Éire / Ireland

From the official account of Aodhán Ó Ríordáin @oriordainaodhan - EU is normalising relations with Israel

Simon Harris is again deleting genuine questions and challenges from his social media posts. Under a video where Harris was making a big deal about passing his (significantly weakened) Occupied Territories Bill.

Here @theoceanwizard came across a video where Minister Harris was talking about passing the bill, and commented asking why he opposed the bonds bill (a seperate bill). It was the most liked comment on the video. It was later deleted.

If they're deleting valid comments like this, it makes me wonder how our emails are being regarded. I have emailed all TDs in my constituency about the Dáil votes on the Occupied Territories bill (including allowing a vote of conscience), as well as the bonds bill. The only TDs that did not reply were Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the independents who support them.

In a historic move that could help set the tone for wildlife protections across Europe, Ireland's parliament just took its first step toward banning fox hunting — a centuries-old practice that's drawn increasing criticism for its cruelty.

According to Agriland, Ireland's Dáil parliament passed the first stage of a bill that would outlaw fox hunting and related practices, amending the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 to ensure such activities "cannot be considered as lawful hunting." The bill, introduced by People Before Profit-Solidarity Teachta Dála Ruth Coppinger, passed by a 113-49 margin and will now move to the second stage for further debate.

In a nutshell,

1. Sign a petition to have the Occupied Territories Bill passed in full, including services. It's currently at risk: https://act.forsa.ie/occupied-territories-bill
2. Get the email addresses of your local TDs here and email them to ask for the full bill to be implemented https://www.contactyourtd.ie/
3. Contact your school, work or union to encourage them to support Palestine while it endures genocide.
4. Donate if you can, boycott Israeli goods with the easy-to-use app called "No Thanks" in your App Store.

PS: If you're not sure what to say to your TD in an email, here is a template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EF1ZABOQo9VWqH-lQGCa08Gqyw4d9zgsrBAs5clHTiE/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

I know we have a lot of home grown problems here too and many of us are overworked and exhausted. The above took me 20 minutes (I did steps 1, 2 and 4). We've had a proud history of opposing apartheid, send our representatives a strong and clear signal to uphold our moral and legal responsibilities.

I wasn’t going to watch this because I assumed it would be a twee, rose-tinted bit. From the recommendation I’ve just received, it’s far from it.

It covers the oppressive society women suffered through, the role of the church and patriarchy, and the complexity of deciding whether or not to engage when such a system throws you a rope.

https://archive.is/O4NaY for paywall

Extract: “they depict a clear pattern of imbalance in the information that was broadcast by RTÉ.ie. In every area assessed, the Palestinian group was less favorably represented”

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