Stunned by War Propaganda
Letter from Roger Cole awaiting publication
Letter to the Editor
Irish Times
9/3/2024
Dear Editor,
The Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer was in Ireland last week for an official visit at the invitation of the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, and whilst here he addressed a meeting of the Institute for International and European Affairs. The IIEA receives funding from various government departments including the Department of Defence.
A report on this meeting in the Irish Times (8/3/24) by Stephen Collins stated that EU ambassadors were stunned by Admiral Rob Bauer remarks, it was not a question of "if " Russia would invade the EU, but simply a matter of "when ".
In recent months, we have witnessed a sustained war propaganda campaign by EU and NATO leaders aimed at convincing European citizens that Russia is bent on invading Europe, we must prepare for war by heavily boosting our “defence” capabilities. At the same time NATO has begun its largest military exercise in Europe since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender 2024, involving 90,000 troops, 50 ships and more than 80 fighter jets.
I find it hard to understand how Stephen Collins or those EU ambassadors who attended this IIEA meeting were stunned by this war propaganda. Perhaps a more balanced report would also suggest that Ireland as a neutral country should be working to reduce tensions between NATO and Russia before we are dragged into an all-out war, a nuclear war.
Let’s start with more genuine and open public debate on our International and European Affairs.
Yours Sincerely
Roger Cole
Chair
Peace & Neutrality Alliance
—
Why we should ensure our Neutrality is strengthened instead of just Abandoned
This letter by Edward Horgan was published in the Irish Independent on Saturday 23rd March 2024
Dear Editor,
Our Irish Government seems determined to bring Ireland ever closer to participating in unjustified wars and ending Irish neutrality by removing the Triple Lock which specifies that UN approval is necessary to send more than twelve Irish soldiers on overseas missions. Such a decision goes against the wishes of the vast majority of the Irish people who value active Irish neutrality.
226 Irish soldiers served in Afghanistan in NATO-led missions between 2001 and 2016. These soldiers included several members of the Army Ranger Wing, but it is not clear in what specific roles they served in. The Afghan war has been a disaster for the people of Afghanistan.
In 2022 the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that the court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, can proceed with a formal investigation into atrocities allegedly committed during the armed conflict in Afghanistan. by U.S. armed forces and CIA personnel.
In 2020, the Australian Defence Force released findings from a four-year inquiry which found credible evidence that Australian special forces soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people during the Afghan war.In December 2022 the British government announced an inquiry into allegations that SAS soldiers murdered scores of unarmed people during night raids in Afghanistan. This follows BBC Panorama revelations, in July 2022, that one SAS unit killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances.
Conor Gallagher’s book, (Is Ireland Neutral?) reveals that an Irish soldier serving in Afghanistan helped “to track down and kill Taliban bombers. This included assisting US forces in directing airstrikes against targets responsible for IED attacks.” Irish soldiers should not be involved in such missions.
With our history of centuries of colonial abuse, including starvation, we must strengthen our neutrality, not abandon it.
Edward Horgan,
Castletroy,
Limerick
—
The Triple Lock
Copy of e-mail by Anthony Coughlan sent to all TDs and Senators on the Triple Lock. 1 May 2024.
Dear Deputy, dear Senator,
May I appeal to you on behalf of my colleagues and myself to use your influence to counter Tanaiste Micheál Martin’s unwise and untimely proposal to abolish the Triple Lock which prevents Irish troops being sent on military missions abroad without a United Nations mandate.
Abolishing the Triple Lock would enable Ireland to participate without limit in the current Ukrainian war, as in the past it would have allowed us to take part in the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the Libyan war and other NATO/EU operations that did not have a UN mandate. It would mark a virtual end to any meaningful neutrality policy for Ireland.
Taking such a step would be a significant symbolic blow to the authority of the United Nations, which Ireland has always supported, at a time when that authority is being challenged as never before over the war in Gaza.
More importantly, it would be a breach of the solemn "National Declarations" that were made on behalf of Ireland by the Bertie Ahern Government in 2002 and the Brian Cowen Government in 2009 in order to get the Nice and Lisbon Treaty referendums through a second time round after Irish voters had rejected those Treaties previously, largely out of concern at their possible effects on Irish neutrality.
