I don’t look at the Irish Indymedia site very often but I had time to have a glance at it today and what did I come across but this little gem, an education in itself about the mindset of some pro-Palestinian activists and not only in Ireland.
Archive for the 'Ireland' Category
Writing about the recent murders committed by terrorist groups in Northern Ireland, Terry Glavin says that,
… nationalist support for the armed campaign waged by the Irish Republican Army between 1969 and 1994 was grounded in the demand for British withdrawal from Ulster, and for Irish self-determination.
Here’s a letter in the Irish Independent signed by six US labor leaders - including Jack Ahern, President of the AFL-CIO in New York - challenging the campaign by some in the Irish labor movement to boycott Israel.
Continue reading ‘American Labor Leaders Take Stand Against Boycott’
A number of active and retired politicians who style themselves as “former peace negotiators” have signed a letter to The Times calling for negotiations with Hamas.
Continue reading ‘Negotiating With Hamas and Other Illusions’
Patricia McKeown, the President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has been “quoting” Nelson Mandela. “Nelson Mandela described this,” she said, referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “as the most important problem on this planet.”
We’ve recently been treated to the spectacle of Aengus Ó Snodaigh, a member of the lower house of Ireland’s parliament, comparing both Alan Shatter, the only Jewish member of the same legislature, and Zion Evrony, the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Continue reading ‘Gaza: Jewish Legislator in Ireland Compared to Goebbels’
Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the now defunct Irish Republican Army (IRA,) says
…the international community has to recognise the democratic mandate of Hamas and open dialogue with them.
There is an editorial in today’s Irish Times about Gaza and it starts like this,
THE draconian Israeli boycott of Gaza over the last six months was imposed despite the now suspended ceasefire between them and the dominant Hamas fundamentalist movement.
Conor Cruise O’Brien, the Irish diplomat, politician and intellectual of vast range and huge talent, died at the age of 91 yesterday at his home in Dublin. He was an unwavering supporter of the national rights of Jews. The New York Times obituary is here.
Mairead Maguire yesterday stated that Israel and only Israel should have its membership of the UN suspended, or revoked entirely, as a punishment for ignoring UN resolutions. Maguire’s pronouncements and activities regularly make the news because she was, along with Betty Williams, awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to build a grassroots anti-violence movement, known as the Peace People, in Northern Ireland.
Over at Open Democracy there’s a good piece by John C. Hulsman recommending some practical steps Barack Obama could take to bring about a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The gist of his argument is that the sort of negotiations that have been dragging on between the parties since Oslo are unlikely to get anywhere and that what are required now are fairly rapid and largely secret negotiations aimed at producing a deal that takes care of all the crunch issues in one go.
