Reports have come to light of Palestinian men being held shackled on a plane at Shannon when refueling took place. 

This shocking revelation came to light in reports in The Guardian newspaper, Common Dreams and elsewhere.

The reports explain that on the morning of 21 January, Israeli authorities left eight Palestinian men who were deported from the US at a West Bank checkpoint. They were dressed in prison-issued tracksuits and carrying their few belongings in plastic bags.

The men were taken through Shannon on a plane with registration N352BH. It is owned by the zionist MAGA billionaire Gil Dezer, who is a donor and friend of Donald Trump, and operated by Journey Aviation, presumably to allow the owner enjoy a hefty tax break.

While the plane was on the tarmac at Shannon, the men had their ankles shackled, were forced to wear body restraints, and had their wrists handcuffed to their stomachs. The restraints made it difficult to eat, requiring them to bend their heads forward to put food in their mouths.

In an interview afterwards, one of the men explained that he was detained when he reported a break-in at his home in the US, on the basis of a charge from a year ago. He was released after two days and the charge was dropped, but ICE agents were waiting for him outside. He spent the next year being shuffled between immigration detention centres in the US, before being deported through Shannon in January.

There was a second flight by N352BH through Shannon to Israel on Feb 2nd. Like the one in January, it landed in Sofia in Bulgaria before going on to Tel Aviv.

In November, The Ditch reported that ICE flights carrying deportees to African countries also refueled at Shannon in July and August. The men were being flown to countries they had no personal ties to, and the flights were operated by the same company, Journey Aviation.

The ICE/Trump deportation programme is cruel and illegal, and it is quite shocking to know that Shannon Airport workers, management, airport police and the Gardai have either wittingly or unwittingly assisted in it. What took place at Shannon is almost certainly in contravention of the Convention Against Torture which Ireland has ratified. Everyone involved in assisting or protecting N352BH is therefore complicit in breaches of national and international laws. They are also supporting the violence perpetrated by the US and Israel against the Palestinian people.

Just like in the days of the extraordinary rendition flights two decades ago, our government now appears to be turning a blind eye to illegal US kidnapping and torture flights. 

We are calling on the Taoiseach Micheal Martin, and the Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien, who has responsibility for the flights, to undertake an immediate and full investigation into how these flights are being allowed through Shannon, and to put measures in place to ensure they do not happen again.

At the very least, it's time to stop allowing Journey Aviation permission to land, or to overfly Ireland.