Politicians in Ireland He said it was “reprehensible” that flights to deport Palestinians from the US to Israel were using an airport in County Clare.
A A private jet owned by Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was chartered for two separate flights that took the detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week.
These flights left the US on January 21 and February 1. Both stopped to refuel at Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland.
Dezer’s family property firm has built a series of Trump-branded residential towers in Miami. He recently spoke of his “love” for the US president, claiming a 20-year friendship with him.
Some of those aboard Dezer’s jet said their wrists and ankles were shackled for the duration of the journey. After reaching Tel Aviv, they were apparently taken to Israeli occupied territory West Bank.
The Irish government said in a statement that the flights do not require prior approval from the Department of Transport as they stop in the country “for non-traffic purposes” and are “not picking up or unloading passengers”.
However, on Friday, the opposition politicians were alarmed The Irish Times About learning.
Duncan Smith, the Labor Party’s foreign affairs spokesman in Ireland, said: “Any ICE deportation flights being allowed to stop and refuel in Shannon is absolutely reprehensible. The Minister for Transport and the Minister for Transport must step in and ensure this ends.” He added: “Ireland will not contribute in any way to these ICE flights.”
Roderick O’Gorman, leader of the country’s Green Party, said it was “deeply disturbing” to learn that Shannon was “being used to facilitate the brutal actions of Donald Trump’s ICE”.
Patricia Stephenson, the Social Democrats’ foreign affairs spokeswoman, said the government should “make a statement about whether it knowingly facilitated these flights”. She told The Irish Times that she believed the human rights of those on board had been violated.
Dezer’s plane was chartered by Florida-based Journey Aviation, which US officials regularly use to source private jets. It declined to comment on flights to Israel.
According to Human Rights First (HRF), which tracks deportation flights, Dezer’s jet – which he describes as his “favorite toy” – was first chartered for deportation flights last October. The organization said the plane was used to transport prisoners to Kenya, Liberia, Guinea and Eswatini, before its recent trip to Israel.
One of the first passengers was Mahar Awad, 24. Originally from the West Bank, he had lived in the US for nearly a decade. He has a partner and child in Michigan.
“They threw us on the side of the road like animals,” Awad said. “We went to a local house, we knocked on the door, we were like: ‘Please help us’.”
In an email, Deser told the Guardian that when he charters his jet privately for the purpose of a journey or flight, he “never keeps the names confidential” of those who travel on it. “I was only informed about the dates I would use,” he said. He did not respond to further questions about the Trump administration’s use of his jet to deport Palestinians through Israel.
Aviation industry sources estimate that the flights cost ICE between $400,000 and $500,000.
A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to questions about the deportation flights to Israel, but said: “If a judge finds that an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we will remove them. Period.”
