Sir, – Your otherwise insightful editorial "The Irish Times view on the clashes in Jerusalem: Fuel to the fire" (May 10th) misrepresents "the central issue in the current court case".
The Sheikh Jarrah homes from which Palestinian families face imminent eviction are not being reclaimed by their original owners, or indeed their descendents.
The Jordanian government has supplied the Palestinian Authority with UN-certified deeds establishing that it built the homes for 28 Palestinian refugee families in 1956.
This, and similar eviction campaigns, are being driven through Israeli courts by pro-settlement organisations such as Ateret Cohanim and the US-registered Nahalat Shimon International, which are intent on changing the demographic make-up of Occupied East Jerusalem.
It must also be noted that regardless of the specific details of this case, Israel’s application of its domestic law to the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
As the largely one-sided carnage continues, and as Israeli spokespeople inevitably invoke Israel’s “right to defend itself”, we must be clear on the rights, and wrongs, of how this latest episode began. – Yours, etc,
BETTY PURCELL,
Dublin 6W.
Sir, – Your description of Jerusalem Day as the day “when Israel commemorates its capture of the Holy City, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War” (Editorial, May 10th) is incorrect. Since 1968, Jerusalem Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Israel commemorating the liberation of East Jerusalem from Jordanian control and the reunification of the city after the 1967 Six Day War. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the West Bank or Gaza. – Yours, etc,
DAVID M ABRAHAMSON,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Speaking to RTÉ on Monday evening, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney described the Israeli state’s actions in East Jerusalem as “aggressive security responses to legitimate protest”.
Given that the Israeli state’s unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem has never been recognised by Ireland, the EU or the UN, our leaders must not grant its violent and discriminatory actions there the legitimacy associated with the term “security responses”.
When global leaders begin by unthinkingly echoing the discourse of the Israeli state, and thereby intellectually acquiescing to its ongoing military domination of the Palestinian people, there is little hope that multilateral diplomacy can lead to a just or lasting peace. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.