Madam, - I am fortunate enough to be an Irish citizen and a Jew. Although born elsewhere, I was raised, educated and have spent most of my life in Ireland. I love this country deeply - its people, its culture, its great role on the world stage - and am very proud to be Irish.
I feel fortunate to belong to a country and an ethnic minority that have very similar backgrounds. Both have an expansive diaspora and both have been oppressed greatly for what they believed in. The great Liberator Daniel O'Connell was adored by his followers in much the same way as Jews across the world adored Theodore Herzl, who worked himself to death seeking a homeland for persecuted Jews.
However, it pains me today to see the grossly unfair way that Israel is painted in the Irish media as a rogue state. It cannot be denied that there have been excesses during the current conflict, but the Irish media seem to forget that Israel is a true Western democracy that has a right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism. It is worrying to witness the extensive coverage given to Palestinian issues when a terrorist house is blown up or when regrettably Palestinian innocents have been killed in crossfire. Of course these events have to be reported, but not enough attention is given to the many thousands of Israeli Jews, Arabs, and Christians who have suffered grievously because of indiscriminate bombing. There has been very little coverage on the day to day life of Israelis and how their tourist industry has collapsed because of terrorism.
As a democracy, Israel has always recognised the unique importance it holds as a historic centre for Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Because of terrorism, those who draw comfort and joy from their religious beliefs by travelling to Israel to visit their respective holy sites have stopped coming. Such a catastrophe has been hardly mentioned by the media, yet we read about riots in such biblical towns as Jericho and Bethlehem that are usually written in such a way as if Israel had instigated them.
The media still portray Israel as conquering occupier. It seem to be forgotten that Israel has already formally and openly acknowledged that Palestinian nationhood has to come, but not at a cost to its own security. Israel has repeatedly requested that the Palestine Authority detain and bring to justice well-known perpetrators of terror within their own judicial remit. This has yet to be done and the Irish media have yet to give a balanced report on this issue. The Israeli Government has repeatedly and openly agreed to negotiate a final peace settlement paving the way to Palestinian nationhood when the indiscriminate bombing and killing stops. The media have rarely highlighted this, but have chosen to report intermittent violent incidents instead, almost always with a pro-Palestinian slant. Nor is there any mention that very few if any of the Palestinian leadership have taken office through universal franchise.
Israel today has a diplomatic presence in almost every European country including our own. It openly welcomes visitors from all over the world and its citizens travel extensively throughout Europe. It has nothing to hide and an awful lot to show; yet the media seems to select only those negative images that unfairly paint a country in a poor light.
Israel is a country that takes care of all its citizens irrespective of ethnic origin in the same democratic way that this country practices, yet the media always associate Israel as an exclusively Jewish state, rather than as a secular state with a Jewish majority. It had to struggle for its nationhood just like we had to, yet our media refuse to draw these obvious comparisons. The media have failed to report at any length the fact that a fifth of Israel's population are Arabs and have chosen to live and prosper in a democracy that views them as equal citizens with their own chosen elected representatives and who enjoy a standing of living infinitely higher than most of their neighbours.
When our Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, flew into Gaza Airport and openly courted Yasser Arafat, the media highlighted the occasion. It however forgot to mention that Arafat is the leader of an organisation that has vowed in its own constitution to destroy Israel, a democracy just like our own. Would our Taoiseach be willing in the interests of equity to fly into Ben Gurion Airport and publicly condemn terrorism alongside his elected peer, Ariel Sharon?
It is high time that the media delivered a more balanced and objective account of Middle East politics by showing Israel what it really is, a democracy that is attempting to prevent the terrorist from blighting the path of genuine aspirants seeking to reach a peaceful long term settlement to the Palestinian crisis. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID PETER FINE, Glasnevin Avenue, Glasnevin North, Dublin 11.