These “National Declarations” by Ireland – issued with a capital “N” and capital “D” at the time! – were formally recognised and responded to by the European Council of EU Prime Ministers and Presidents in 2002 and 2009 respectively, and were formally associated with the legal instruments of ratification of the Nice and Lisbon Treaties when these were deposited in Rome. Repudiating them now may arguably be a breach of international law under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
It was because of these National Declarations to maintain the Triple Lock – in principle indefinitely – that large numbers of Irish voters changed their votes between the Nice One and Nice Two referendums in 2001 and 2002, and the Lisbon One and Lisbon Two referendums in 2008 and 2009 – thereby enabling these EU treaties to be ratified and come into force. The Lisbon Treaty, as you know, implemented the EU’s Constitution.
The commitments of the Ahern and Cowen Governments to maintain the Triple Lock at the time of the Nice and Lisbon Treaty referendums were supported by all parties in the Dáil and Seanad. Abandoning them now would assuredly induce deep public cynicism about Irish politicians and their promises and be a profoundly unhealthy development in our public life – not least when the agreed “Programme for Government” of the current administration contained an explicit commitment to maintain the Triple Lock.
As you doubtless are aware, Article 27 of the Constitution provides for the President to refer any Oireachtas Bill to the people for a referendum if one-third of the members of the Dáil and one-half of the Senate sign a petition to the President requesting that on the ground that "the Bill contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained."
We have never had such a referendum before, but overriding the solemn commitments given to the people by two Irish Governments on behalf of the State in the Nice and Lisbon Treaty referendums would seem clearly to amount to "a proposal of such national importance".
Securing one-third of the Dáil and one-half of the Senate to support such a petition to the President should realistically be possible if concerned TDs and Senators went about it in a committed fashion. May we urge you therefore to consult with your Oireachtas colleagues with a view to organising or supporting such an Article 27 petition to the President if the Government should introduce and put through the Oireachtas a Bill to abolish the Triple Lock.
Standing by those Nice and Lisbon referendum commitments is surely something that all TDs and Senators of integrity should support.
To assist you in considering this matter I shall put in the post for you in the next few days photocopies of the “National Declaration” by Ireland and the responding Declaration by the European Council of EU Prime Ministers and Presidents – the so-called Seville Declarations of 2002, which were repeated for the Lisbon Two referendum in 2009. These are taken from the Government’s Information Guide on the 2002 Treaty of Nice. The Government’s Declaration at the time of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty is copied from the statutory Referendum Commission’s Extended Guide, introduced by its chairman Mr Justice Frank Clarke, which was issued to Irish voters at that time. I shall also send you a copy of a useful editorial on this matter which the Sunday Times carried last December when abolishing the Triple Lock was first mooted, setting out reasons why this should not be done.
Hoping that you may find these points, together with the enclosures I am putting in the post for you, of use as you consider this important matter with your Oireachtas colleagues…
Yours sincerely
Anthony Coughlan
Spokesman
(Associate Professor Emeritus in Social Policy, TCD)
—
Triple Lock protects Irish Neutrality
This letter by Roger Cole /PANA was published in the Irish Daily Mail on Friday 3rd May, and again in the Irish Times on Saturday 4th May 2024. Both were slightly edited. 2 May 2024.
Letter to the Editor,
The Triple Lock mechanism sets out the conditions under which more than 12 Irish troops may participate in overseas peace support operations.
For troops to take part, the operation must be mandated by the United Nations, and it must be approved by the Government and by Dáil Éireann.
Spelling out the Triple Lock in the 2002 Seville Declaration was the key factor used to persuade the Irish people to change their vote on the Nice Treaty referendum.
On his arrival at the recent Brussels summit of EU leaders last week, Taoiseach Simon Harris stated that the Irish government had plans to abandon the Triple Lock and to support further moves towards EU militarisation.The decision of the FF/FG/GP government to destroy the Triple Lock means that they can send the Irish Defence Forces to take part in a war without United Nations approval.
Last year Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin decided to withdraw Irish troops from the UN peacekeeping mission on the Golan Heights in order as he suggests to have the capacity to fulfil his commitment to EU Battlegroups 2024/2025.
This Government now appears committed to totally destroying Irish neutrality and the core role of the United Nations. All three government parties supported the Triple Lock in their election manifesto at the last election. Perhaps they now fear allowing people express their opinions on these issues through a referendum. But in the upcoming June elections the electorate may express their anger that a key pre-election promise that protected our neutrality in Irish foreign policy was abandoned.
