Letters to the Editor: We must speak up about the atrocities in Gaza
Gaza Buildings Israeli Wake Picture: Hana/ap Adel In Of Refugee In Nuseirat Strip Lying The In Recent Bombardment In Camp The Ruins
Well said, Séamas O’Reilly (‘The constant atrocity in Gaza beamed into our pockets risks leaving us numb’ — Irish Examiner, January 13) for describing the reality of the unbearable horror of Gaza.
Amid ‘the roll call of atrocity’ of lives lost, including medics and journalists, countless thousands injured and trapped forever under rubble, homes and hospitals destroyed, which had to fill an entire page, one sentence stood out even from all that:
Imagine if this happened to just one child in the West? The article by Séamas O’Reilly should be on the front page. The media needs to scream about the Gaza situation. Every Saturday, hundreds march in Cork City and around the country, urging those in power to do something.
Last Saturday, 1,000 people marched down St Patrick’s Street in Cork. There was no mention of this on news bulletins. Why? Ordinary people feel helpless, but marching is one way of giving a message to those with the power to do something.
Jennifer Horgan’s article on Cork’s Mater Dei Academy (‘The ultra-Catholic Cork school you might not know exists’ — Irish Examiner, January 15) provides an interesting opening to Catholic Schools’ Week.
Depending upon one’s world view, it can be seen as either a free full-page advertisement or a full-page hatchet job against a small group of parents providing an interesting Catholic education for their children.
From a parental perspective, Mater Dei Academy honours our Irish Constitutional Declaration in favour of the primacy of parental rights, and as such is to be welcomed rather than decried.
Surely Mater Dei parents and staff should merit the same respect as parents and staff at the Educate Together school where Jennifer Horgan teaches.
The article refers to Bishop Fintan Gavin’s visit to the school and the students participation in a Corpus Christi procession. There is nothing unusual in a bishop visiting a Catholic school in his diocese, Canon Law obliges him to do so once every five years.
Catholic schools taking part in major Catholic celebrations is par for the course for all Catholic schools.
The curriculum provided by Mater Dei Academy seems very similar to that offered by several London Catholic state schools including one attended by children of senior Catholic politicians of all major political parties.
Thank you for Jennifer Horgan’s very interesting article on Monday. I attended Farranferris in its previous function as secondary school/ seminary in the years from 1963 to 1966.
I went there as a 13-year-old, young, bright, optimistic, quite religious, and with a great love of hurling (Farranferris had won the Colleges All-Ireland Senior Hurling in 1963).
I left after three years having been on the receiving end of a brutal corporal punishment regime carried out mainly by gentlemen who represented the Diocese of Cork who effectively owned the school.
So much for the much-vaunted Irish Catholic ethos. I did not detect any caring Christian ethos there.
What gave these teachers the right to beat up children? Other boys in my class endured much more physical and psychological humiliation than me. The effects of this brutal corporal punishment regime endure until this day. And this ‘ethos’ applies to every school in Cork who employed gentlemen who believed in the liberal use of the cane or the strap.
So congratulations to the Mater Dei Academy and good luck in your quest for the reinstatement of the ultra-Catholic ethos. I hope it is not at the expense of Christianity and common decency, as was the case in my direct experience from 1963 to 1966.
The world, it seems, is in absolute turmoil.
US and UK strikes on Houthis in Yemen and in other theatres like Syria, Iraq, where Iran-backed terrorists are fighting on many fronts, could see an expansion of a Middle East war involving many countries. Could we see a world war on many fronts?
The reality is that while there is no peace settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis, with the ongoing conflict in Gaza, countries in some Western democracies will be forced to take sides, whether through accident or allegiance.
Neutral countries like Ireland are now forced to make a decision as to who they support.
The ongoing war in Ukraine, where Russia is being supplied with missiles and drones by North Korea and Iran, shows this war involves many protagonists with no end in sight.
Will we see an escalation or heightened security at our ports or airports, given that there are many lone wolves, brainwashed by ideology or extremist faith, that could bring this conflict to our cities, towns, and villages in European countries?
We have seen what can happen as happened in Paris and St Denis in November 2015 by Islamic extremists and as recently as December 2023 near the Eiffel Tower.
Attacks in London in 2005 and 2019; and in Christchurch mosque in New Zealand; El Paso in the US; and the synagogue killings in Halle, Germany, also in 2019; shows the inherent threat posed by those who are willing to take the Middle East conflict to Europe and elsewhere.
South Africa’s genocide case, brought to the International Courts of Justice, will only increase the division and the sense of injustice, highlighted by victims of the Israeli and Arab conflict, and will force countries in Western democracies to take sides.
The question for all of us is who will be brave enough to stand as peacemaker, given the alliances and distrust by an already discredited UN Security Council?
We are on the brink of disaster. Now is a time for cool heads and deep reflection.
It is interesting to look at the disparity in the joint US/EU treatment of Ukraine and Gaza. Both cases are similar, according to the UN — with Russia and Israel illegally occupying Ukraine and Gaza, respectively.
In the case of Ukraine and Russian aggression, there is wholehearted support by the US and EU for the victim.
In the case of Gaza, on the other hand, the support — on the whole — from both powers is for Israel, the aggressor.
The EU gates were opened immediately for the millions of Ukrainian refugees when the war started, with hospitality that no other similar victims had seen in the past. However, no such welcome has been offered for the people of Gaza.
Ukraine is also a huge country with most of it not affected by the war, which is mostly confined to the eastern Donbas region. The people of Gaza, on the other hand, have no means of escape from their tiny enclave.
There were also massive, draconian sanctions against everything Russian. This was not only economic but included sports and arts. Concerts were cancelled and Russian artists, writers, and musicians were boycotted.
There have been no meaningful sanctions against Israel at any level, whether economic or cultural. It can still partake in the Eurovision Song
Contest.
The asymmetries in terms of arms supplies are also stark. While the West supplies Ukraine, the victim, with billions in arms, it also sells considerable arms to Israel, the aggressor. It also threatens sanctions to any regime that supports the Palestinians.
Ireland, uniquely in Europe, has made its voice known in condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.
We should also support Palestine by recognising its right to have a sovereign state rather than slavishly following European policy in this regard.