Letters

Never a time for war

Binyamin Netanyahu quotes the Bible

Wed Nov 01 2023 - 04:00

Sir, – Unicef officials told the UN Security Council emergency meeting that “more than 420 children are being killed or injured in Gaza every day”.

The Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has quoted the Bible to justify Israeli military actions in Gaza: “The Bible says there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.”

There are many versions of the Bible, and the truth of its messages are often lost in translations or manipulations. It is not the first time that religion and religious beliefs have been misused to justify the unjustifiable. The Middle East and the wider world is being torn apart by unjustified wars.

Now is the time for international peace. Now is the time to speak out against war crimes. Now is the time to show love and never to hate. There should never be a time for war.

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– Yours, etc,

EDWARD HORGAN,

Castletroy,

Limerick.

Sir, – Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeals to the Bible to justify his rejection of a ceasefire in Gaza: “The Bible says there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is the time for war.”

President Vladimir Putin also justifies his war against the Ukrainian people on religious grounds.

This is nothing new, as the Bible has been weaponised to justify the ethnic cleansing and enslavement of the peoples of South America, Africa and the justification of South African apartheid.

Both of these leaders cynically contradict the biblical tradition of justice, mercy and peace as preached by Moses, the Jewish prophets and Jesus Christ.

God, whether she is called Yahweh, Elohim or Allah is a God of compassion whose sole passion is for justice and takes the side of the powerless and oppressed.

Religious leaders need to reclaim this God of compassion and stand up for their sisters and brothers in Gaza crying out for justice and mercy who feel abandoned in the hell of Gaza. – Yours, etc,

BRENDAN BUTLER,

Drumcondra,

Dublin 9.

Sir, – Nowhere in Fintan O’Toole’s article about the Israel/Hamas war is there any mention of the elephant in the room (“Israel can take Gaza. But it cannot leave it”, Opinion, October 31st). Hamas has pledged to not just wipe Israel off the map but to eradicate its Jewish population.

How exactly is Israel to make peace with such an organisation? Perhaps we Irish are the last people to offer advice to the Israelis given that we are lucky enough to live in a state that spends more money on biscuits for its army than it spends on tanks and fighter jets. – Yours etc,

KARL MARTIN,

Bayside,

Dublin 13.

Sir, – Fintan O’Toole’s article should be essential reading for all schools and visited by debating societies everywhere (“Israel can take Gaza. But it cannot leave it”, Opinion, October 31st). One of our greatest journalists calls on all of us to be missionaries for peace. – Yours, etc,

EAMONN MAGEE,

Clontarf,

Dublin 3.

Sir, – More than 8,000 men, women and children were brutally massacred at Srebrenica in July 1995. This is remembered with particular shame because of the failures of the UN at that time.

More than 8,000 people have now died in Gaza as a result of relentless Israeli air strikes and shelling. The dead include more than 3,000 children. The United States and a number of European countries stand behind Israel.

I believe the world will look back on this preventable catastrophe with similar shame. It is happening in plain sight. – Yours, etc.

FINTAN LANE,

Lucan,

Co Dublin.