Yours Sincerely
Roger Cole,
Chair,
Peace & Neutrality Alliance,
Dalkey Business Centre, 17 Castle Street,
Dalkey, Co. Dublin
—
End US military use of Shannon Airport
This letter was published in the weekly paper ‘The Kerryman’ on Wednesday 15 May.
SIR,
The Genocide Convention 1948 states in Article III (e) that: The following acts shall be punishable: (e) Complicity in genocide. Article IV states that: Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
While the case taken by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice will likely take several years to reach a final judgement, it should be clear to all reasonable observers that serious war crimes, amounting to genocide, are being committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.
The governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and several of the most powerful European Union governments have been actively supporting the Israeli attacks on Gaza by supplying huge amounts of weapons and munitions, as well as offering political support, and are therefore actively complicit in war crimes and genocide.By allowing the US military to use Shannon Airport since October 7, 2023, the Irish Government are at least indirectly complicit in these war crimes and acts of genocide.
Since at least 35,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed so far in Gaza, Irish complicity in this slaughter must be ended immediately by ending US military use of Shannon airport.
By allowing US military use of Shannon, the Irish government has been acting on the wrong side of history, and on the wrong side of international and humanitarian laws,
Sincerely,
Edward Horgan,
Castletroy,
Limerick
—
EU’s Military Power
This letter by Elizabeth Cullen was published in the Irish Examiner on Thursday 16th May.
Dear Sir,
For the past 20 years, the EU has been moving to be a military power. The recent report by the Transnational Institute details how this has happened, namely out of public view, driven by the EU's own interests, and with very little oversight.
The only democratically elected institution in the EU, the European parliament has very limited decision making power in relation to foreign policy. The so-called European Peace Facility, which funds EU military missions, is beyond any democratic scrutiny.
In a world which more than ever needs peace, Ireland must stand up to the military-industrial complex, keep the triple lock and take seriously its constitutional obligation to be peacemakers.
Yours sincerely
Elizabeth Cullen
Thomastown
Kilcullen
Co Kildare
—
Allowing US military use of Shannon Airport makes Ireland complicit in war
This letter published in at least 2 papers today (Wednesday 22nd May), and it was published in full by both the Irish Independent and the Irish Daily Mail. It coincides with the announcements of recognition by Ireland and others of the Palestinian state. This recognition of Palestine as a state is a very important development also.
Dear Editor
The Irish government is responding to the wishes of the vast majority of the electorate by moving, albeit belatedly, to recognise Palestine as a state.
This decision is to be welcomed. The decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders should also be welcomed by all who value the rules of international and humanitarian laws. Complicity with war crimes and genocide is also a crime that comes within the remit of the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The US and several Nato and EU member states have been actively supportive of Israeli war crimes and probable genocide in Gaza, by supplying large amounts of the weapons and munitions that Israel has been using to commit those crimes.
By allowing US military aircraft to use Shannon Airport and Irish airspace, Ireland and its leaders and officials are at least indirectly complicit in war crimes and probable genocide.
Edward Horgan,
Castletroy,
Limerick
___
I had this letter published in the Irish Daily Mail on Monday 27th.
Over the past weekend, at least 200 Palestinians, mainly women and children, were murdered by Israeli bombing in Gaza, in several separate locations in Gaza. Edward
Condemn war crimes
Dear Editor,
The Jewish people suffered discrimination and pogroms for centuries leading up to the Holocaust, which was the most serious genocide in the history of humanity.
The victims of genocide include not only those who are killed during the genocide but also the survivors, and the future generations who should have been born to those who were murdered.
I and millions of others have campaigned to commemorate the Holocaust, and we should continue to do so, in spite of, and because of, what is now happening to the Palestinian people.
The damage caused by genocide and war crimes afflicts not only the victims, but also the perpetrators. Moral injury and PTSD are modern terms, but historical reality. The Israeli government, supported by the US and others, has been committing war crimes amounting to genocide, and many Jewish people in Israel and worldwide opposed to these crimes are also indirectly victims.
All racism including anti-Semitism is unjustified, but prejudice against Jewish people will likely rise because of what is happening in Gaza. It is not the students and others who are justifiably protesting against the actions of the Israeli government who are causing anti-Semitism. By our silence or inaction, we would be complicit. All war crimes and acts of terrorism whether committed by states or non-state groups such as Hamas must be condemned and prevented.
The proper and just application of international and humanitarian laws must be applied to end such wars and war crimes.
DR EDWARD HORGAN, Castletroy, Limerick.
___
Letter Sent to Newspapers on 29/5/2024 and still awaiting to be published…
Dear Editor,
The Government's plan to dismantle the Triple Lock, removing the requirement for UN authority when our troops are deployed overseas, breaks solemn Declarations given in order to override the people’s rejection of the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Either those declarations still hold, or they were deceptive from the start; either way, we should be wary of the current proposal.
The chairperson of Tánaiste Martin’s forum, Dame Louise Richardson, reported (a) that the UN needed to be reformed, and (b) that there was no consensus on the Triple Lock but that there was a “preponderance of views” against it. Even she had to note that this “preponderance” was “especially among the experts and practitioners”. This is hardly surprising given their “preponderance” within the Forum’s carefully selective line-up.
In 1995 the then Government formally invited lifelong UN servant Erskine Childers III to advise on a forthcoming foreign policy White Paper. He detailed how “a handful of governments” had hijacked and downgraded the UN and urged Ireland to work for reform. Tragically, successive Irish governments have systematically rejected his profound analysis and advice.
Their focus is rather on copperfastening the stranglehold over the UN of the “handful of governments” dominating the EU/NATO Strategic Partnership, even at the cost of preserving Russia’s and China’s vetoes. This emerged blatantly on St Patrick’s Day when then-Taoiseach Varadkar defended his failure even to question US arming of Israel with a contemptuous gibe: critics should “spend a bit more time reading foreign policy” – the staple fare of the Forum’s “experts and practitioners".
Yours etc.,
John Maguire
Professor of Sociology Emeritus,
University College Cork
___
Dear Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
World Beyond War Ireland Chapter welcomes the decision by the governments of Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognise the State of Palestine. We also welcome the initial ruling by International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January 2024 following a submission by South Africa, that Israel had a case to answer on a charge of genocide against the Palestinian people, and a further ruling by the ICJ on 24th May 2024 ordering Israel to halt its military operation in Gaza.
All states including Ireland who have ratified the Genocide Convention are obliged to comply with all the articles of this convention including Article III (e) that forbids being complicit in genocide. Compliance with Article 29 of the Irish Constitution and pursuing a policy of active neutrality are essential prerequisites for the Irish Government’s compliance with international and humanitarian laws.
We welcome also the decision by the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for crimes committed on and after 7th October 2023. Over the weekend 25/26th May 2024, over 200 Palestinian people, mainly women and children were killed in a series of bombing attacks in several locations in Gaza.
Since 7th October 2023 over 100 aircraft associated with the US military have been refuelled at Shannon airport on their war to and from the Middle East and eastern Europe, making Ireland complicit in serious war crimes.
With limited resources and a small population, Ireland can never be a military power. Our only role in military alliances will be towards providing our precious young people as soldiers whose role will be to kill the young soldiers of other countries, before being killed themselves. In World War 1 up 50,000 Irish soldiers died in a war they were told was a war to end all wars.
A nuclear World War 3, will be a real war to end all wars, as there may be no one left to fight a World War 4. The only sensible military and defence option for the Irish people, including our Irish diaspora, is to pursue a policy and practice of active neutrality with the active element focused primarily on promoting international peace and global justice, thereby lessening the risk of World War 3. Since the end of the Cold War successive Irish Governments, have been eroding Irish neutrality contrary to the wishes of the majority of the Irish people. Examples include:
Joining NATO’s Partnership for Peace.
Sending Irish soldiers on NATO and European Union led military missions that were falsely claimed to be peacekeeping or humanitarian.
Allowing the US military to use Shannon airport and Irish air space to wage wars of aggression against Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere.
Sending Irish soldiers to train Ukrainian soldiers and providing them with so-called non-lethal military equipment, for their war against Russia.
Planning to remove the triple lock under which Irish soldiers can be sent on overseas missions.
Being complicit in Israeli war crimes and probably genocide against the Palestinian people, by continuing to allow US military to use Shannon airport.
The most recent example of the erosion or ending of Irish neutrality is the appointment of Lt. General Sean Clancy to the position as Chairperson of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC). The Irish Government should not have nominated Lt General Clancy for this position, because in so doing it is a further substantial step towards ending Irish neutrality.
Historically since the foundation of the state, and especially since we joined the United Nations our senior politicians, diplomats, and the Irish Defence Forces have been to the forefront in promoting international peace, global justice and decolonisation. By abandoning active Irish neutrality, Ireland will be joining the US and NATO led West against the rest of humanity, and Ireland will end up on the wrong side of history.
World Beyond War Ireland Chapter earnestly supports the restoration of Irish neutrality and the continuation of Irish government support for the United Nations and for reform and compliance with international and humanitarian laws.
Yours sincerely,
Barry Sweeney
Signed on behalf of World Beyond War, Ireland Chapter.
___
Irish News, (11/7/2024)
Assange deserves nothing less than a total pardon
ANYBODY interested in a peaceful world will celebrate the belated release from prison of the political prisoner and award-winning journalist and publisher Julian Assange, whose work in the public interest has served the cause of peace-making.
Julian’s work sought to bring transparency and accountability to the dark, corrupt and criminal activity of governments and militaries, particularly the war crimes of the US government in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His work endangered nobody. The US government admitted under oath as far back as 2013 that it had not found any evidence that anyone had come to harm as a result of WikiLeaks publications.
Yet he was made to suffer incredibly, pursued by the US government while locked up in a tiny cell 23 hours a day for over five years in the notorious Belmarsh prison, often termed Britain’s Guantanamo.
Julian should never have been imprisoned and could have been released much earlier had media organisations and governments joined the international campaign to free him.
In October 2021, many people penned a detailed letter to the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, to lobby by all means necessary, including via Ireland’s then membership of the United Nations Security Council, for Julian’s release.
The letter was subsequently launched as an Uplift Campaign and signed by several hundred people including many Irish personalities and trade unionists.
We are still awaiting a reply from Simon Coveney.
If media pundits and organisations, including those who benefited from Julian’s journalism, are concerned that his understandable plea deal may restrict investigative journalism in the US then let them lead a campaign for a total pardon for Julian. He deserves no less.
JIM ROCHE
Dublin 1
___
Truth is again the first casualty of war
Letter to the Editor,
ALL those who support peace and neutrality will welcome the release of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange.
He has been freed after five years incarcerated in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison and travelled home to Australia after he agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of breaching the espionage law in the United States.
The United States sought to extradite Julian Assange, who is an Australian citizen, after the website WikiLeaks published thousands of US documents in 2010, some that exposed US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The politically motivated charges represent an unprecedented attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know – seeking to criminalise basic journalistic activity.
Throughout his years of imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement of people from around the world came together to support Julian and what he stands for – truth and justice. Hopefully this campaign will continue.
Sadly, the Irish government remained silent on the plight of Julian Assange and missed the chance to be on the right side of this important geopolitical issue, once again allowing truth to be the first casualty of war.
ROGER COLE
Peace & Neutrality Alliance
Dalkey
Co Dublin
___
Letter from Roger Cole to the Irish Times awaiting publication
Letter to the Editor,
Irish Times,
20/7/2024
Time for Diplomacy to end Ukraine war
Sir,
My congratulations to former Irish diplomat Dr Ray Bassett on his excellent letter published in the Irish Times (18/7/2024).
I agree with Dr Bassett, it is indeed time to stop this obscene conflict and in a way which guarantees the legitimate security interests of Ukraine and Russia. Yet the Irish Government continues to support the hardline no negotiation policy of Brussels and the Biden administration in Washington.
Opinion polls across Europe including Ireland show an ever-increasing number of people favouring immediate peace negotiations.
Let us remind everyone of that important Ipsos Omnipoll commissioned by PANA (May 2023) showing 87% of people in Ireland support a ceasefire to facilitate negotiations in the Ukraine war.
Yes indeed, time for diplomacy and to give peace a chance,
Yours,
Roger Cole,
Chair, Peace and Neutrality Alliance,
17, Castle Street,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin
https://www.pana.ie/posts/ipsos-omnipoll-on-war-in-ukraine
___
Irish Daily Mail, 26/7/2024
We must restore real respect for international law
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on 19 July 2024 on Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which has important implications for the rule of international law, and for all of humanity.
Given the Israeli war crimes and probably genocide in Gaza, the US invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to address the Houses of Congress is an afront to the proper rule of international laws and to most of humanity including to the Jewish people, who suffered catastrophically in the Holocaust.
A Lancet medical journal report estimates that the number of fatalities caused by Israeli military attacks on Gaza may reach 186,000. At least 108 media workers, and 366 UN staff and family members have been killed in Gaza.
There were at least 700,000 Israeli illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem prior to 7th October 2023. This does not include Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands prior to 1967.
The ICJ opinion obliges Israel to return all such illegal settlements to the Palestinian people or provide adequate compensation. Israel is not alone in breaches of international laws, and it has been supported by the US and by many members of NATO and the EU. The US-led wars of aggression since the end of the Cold War in breach of the UN Charter have caused the deaths of millions of innocent civilians, and trillions of dollars in destruction, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere. The Gaza war crimes must be a turning point, towards the restoration of the proper rule of international and humanitarian laws.
The ICJ opinion also details the duties and legal consequences for all UN member states. This and other rulings and opinions by the ICJ and the ICC, oblige Ireland not to support Israeli war crimes in any way, and to fully comply with its international law duties with respect to Israeli illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and the rights Palestinian people to self-determination.
Edward Horgan
Castletroy
Limerick
___
The Kerryman on 7 August
Dear Sir,
In an interview with Euro News on 22 May 2024 An Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “Europe is on the wrong side of history for failing to do enough to stop the bloodshed in Gaza” and “There will be a moment in the future where your children and your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will ask, what did you do?"
On 27 July 2024 at least 30 people, including children, were killed by an Israeli air attack on Khadija school in central Gaza.
RTE news reported that Taoiseach Simon Harris described the Israeli strike as "inhumane" and "despicable", and the attack "by the Israeli military is a further demonstration of brutal, unconscionable violence". These comments are fully justified given that the war crimes being committed by Israel are likely to be judged by the International Court of Justice as amounting to genocide.
The US government has been actively supporting and participating in these Israeli war crimes and therefore likely to be in breach of the Genocide Convention. Likewise, any countries and their leaders who are assisting Israel and the US in these crimes, may be judged as having been complicit in genocide. Successive Irish governments have been in breach of international laws on neutrality, as well as being complicit in multiple US war crimes by allowing the US military to use Shannon airport since 2001. This complicity in war crimes has continued since 7 October 2003, while the Israeli attacks on Gaza have caused the deaths of up to 20,000 Palestinian children. In your old age Mr. Simon Harris, Mr. Micheál Martin, and multiple ministers, how will you explain this to your children and grandchildren? Europe and Ireland are acting on the wrong side of history, at enormous cost, not only to the Palestinian people but also to all the victims of US led wars across the wider Middle East and Africa. Sincerely,
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.
And just to reinforce the above argument the following aircraft associated with the US military passed through Shannon in the past in the past 24 hours or so. Several more passed through Irish air space. US Navy Hercules KC130T number 16-4106 arrived at Shannon about 0600 this morning 8 Aug. coming from Naval Air Station Port Mugo near Los Angeles CA, with a stop at Pease airport near Boston.
Omni Air N846AX on contract to the US military landed at Shannon on 7 Aug. about 20.05pm coming from Kuwait with a stop at Constanta Romania. It took off again on 8 Aug. about 01.50am and flew on to Marine Corps air station Cherry Point, and then also to Fort Biggs El Paso.
Omni Air N468AX on contract to the US military landed at Shannon on 7 Aug. about 20.05pm coming probably from Djibouti via Oman with stops in Crete and Naples. It took off again from Shannon about 01.05 and flew on to Naval Air Station Norfolk VA.
Omni Air N351AX on contract to the US military as previously posted flew through Shannon on 7 Aug, and landed at Bratislava, Slovakia. Since then it landed at Tallinn, Estonia, twice at Rzeszow in SE Poland (on the border with Ukraine) and at Constanta Romania and Poznan Poland.
This is not Active Neutrality; it is active complicity in war crimes and genocide.
