Sir, – Justine McCarthy expresses so well the Irish and international outrage at the conduct of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and US president Joe Biden against innocent Palestinians ( “Nothing can justify this massacre of the innocents in Gaza”, Opinion, December 15th).
If the Israeli and US ambassadors in Dublin can serve any purpose, they should have understood by now this message from the people of Ireland and sent it home: stop this and stop this now.
The purpose of diplomacy is to avoid war, not to prolong it. – Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIC HARVEY,
An Cheathrú Rua,
Co na Gaillimhe.
Sir, – Justine McCarthy’s apposite invocation of the Massacre of the Innocents (Opinion, December 15th) is a timely reminder, as we approach the festive season, that we diminish our humanity when we deny it to others.
Humanity is not an option we select. It is not the responsibility of others to uphold. It is not an abstract, over-exposed term rendered all but meaningless through repetition. Humanity is the essence of our identity as human beings.
It is the common bond that unites all peoples, irrespective of their religious, cultural or historical background. Humanity does not distinguish between one side or the other. It does not seek to form alliances with either.
It is not silenced through exercising a veto at a UN Security Counsel emergency meeting.
Humanity knows right from wrong and cannot be ignored. – Yours, etc,
NIALL H DOYLE,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin.