Madam, – On Friday last, Palestinian militants broke into the home of a family living in the Jewish community of Itamar in the West Bank and – with knives – proceeded to slaughter the couple and their children, one of whom was a little baby.
Meanwhile, in Monday's Irish Timesthere were two accusatory pieces fiercely hostile to Israel.
I will not go into details disputing Dr Hikmat Ajjuri’s history lecture on Israel and the Peace Process (Opinion, March 14th); that ground has been covered many times before. But I must respond to some of his insinuations and implications.
He says that Israel ever since its foundation has brainwashed its people with paranoia and created a “religion of the Holocaust” to maintain a sense of victimhood. As for the State of Israel inculcating paranoia into its people, the truth is it never had to: the environment in which Israel exists, and the attitudes it faces, for over 60 years have fostered that climate of insecurity. After all, Israel’s right to exist is recognised by only two of the 22 states in the Arab League, it had to fight five wars for national survival, and endure decades of systematic terrorism, while last Friday a family was slaughtered by thugs in their own home because they were Jewish. That is why Israelis are somewhat concerned about their security.
The holocaust is not a “religion” – it is the worst event in humanity’s history – the systematic murder of six million people. Add to this the fact that since the establishment of the state of Israel 25,000 Israelis have been killed in wars and by terrorism.
I must also protest at the use of the egregious term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in operation Cast-Lead. Of the 1,300 deaths in that operation, even Hamas admits that more than half of them were Hamas fighters. Genocide means the systematic extermination of a race of people. What kind of “genocide” is it if during the year 2009 alone Israeli hospitals treated 10,000 Palestinians?
Contrary to what Dr Ajjuri stated, Israel is genuine in its desire for permanent peace with the Palestinians and the creation of an independent Palestinian state that will be no threat to Israel’s security. We are all tired of this conflict and want peace. However, and as the people of Ireland know from their own experience, conflict resolution can only ever happen when the two sides behave like adults and sit down and talk face to face. The Palestinian Authority has made excuse after excuse for years to avoid doing so.
If Dr Ajjuri’s article was disappointing, the Iranian ambassador’s letter was a sick joke. He stated that the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 paved the way for freedom and democracy in the Middle East! In fact, it ushered in what is today one of the most appalling dystopian regimes in the world – a regime which suppresses opposition, indulges in murder and torture of dissidents, applies rape and beatings by police in its jails, hangs homosexuals, brutalises women into a status of outright inferiority and control, rigs elections (as in 2009), and enforces the most fanatic totalitarian version of Islamism on the planet. To say Iran is a champion of human liberty is like saying Jack the Ripper was a feminist! Your readers don’t need moral lessons from a regime like that. – Yours, etc,