Comrades, 

We did it.  

Thanks to your efforts, your submissions, your lobbying, your signatures, and your steadfast solidarity, the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee has decided its position on the Occupied Territories Bill and voted unanimously to recommend that the Bill should be expanded to include a ban on trade in both goods and services from illegal Israeli settlements. 

Thanks to your incredible contribution, we’ve won a major and hard-fought victory on the Occupied Territories Bill. This is no small achievement. 

Over 8,000 Fórsa members and supporters signed our petition. Around 800 written submissions (nearly a record!) were sent to the Committee. TDs were inundated with emails and calls from union members and constituents. The Committee heard loud and clear that working people across Ireland want our trade laws to match our values.  

In Fórsa’s own lobbying activities and our collective submission to the Committee, we were able to echo the support of thousands of you who signed the petition and make a strong case for the inclusion of services in the Bill.  

All committee members, despite serious pressure from the US, the Israeli government and business lobby groups, were convinced by the strength of the arguments we collectively put forward and by the strength of your voices. 

During the hearings, Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ó Fearghaíl noted: “I cannot remember any occasion over the years I have been here when I have had more intensive and passionate lobbying by members of the public on any issue as I have had on this one. They want to see this Bill enacted and they want to see goods and services covered.”   

The Committee’s report echoes what we demanded - that Ireland should not just ban trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements, but also end the trade in services that sustains and legitimises the ongoing occupation. This position reflects the legal clarity set out by the International Court of Justice, and the moral clarity that defines the labour movement’s long tradition of standing against injustice. 

Today it is important we take a moment to acknowledge the power of our collective action. 

Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for standing for justice. And thank you for being part of a movement that proves, time and again, that solidarity works. 

Our message now is crystal clear: 

• This isn’t just what campaigners are asking for, now it’s what the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee itself is calling for. 
• The Government must respect its own process and legislate accordingly. 

In the meantime, keep talking, keep organising, and keep the pressure up.  

This result is proof of what trade unionists and activists can achieve when we stand together. Let’s carry that energy into the next stage and get this Bill passed in full. 

We also want to take a moment to thank every single one of you who stood with us on the streets at marches, rallies and demonstrations to show your solidarity with the people of Palestine and helped build an amazing community of trade unionists.  

Your visible, vocal support has kept this issue where it belongs: in the public eye, on the political agenda, and rooted firmly in the values of justice and international solidarity that our movement stands for.

In solidarity, 

Mehak Dugal.  

Fórsa Campaigns Team