Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the deaths of so many children in Gaza would haunt the world forever if it remained silent in the face of Israel’s continuing collective punishment for the October 7th Hamas attack.
In the first major speech of his week-long visit to the United States, Mr Varadkar told an audience in Massachusetts on Monday evening that nobody could avert their eyes when thousands of children were being killed.
Speaking at an event in the John F Kennedy Library in Boston, Mr Varadkar made what was seen as one of his most forceful condemnations of Israel’s continued onslaught on Gaza, honing in on the toll on children, thousands of whom have died, and many thousands more of whom have been injured.
“The life of a child is the greatest gift of all. Childhood should be a blessing. Today in Gaza, for so many it is a death sentence and a curse,” he said.
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He condemned the attack by Hamas on October 7th as an unspeakable act of terrorism.
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The Taoiseach said that there were innocent men, women and children now suffering for the “sins” of that attack, adding they should not be subject to collective punishment.
“The cries of the innocent will haunt us forever if we stay silent. The cries will engender more retaliation and beget more violence and revenge. No child ever gave their consent for terrorist acts. No child should ever be punished for them,” he said.
The Taoiseach said it was unconscionable that children were dying not just as a result of relentless bombing and destruction, but of hunger and thirst and from an absence of medical treatment and care.
“If we are not consistent – if we do not see and respect the equal value of a child of Israel and a child of Palestine – then the global south, most of the world in fact, will not listen when we call for them to stand by the rules and institutions that are the bedrock of a civilised world.
“We will all be losers and our world will be infinitely less secure,” he said.
The Taoiseach’s speech came after President Michael D Higgins issued a strongly worded statement on the obstruction of aid to Gaza.
Mr Varadkar said that Ireland would continue to call for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and a massive and sustained increase in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
“From our own painful history, we know that a ceasefire does not mean surrender. A ceasefire does not mean weakness. A ceasefire does not mean forgiveness.
“A ceasefire means hope. It means breaking free of the perpetual cycle of violence, recrimination and retaliation. It means believing in our shared humanity instead of a need for revenge,” he said.
In a speech that referred to the inspirational leadership of the late US president Kennedy, and his brother Bobby Kennedy, Mr Varadkar also said he spoke “publicly and openly” against Russia’s unprovoked imperialist invasion of Ukraine.
He said when he meets US president Joe Biden later this week, he would thank him for the strong support the US has taken in opposing the war of aggression by Russia.
“Some try to ignore the conflict but fail to realise that the conflict will not ignore them. Ukraine is facing an adversary that will not stop there. As an international community we must speak out, and we must act, because if Ukraine falls so too will a shadow that will bring darkness to us all. We must not forget the lessons of the 1930s in Europe. You cannot appease a dictator.”
He said when he heard people talk of “Ukraine fatigue” he thought of the men and women in that country who continued to make incredible sacrifices to defend their territorial integrity.
“We cannot say to them that we are ‘fatigued’ by this in the face of their enormous sacrifice and their incredible bravery.”
Turning to Ireland, Mr Varadkar praised the contribution of the Kennedy family over the decades on behalf of peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
“When president Kennedy visited Galway in 1963, he joked with the locals that, if they squinted out across Galway Bay, and if the conditions were just right, and if their sight was good enough, they could just about glimpse Boston.
“Today in Ireland we don’t need to strain our sight to see Boston.”
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