‘A disgrace and a slander' - President Higgins on critics of Netanyahu's policies being labelled antisemitic
Speaking at Bord Bia Bloom 2025 in what will be his last time as Ireland's president, he called for immediate action to help the starving people of Gaza.
President Higgins, who visited Gaza in 2006, was heavily critical of the inaction of some other nations, given Israel's heavy-handed military tactics on a nation enduring starvation and famine-like conditions.
'There are nine countries still holding back on even a ceasefire. What is happening in Gaza at the moment? Well the nation's 81pc of people have been displaced,' he told the Irish Independent.
'They have been put into temporary accommodation that is being bombed. Their soil is being destroyed, their hospitals have been bombed.'
He spoke about the unfairness that if someone spoke out against Israel's stance on Gaza and the Palestinians, they were labelled antisemitic.
He and others naturally condemned the October 7 2023 attacks by Hamas but 'if you criticise President Netanyahu's policies, you are then described as being antisemitic'.
'That is a disgrace and a slander. And it has been a slander against Ireland, against individuals, including myself, people who have worked all their lives in relation to human rights activity,' he said.
He also alleged that a 'propaganda campaign against Ireland is now active in the United States'.
'So that when we are seeking to have meetings with people interested in investing in Ireland, they are being contacted in advance with suggestions saying, 'You must open by asking (them), 'Why is Ireland so against the United States' position on Israel?''
He referenced his recent speech at the National Famine Commemoration in Limerick's Kilmallock. He spoke at the time about the failures of the UN Security Council and said it was time for the UN General Assembly to step in.
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'If the Security Council doesn't act, the General Assembly can have special measures for peace. It can have a special session and it can over-ride the security council,' he said.
'And in fact contrary to what has been said - that this has only been used in the case of Korea – it has been used 11 times. And now is the time. Today is the day for food and medical aid and water to be made available and I salute all those who are trying to do that.'
He also spoke about the controversial US and Israeli-backed aid group, the Gaza Aid Foundation, whose chief Jake Wood resigned this week.
'Its head has resigned because he has said he cannot work with an agency that's not in accordance with international law, that militarises aid and so on,' he said.
He also said there was little hope of the Gazans being able to produce their own food in the near future.
'You have to remember the devastation being imposed on the Palestinian people by rendering the land of Gaza unusable. Figures show that nearly 80pc of it cannot produce food again,' he said.
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