Madam, - Following Mr Brian Cowen's visit to the Middle East, Amnesty International would like to support the efforts of the Irish EU Presidency to promote the peace process in the region and to acknowledge the ongoing commitment of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in this matter.
Madam, - Following Mr Brian Cowen's visit to the Middle East, Amnesty International would like to support the efforts of the Irish EU Presidency to promote the peace process in the region and to acknowledge the ongoing commitment of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in this matter.
The ongoing cycle of Israeli repression and Palestinian suicide bombings has brought matters to a stalemate. There is little indication that the international community is prepared to exercise sufficient pressure on Israeli and Palestinian authorities to enforce compliance with even the limited provisions of the "roadmap".
In this situation Mr Cowen must use the Irish Presidency to inject renewed energy into the EU/Israel dialogue and the peace process.
He should insist that Israel face up to its responsibilities under international law as the occupying power. Within the Occupied Territories Israel must cease forcible transfers of population, end the presence and growth of settlements, and stop the construction of the fence/wall. - Yours, etc.,
ANNE MARLBOROUGH,
EU Presidency Officer,
Amnesty International,
Irish Section,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - You are to be commended for publishing the distressing picture of the young Palestinian mother Reem Al-Reyashi, along with a caption quoting her: "It was always my wish to turn my body into deadly shrapnel" (
The Irish Times
, January 15th). Sometimes people have to be shocked into seeing the truth.
The truth in this instance is that there is a deep sickness at the heart of Palestinian society and the Palestinian education system. How else to explain how a young mother of 22 could care so little for her baby son and daughter that she chose to commit both suicide and murder rather than work constructively towards creating a more stable world for them? There is something so obscene, so callous about a society that educates its young to glorify death by suicide and murder that it is beyond comprehension by any of the norms of decency and civilisation.
There is no hope for Palestinians and a Palestinian state until they decide to turn their backs on such gross barbarity.
It is not good enough to trot out the old familiar line: "The Israelis are oppressing us and occupying our land, and this is the only way we can retaliate." Neither is it good enough to let them off the hook, as Cherie Blair once did, by sympathising with them for choosing the path of suicide bomber/mass murderer because of what they are suffering under the Israelis.
There is always a peaceful alternative. It may be a long, hard road - in fact, it always is. But it is the only road that will enable human beings to realise their dignity as human beings, while respecting the dignity of others. - Yours, etc.,
NOREEN O'CARROLL,
Carysfort Park,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Mr Brian Cowen has condemned the recent Palestinian suicide bombing (which killed three Israeli soldiers and a civilian) on the grounds that "it has interrupted an extensive, although incomplete, cessation of violence which has been in place for a number of weeks".
For a number of weeks Israeli soldiers have been killing Palestinian civilians in Nablus and elsewhere with horrifying regularity. Is this what Mr Cowen delicately defines as an "extensive, although incomplete, cessation of violence"?
If so, his unfortunate choice of words reveals a double standard that puts in doubt the EU's potential status as an "honest broker" in this conflict. - Yours, etc.,
RAYMOND DEANE,
Chairman,
Ireland Palestine
Solidarity Campaign,
Dublin 1.