaddyK    Mon Oct 30, 2006 17:46 
 38   at the end of the day, tis HAMAS after all!     spliffhead    Mon Oct 30, 2006 17:58 
 39   Plagiarists do it cheaper.     PaddyK    Mon Oct 30, 2006 18:40 
 40   Knucklehead     Big Red    Wed Nov 01, 2006 00:13 
 41   The Pals     Big Red    Thu Nov 02, 2006 07:02 
 42   Nasralla     Big Red    Thu Nov 02, 2006 07:05 
 43   Big Red     The big Blue    Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:56 
 44   Big Red     Big Blue    Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:59 


Number of comments per page
  
 
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy