The MEP will meet with NGOs, human rights activists and other stakeholders over the course of the next week.
MEP for Ireland South Grace O’Sullivan this week travels to Palestine as part of an official European Parliament Delegation mission to the West Bank.
The MEP will visit the towns of Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah as well as the international city of Jerusalem and is also hopeful to be allowed entry into Gaza – an agenda item that has been planned but will not be confirmed until the hours prior to the visit, due to the ongoing security risks. A previous Parliament Delegation was cancelled in May 2022 when the chair of the Delegation, Spanish MEP Manu Pineda was denied entry by Israeli authorities, while the entire delegation was also denied entry to Gaza. Pineda was again pre-warned that he would be denied entry to the country, and so has not travelled on this mission.
O’Sullivan has a packed agenda for this visit, including meeting political leaders, NGOs, activists and those active in the fields of sustainability and gender equality.
“Palestine is a place and issue that I am very passionate about, and something I have had the privilege to work on since 2016 when I was elected as a Senator. This, however, is my first time visiting the region, and I’m planning on listening and watching, taking in as much as possible from the locals and continuing to work with them in my role in the European Parliament” the MEP stated.
O’Sullivan has previously been vocally critical of the EU gas trade deal with Israel, which was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Grace O’Sullivan is a member of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Palestine. She also co-signed the Occupied Territories Bill as a Senator.
Opmerkingen