Sir, – Last October, Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories, published a report in which Ireland was named as one of the third states complicit in Israel’s systemic violations of international law.
This complicity included dual-use trade valued at $3.2 billion in 2024 and the trans-shipment to Israel through Shannon Airport of weapons, military parts and personnel. We can now add to that complicity the use of Shannon by aircraft deporting eight Palestinian men from the United States to Israel abducted by the widely reviled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency (Use of Shannon Airport to deport Palestinians from US `reprehensible,’” February 6th). Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has condemned the “arbitrary and unlawful arrests and detentions” carried out by Ice as well as their “flawed removal decisions”.
For Ireland to be a cog in Ice operations is abhorrent, making it complicit in the agency’s human rights abuses. Ireland should immediately cease all use of Shannon Airport by Ice and the US military which is a flagrant abuse of Irish neutrality. – Yours etc,
STEPHEN McCLOSKEY,
READ MORE
Director,
Centre for Global Education,
Belfast
Sir, – After weeks of muted media coverage of Gaza and the West Bank, your report on the use of Shannon Airport to deport Palestinians from the US felt like a gut punch; another example of the Irish Government looking the other way.
It is mere weeks since Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney warned in his Davos speech of the dangers of looking away, and spoke of the complicity of the shopkeeper who – by keeping the “Workers of the world unite” sign in his shop window – lent legitimacy to the communist system.
In allowing use of Shannon Airport, are we not signalling our acceptance of US policies which are morally corrupt and diminishing of all humanity? As Trump continues to flood the zone with policies designed to destroy the weak and instil fear in us all, are we really ready to sit on our hands, and more specifically to sit on the one piece of legislation that would show some moral courage in the face of injustice and inhumanity? It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that official Ireland remains intent on silence, on bending the knee, on “keeping the sign in the window” rather than demonstrating the courage needed to pass the Occupied Territories Bill in full. – Yours, etc,
OLIVE GANLY,
Naas,
Co Kildare
