Madam, - It seems that my observations on the strength of the Jewish lobby in the US, and the support which it has helped to generate in the US government for the state of Israel, have been taken by a number of your correspondents (January 5th, 7th and 8th) as being anti-Semitic. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My observations were not anti-Semitic. Surely one can be critical of the views of the Jewish lobby in the US and the policies of the Israeli government as they relate to Palestine without being castigated as anti-Semitic - or worse, being accused by Ruairi Quinn TD of being reminiscent of Hitler's Mein Kampfview of the "Jewish conspiracy to destroy the world", God help us. This is not a time for fancy rhetoric, but rather a time for political action, where I would have thought Mr Quinn would be leading the charge.
I believe I merely stated a few indisputable facts, as follows:
1. Although comprising only about 2 per cent of the US population, the Jews form a very powerful and effective lobby, punching well above their weight, particularly within the Democratic Party.
2. The Jewish lobby in US politics has consistently supported the policies of the Israeli government. Of course there are individual Jews and Jewish agencies which disagree with this unconditional support, but they are a minority and have marginal influence in the Washington corridors of power.
3. The US government, undoubtedly influenced by this powerful Jewish lobby, has always been very supportive of the actions of the Israeli government and has vetoed a number of United Nations resolutions which were critical of Israel and its continued occupation of the Palestinian territories, but which had the overwhelming support of the other countries in the UN, including Ireland.
So, while I acknowledge and greatly admire the strength and effectiveness of the Jewish lobby in the US indeed their extraordinarily generous financial support for the state of Israel over many years (and wonder why the Irish lobby there can't be even half as good), I am surely entitled, without any shade whatsoever of anti-Semitism, to be profoundly critical of what they are supporting and to shout it loudly to the high heavens if I wish.
Please therefore allow me to restate my observation that the strategy of the Israeli government in building that 8-metre high, 720km-long barrier into and across the Palestinian lands is wrong, absolutely wrong, and politically counter-productive. In particular, the encircling of the small town of Bethlehem, effectively making it a ghetto into or out of which Palestinians travel with great difficulty, is totally ill-conceived.
If there is to be any hope of peace in that troubled land, the Israeli fleet of bulldozers, currently engaged in destroying Palestinian homes along the route of the barrier, where families have lived for many generations, should be turned around to knock it down. I refer Ruairi Quinn, and any others who are interested in getting pictures and true stories of the tragic situation there, to visit the website of the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights (www.btselem.org). - Yours, etc,
JOHN KELLY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.