Ireland and the Palestine Question 1948-2004

Based primarily on Irish archival sources, parliamentary debates, EU, UN and Israeli documents as well as the Irish media, this work is the first attempt to examine Ireland's evolving policy towards the Palestine question since the birth of Israel in 1948. Beginning with an analysis of Ireland's approach to the issue both prior to and following its entry into the UN in the mid-1950s it then focuses on Ireland's increasing involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict since its accession to the EEC in the early 1970s. Specifically it deals with four distinct phases: 1973-1980 when the issue of Palestine and the role of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), came to the fore in UN and EU discussions on the Middle East; 1980-1988, when the EEC's support for Palestinian aspirations placed the Community increasingly at odds with Israel; 1988-1996, when the PLO's acceptance of a negotiated settlement to its conflict with Israel was followed by the Madrid and Oslo peace processes; and 1996-2004, a time during which the optimism of the early Oslo years has disappeared.