Madam, – The tragedy of the current Middle East conflict is that, on the face of it, it should be easy to resolve. Both protagonists have a core objective which is considered legitimate by the international community. Furthermore both protagonists claim it is the denial of this core objective by the other party which is the root cause of the conflict.
Israel’s core objective, apparently, is the unambiguous recognition by the neighbouring Arab states and, in particular, by Hamas of the legitimacy of the state of Israel.
In the case of Hamas, as the elected representative of the people of Palestine, its core objective, apparently, is the return of the lands which Israel has occupied since the 1967 war.
I use the word “apparently” because neither protagonist believes that these are the core objectives of the other. Hamas is convinced that Israel has an imperialist agenda and has no intention of retreating to its internationally recognised borders under any circumstances. Israel, on the other hand, is convinced that Hamas has no intention of ever recognising the legitimacy of the state of Israel.
Surely the solution to this impasse is obvious. The EU should convene a special meeting of the United Nations at which it demands that both protagonists publicly concede the core objective of the other. To use Gerry Adams’s phrase, both protagonists to the conflict “jump together”.
I am not entirely convinced that this initiative would be successful; it may be that one of the protagonist’s views of the other is correct. But at the very least, such an initiative would expose who is the real aggressor in the conflict and the international community could then act accordingly. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The following facts are taken from the daily field update on Gaza from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Wednesday, January 14th:
- 1,013 Palestinians dead, of whom 322 are children and 76 are women
- 4,560 Palestinians injured of whom 1,600 are children and 678 are women
- the proportion of casualties who are children has tripled since the start of the ground invasion on 3 January
- nine Israeli soldiers have been killed since 27 December
- four Israeli civilians have been killed and 58 injured by rockets fired from Gaza
- the total number of people in Gaza displaced by the conflict is unknown, as most of them seek refuge with relatives and friends
- 20,000 people reportedly left their homes in the Rafah area on January 8th
- the UN is caring for 38,000 people in 41 shelters
- attacks on medical personnel and ambulances have hampered the ability to assist the injured
- 13 Palestinian medical personnel have been killed and 22 injured while on duty
- 15 ambulances have been damaged and seven have been destroyed
- 12 health facilities have been damaged
- 500,000 people in Gaza do not have access to running water and sewage continues to flow in the streets in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya
- Gaza's water utility has not received approval for safe passage to repair the water and sanitation networks
- the shortage of banknotes means people cannot buy the limited foodstocks in the markets and the UN cash assistance programme for the most destitute 94,000 people cannot continue
- on January 13th, 94 truckloads of aid were allowed into Gaza; by comparison an average of 631 trucks were entering Gaza daily at the end of 2005.
Children comprise 56 per cent of the population of Gaza. They, along with other civilians, are bearing the brunt of the violence. It is clear that the humanitarian situation is critical. The parties to this conflict clearly do not respect the norms of international humanitarian law, particularly the principles of distinction and proportionality.
The failure to bring about a ceasefire is a disgrace and yet again undermines the credibility and integrity of the US and the EU in their actions over many years in response to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Philip O’Connor (January 15th) complains that Israel makes too much of the Hamas charter’s “extreme-sounding rhetoric”. Similar liberal-minded hand-wringing has shadowed the rise of all manner of extremists regimes – dismissed as a few hotheads with extreme rhetoric that no one would take seriously. A pliant attitude, incidentally, that Dr Goebbels exploited to its utmost.
A persistent trait in the Irish anti-Israel lobby is uncritical promotion of the superior virtue of the oppressed, counselled against by Bertrand Russell as a sublime rational folly.
Who in his head – forget the heart – can doubt that the only thing stopping Hamas from destroying Israel is simply the absence of more powerful rockets fitted with more lethal munitions? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – How can anyone defend the continued killing and maiming of children on such a horrific scale in Gaza? How sad to see all of this sanctioned, supported and financed by a US government.
Next week’s presidential inaugural speeches, with their references to justice, freedom and democracy, will ring hollow in the ears of many people in many parts of the world. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Aengus Ó’Snodaigh TD’s use of hate speech against Alan Shatter TD and Dr Zion Evrony, Ambassador of Israel, at the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee was evil.
That a member of Sinn Féin should spit out this toxic venom comes as no jolt of surprise. After all, the party shared Iranian sponsorship with Palestinian terror groups. It also exalts Seán Russell, who collaborated with the genocidal Nazis.
But the failure of Michael Woods TD, chairman of the committee, to condemn this act of anti-Semitism was outrageous, especially given that Alan Shatter and Dr Zion Evrony were the only Jewish persons in the room. And the failure of the members of the committee to hold Mr Ó Snodaigh to account was a measure of their own moral cowardice. Enda Kenny TD and Dick Roche TD set the best of moral examples by immediately speaking out against this racist abuse.
The episode should snap us awake to the dangers of anti-Semitism in our community. – Yours, etc,