Madam, - The lengthy polemic by Rory Miller and Alan Shatter defending Israel's appalling bombardment of Lebanon (Opinion & Analysis, August 15th) can essentially be summed up in the childish refrain that "we're not the only ones".
Of course Israel is not the only rogue state. Of course other states, and organisations like Hizbullah, are also guilty of committing atrocities. But this fact does not excuse or justify the war crimes committed by Israel against the civilian population of Lebanon, so eloquently reported by Lara Marlowe and others in this paper.
Contrary to the Miller/Shatter assertion, while thousands of Irish people have been moved to protest against Israel, many thousands have also protested against atrocities committed by other states - including Arab states - at different times. However, there are important reasons why the Israeli bombing of Lebanon is such a focus of protest. Western governments have been particularly complicit for many years in arming Israel, in ignoring the plight of the Palestinians, and over recent weeks in delaying the welcome onset of a ceasefire. Irish people may also feel particularly strongly about the destruction of Lebanon, given the long record of our UN peacekeepers there.
In short, Israel may not be the only one, but that is no reason not to protest against Israeli aggression now. - Yours, etc,
IVANA BACIK, Law School, Trinity College, Dublin 2.
Madam, - The point made by Alan Shatter and Rory Miller - that some of the other atrocities they list were not condemned in the Dáil or on the streets - is a valid one. I have always called for denunciation of all such outrages, especially on the streets, where the focus has been mainly on the war crimes of the US and Israel. But is this because both countries pretend to be democratic, free, just, and observant of international law? I hope he condemned every one of those terrible crimes when he was head of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee.
The fact that other Arab states have also behaved abominably towards Palestinians does not excuse Israel. In fact this merely underlines the folly of Israel allying itself with the US, which has armed, bribed and colluded with many of the evil regimes which Alan Shatter condemns, including Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Congo under Mobutu, etc. He could have added Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Kazakstan, Afghanistan under the Taliban and under the warlords, Bin Laden, etc.
The simplistic point that "Israel has a right to defend itself" must always be answered. Of course all nations (and many peoples denied nationhood) have a right to defend themselves. The point is how they may defend themselves.
They may not defend themselves by bombing towns and villages full of innocent people, even if terrorists hide there or even if some of their people are sympathetic to those terrorists (called freedom fighters by some). The Geneva Conventions forbid this. Israel, like its ally the US, whose rhetoric and indiscriminate bombings it now imitates, must obey international law and the Geneva Conventions.
They may not defend themselves by responding to a border incident with the illegal invasion of a sovereign state and an all-out war, knowingly killing thousands of innocent people, ruining the infrastructure, and destroying for decades (perhaps forever) beaches, marine life, fishing and livelihoods.
They may not bomb fleeing civilians, after telling them to flee. They may not bomb ambulances and hospitals. They may not prohibit ambulances, first aid, the Red Cross and other aid or relief agencies from attending to victims.
They may not deny food and water to innocent people trapped by their military. They may not use cluster bombs, which though not yet outlawed, are regarded by most decent militaries as obscene and not to be used.
Alan Shatter cannot deny any of this. - Yours, etc,
GERALDINE McDERMOTT, Moycullen, Co Galway.
Madam, - The article by Rory Miller and Alan Shatter should be compulsory reading for all appeasers of dictators and of fascists (including Islamic ones), for masters of the half-truth, for populist politicians, for the enemies of Israel and the United States and of democracy and the rule of law. And indeed for the enemies of truth itself.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. And it looks like it will be the only one for a very long time to come. - Is mise,
BEAIRTLE Ó CONGHAILE, Cúirt an Choláiste, Dún Dealgan, Co Lú.
Madam, - The Shatter/Miller collaborative piece was strange indeed. Let's play along and assume that all those who have written to you conveying their anger and disgust at the slaughter of innocent women and children by the Israeli army are anti-American, anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli or whatever.
Does that make the outrageous and murderous behaviour of the Israeli army and their leaders somehow acceptable? - Yours, etc,
JIM O'SULLIVAN, Rathedmond, Sligo.
Madam, - I can understand that Lara Marlowe the person is upset about the deaths and destruction in Lebanon. She has lived there for many years and is understandably sympathetic to the plight of the hapless Lebanese citizens.
However, Lara Marlowe the journalist is grossly irresponsible to launch epithets such as "mass murder", and "terrorist state" at Israel and is being simplistic in suggesting that political leaders support Israel for fear of being called "anti-Semitic." Heaven help me, I am already depressed enough at Irish knee-jerk, anti-Israeli attitudes and the pathological pre-occupation with Israeli behaviour so clearly outlined by Rory Miller and Alan Shatter.
In Ms Marlowe's world, the fact that the Israeli air force has a reputation for pin-point accuracy (unlike Hizbullah and Hamas) implies that, when they make mistakes, it must mean that, for some strange reason, they deliberately set out to murder women and children and moped riders! As for me, I wonder what would happen if the arsenals were swapped around and Hizbullah had the fire-power that the Israelis now have. God forbid! - Yours etc.
PADRAIG Ó SUILLEABHÁIN, South Circular Road, Limerick.
Madam, - The Israeli military, with the backing of the United States and Britain, engaged in a brutal war of terror against the Lebanese people, which killed more than 1,000 innocent Lebanese civilians, a third of them children and left many Lebanese towns and villages in ruins.
The international community now has a moral duty to ensure that those Israelis responsible for the war crime of collective punishments against Lebanese civilians face justice, and that Israel and its backers pay full reparations to Lebanon for the deaths and damage inflicted on the country. - Yours, etc,
MAIRTIN Ó GLIOSÁIN, Athenry, Co Galway.