TP O'Mahony: Pope Leo's words on Gaza have gone unheeded in the Knesset and the White House

Irish Examiner

a day ago

With Gaza haunted by the spectre of mass starvation, Pope Leo XIV's call for respect for humanitarian law has gone unheeded in the two places on Earth where it requires compliance if peace in the Middle East is ever to be achieved - the White House in Washington DC and the Knesset in Jerusalem.
The phrase 'the globalisation of indifference' has for too long accurately described the inaction of the international community to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, and its collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
When I learned just over a month ago that nine out of 10 members of one family had been killed in Gaza during an Israeli raid, I thought - in my naivety - that if one incident could stir the conscience of the international community this was surely it. Never, it seemed to me, were the lessons of Pope John XXIII's great encyclical Pacem in Terris ('Peace on Earth') more apposite.
But in today's troubled world it is the absence of peace - the peace of which John XXIII spoke so eloquently and movingly back in 1963 - that is one of its most worrying features. Gaza is a shocking example, but it is by no means the only example of the world's lawlessness.
In 2024 there were 61 'state-based conflicts' in the world, the most since 1946, according to the Peace Research Institute in Oslo. And that was before the Israel-Iran conflict. We may well ask: why are there so many wars?
That lawlessness - fostered by President Donald's Trump's disregard for international law, conventions and norms - is tragically evident on a daily basis in Gaza. Each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect food for their families. Medicins Sans Frontieres has accurately described the system as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'.
The Belfast rap trio Kneecap - who have drawn a lot of criticism, especially in the British media - have been unflinching in their support for the Palestinian people.
JJ O Dochartaigh, one of the group, said in a pre-Glastonbury interview:
Everyone knows what's happening is wrong. You can't even try to deny it now - Israel's government is just acting with impunity and getting away with it.
Gaza's health ministry says that over 58,000 people (mostly civilians) have died in Israeli attacks since the war began. And that number grows daily. Studies at Yale and other universities suggest the official tolls are being underestimated.
Meanwhile, the two-state solution - backed by Ireland and other countries - is looking more and more remote. The political situation is not helped by the fact that the Trump White House does not see an independent Palestinian state as a goal.
Matters are also not helped by the fact that the EU is divided on support for a Palestinian state, or how to respond to the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, beyond mere words. Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief of the EU - Israel's biggest trading partner - has said that 'all options are on the table'. But so far there is no agreement on a plan of action.
Ireland has played its part, at least in terms of recognition, much to the chagrin of the Israelis. On May 22, 2024, it was officially announced by the then Taoiseach Simon Harris that 'Ireland will recognise the State of Palestine, effective 28 May'. Ireland made the announcement on the same day as Spain and Norway.
'Ireland today recognises Palestine as a nation among nations with all the rights and responsibilities that entails,' said the Taoiseach.
Ireland has for many decades recognised the State of Israel and its right to exist in pace and security. We had hoped to recognise Palestine as part of a two-state peace deal but instead we recognise Palestine to keep the hope of that two-state solution alive.
The formal recognition of the State of Israel was an altogether different story. The new state of Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, and it immediately sought diplomatic recognition from countries around the world. The United States, under President Truman, was the first to grant recognition.
On May 28, 1948, Ireland received a telegram from the Israeli foreign secretary asking that 'Eire may grant official recognition to the state of Israel and its provisional government'. On June 4, the Irish government discussed the telegram, and it was decided that 'no action be taken on the telegram apart from the appropriate acknowledgement'.
'For Ireland the issues of Israeli statehood, protection of the Holy Places, the status of Jerusalem and diplomatic recognition remained unresolved. It could have chosen any tack concerning Israel, including the Arab position that the partition of Palestine was illegitimate . . . Instead, Ireland chose the position of the Holy See as a basis for its policy towards Israel.
"Not only did the Holy Places argument win prestige for Ireland from the Holy See, but placing such a condition on recognition meant that Ireland would not be entering into diplomatic relations with Israel in the immediate future,' according to Paula Wylie, lecturer in international relations at the University of North Carolina (she studied at UCC).
A charity organization distributed food to Palestinians facing severe difficulties accessing basic necessities due to Israel's ongoing blockade and military operations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Holy See's policy was that there would be no recognition of Israel until it guaranteed the internationalisation of Jerusalem and the protection of, and free access to, the Holy Places throughout Palestine.
'Ireland's policy of non-recognition towards Israel was maintained by the Department of External Affairs from 1949 to 1963 as a unilateral foreign policy. To date, historians have accepted the thesis that Ireland refused de jure recognition to protest Israel's lack of regard for the Holy Places in and around Jerusalem,' wrote Ms Wylie.
On February 11, 1949, the Irish Government had granted de facto recognition to the state of Israel, an acceptance of the situation on the ground. The New York Times reported Ireland's de jure recognition of Israel in January 1964, just after Pope Paul VI's historic visit to Israel and the Holy Places.
Recognising the State of Palestine
On June 29, 2025 - 10 years after the Holy See formally recognised the State of Palestine - the new minister of state for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Varsen Aghabekian, said the 2015 agreement offered a 'vision of hope for the future of the Holy Land'.
The historic agreement between the Holy See and Palestine was signed on June 26, 2015, making the Holy See one of the first states in Europe to recognise the statehood of Palestine. The question now is who will follow the example of the Holy See and Ireland?
The 'vision of hope' to which the Palestinian foreign minister referred will remain dormant until Israel's ends its collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Trump White House is the key to that. Only Washington can persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon his genocidal war.
Meanwhile, the peace for which Pope John XXIII so fervently pleaded and prayed still seems in this troubled world a distant prospect. But without it, at least in the Middle East, the dialogue that could prepare the way for a solution in which two states, Israel and Palestine, can co-exist side-by-side with equal dignity, respect and security, cannot even begin.
Read More
Israeli official says Gaza ceasefire proposal from Hamas is 'workable'