___
Irish Times (7/8/2024)
Dear Sir,
The situation in the Middle East continues to deteriorate with the death toll in Gaza likely to exceed 186,000 according to a Lancet Journal report. The standing ovation reception given by US Houses of Congress to Israeli PM Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes and possible genocide by the ICJ and ICC, demonstrates the extent of the destruction of the rule of international law, by the US and other powerful states. Israel’s assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr Hezbollah military commander in Lebanon, indicates that the present Israeli government seeks to widen the conflict rather than seek peaceful solutions. Over 200 aid workers with UNRWA have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since 7 October 2024. UN peacekeeping (PK) missions should be predicated on there being a reasonable prospect of a peaceful settlement within a reasonable time frame. Prolonged PK operations such as UNTSO Middle East (1948), UNFICYP in Cyprus (1964), UNPROFOR Golan Heights (1974) and UNIFIL Lebanon (1978), have failed to achieve a peaceful solution to these conflicts. Prolonged PK missions enable the conflict participants to avoid making peace and have enabled Israel and its enemies to wage wars every decade since 1948, at huge costs to local populations. Far too many UN peacekeepers, including 47 Irish soldiers, have been killed while serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon. This should call into question the continuing presence of Irish soldiers in Lebanon. There are other more effective ways to provide humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, and there are other conflicts where good quality UN peacekeepers are more urgently needed. In the Middle East there is no peace to keep while genocide is being perpetrated with active support from the world’s most powerful country.
Edward Horgan (former UN peacekeeper)
Castletroy
Limerick
___
Irish Independent (20/8/2024) and in the Irish Daily Mail
Dear Editor,
The implications and real damage locally and globally arising from the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people cannot be easily summarised in a 300-word letter.
The war crimes and probable genocide that are occurring in Gaza have catastrophic implications for the Palestinian people, up to 50,000 of whom have been killed already. These crimes also have damaging implications for the people of Israel and Jewish people globally, and critical implications for the proper rule of international law and global justice. They are being perpetrated by a country that claims to be democratic, with the active support of the USA, and supported by several NATO and EU member states. The Holocaust, perpetrated against the Jewish people by the German nazi regime, was the worst genocide in the history of humanity so far. It is now likely that the best interests of the people of Israel and Jewish people globally will be seriously damaged by the crimes committed in Gaza. It has already resulted in increased conflict in the wider Middle East and serious threats to international peace. The United Nations was founded so that such atrocities could never happen again. The rule of international law was reinforced by several important conventions and international humanitarian laws. All these vital laws and conventions are being broken or set aside, not just by Israel, but by the US and its allies. The governments of many other countries are also partly complicit by their silence or inactions. Such crimes provide dreadful examples for dictators and human rights abusers worldwide and are likely to result in increases in such crimes, including genocide. While the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have made important rulings and opinions against Israel, they have little power to stop these crimes or to sanction Israel because the US will use its UN Security Council veto. This causes further damage to the proper rule of international and humanitarian laws.
Edward Horgan
Castletroy
Limerick
___
Irish Independent (30/8/2024) and some local newspapers
Dear Editor,
Individual cases, rather than statistics, illustrate depravity of Israeli attacks.
Our human minds have difficulty coping with the reality of large statistics of human suffering. It’s important to focus on individual cases of suffering and trauma to better understand the level of trauma being suffered by the people of Palestine.
On 18 Aug 2024 an Israeli bomb struck the home of teacher Hala Khattab in Deir al-Balah Gaza killing her and her six children. They included her oldest son, Hussein age15, her 9-year-old quadruplets, Kinan, Hamman, Lujain, Sibal, and her baby girl, Wakeen aged 18 months.
115 newborn babies have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023. This statistic includes twins Ayssel Arafa and Asser Arafa who were three days old when they and their mother Joumana Arafa, a medical doctor, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on 13th August. Doctors, teachers, hospitals and schools have all been targeted by the Israeli military. The killing of children and adult civilians in Gaza, by bombing, snipers bullets, starvation, and destruction of the water and sewerage systems, is neither accidental, nor due to ‘military necessity’.
The grim statistics, amounting to genocide, include at least 40,265 people killed, including 16,500 children, injured more than 93,144 people, missing more than 10,000. At least 289 UNRWA and aid workers and 885 health workers have been killed. At least 116 journalists and media workers were killed. More than half of Gaza’s homes, 80 percent of commercial facilities, 85 percent of school buildings, destroyed or damaged, and only 16 out of 36 hospitals are partially functioning. 65 percent of road networks are destroyed, 65 percent of cropland damaged. The slaughter of so many innocent children especially cannot be allowed to continue.
Edward Horgan
Newtown
Castletroy
Limerick