Sir, – Margaret Cahill (November 26th), while well-meaning, is mistaken in her comparison of the IRA’s occasional bombings of the UK with Hamas’s constant and regular missile /rocket attacks on Israel since 2005.
The IRA never won an election in the North; Hamas was elected in 2006 and comprises the government of the Gaza area.
The IRA never wanted to destroy the UK per se, while Hamas wants Israel to “disappear” by fair means or foul .
While the recent war was going on Israel was sending hundreds of truckloads of supplies to Gaza each day and continued to supply electricity to the area. Why should it supply its adversaries? One wonders what aid the Muslim countries such as Egypt, Tunisia , Turkey Sudan and Qatar are sending to Gaza. We now know that Iran is sending them missiles – not food. TV pictures showed busy markets with locally grown products.
The people of Hong Kong live in more crowded conditions – and they thrive .
From Gaza, the TV pictures of “the densely packed areas” Ms Cahill mentions do seem to show many well built multi-storey blocks with sea-view balconies and wide boulevards and many wide open fields from which Hamas launches missiles.
Not everything is as it seems and Ms Cahill’s comparisons are odious and invidious. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Kevin Kenny (November 26th) complains of the “Disproportionate amount of coverage” giving to the flaring up of tensions in Gaza strip. He then complains that Israel is made out to look like “big bad Israel”. Yet the facts speak for themselves.
Israel’s slaughter of innocent civilians is a fact. In the most recent bombardment of Gaza, 162 humans were slaughtered compared to five Israeli dead. Most of the dead were civilians, women and children included. The people of Gaza have no army, no navy and no air force. Yet Mr Kenny expects the world to sit idly by while the slaughter took hold.
As one who has been to the Gaza Strip, I can vouch for the inhuman conditions inflicted on the people there by the blockade they have endured for many years. Yet the people there welcomed us with open arms and gave us what little food they had. In their continuing occupation of Palestine, Israel continues to flout more UN resolutions than any other country in the world. Settlers continue to steal land and build their houses where for centuries Palestinian people toiled to feed their families. Yet Mr Kenny would have us believe this is some kind of war between two armies and that Israel is wrongly chastised. It is no such thing.
What took place in Gaza last week and for years before is not a war. It is the slaughter of the innocents and I am proud that the vast majority of people in Ireland recognise it for what it is. – Is mise,