Letters to the editor: Danger that Iran conflict is distracting us from the horrors of war in Gaza

Irish Independent

6 hours ago

In fact, it is possible this was part of Benjamin Netanyahu's calculations, though a war with Iran, in which he could embroil the US, is certainly something he long desired.
The daily rocket, drone and air strikes dominate the news cycle, pushing the horror in Gaza into the background on many media outlets.
The death toll in Gaza continues to rise, with nearly 60,000 people now killed, and it is clear no one is safe. Children account for about one-third of the dead.
Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza will be looked back on by future generations with astonishment and shame.
Fintan Lane, Lucan, Dublin
US and Israel are not the law-abiding states they always claim to have been
In 2009, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize just a few months after he was elected US president.
Under his command, his administration and the US military probably caused more deaths than any of his predecessors since the Vietnam War, when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Prize for allegedly ending that war.
Since the end of the Cold War, successive US governments have acted in contravention of multiple international laws, including by waging wars of aggression, acting in breach of the UN Charter, UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions.
Israel has gone even further by committing genocide against the Palestinian people and illegally occupying and seeking to annex territories in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
The US and Israel have been behaving as rogue states, not the law-abiding democratic states they have always claimed to be.
ADVERTISEMENT
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 news on June 23, expressed concern about the developing situation in Iran following US overnight bombing attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
He referred to the chaos that resulted from the US-led wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
Successive Irish governments have been and are still complicit in these serious breaches of international laws by allowing the US military to transit through Shannon Airport and Irish airspace.
US president Donald Trump is believed to be hoping for a Nobel Peace Prize. War criminals should be imprisoned for their crimes rather than awarded peace prizes.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick
Bully and warmonger is not a worthy nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize
Donald Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace prize by Pakistan, citing his statesmanship in brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan is cynical and laughable.
Trump has knocked the final nail into the coffin of the two-state solution by recognising Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel, by recognising the Golan heights under the sovereignty of Israel and by sending armaments to Israel while refusing to condemn its ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity towards Palestinians.
In Ukraine, Trump sided with the aggressor Putin in his war to annex the Crimea and eastern Ukraine and demanded the exploitation of Ukraine's rare mineral resources.
He also withdrew the US from the World Health Organisation, jeopardising efforts to achieve health equity and social justice. Far from being a genuine peacemaker, Trump is a bully and warmonger.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London
When it comes to worries about who's saying the mass, mum's the word
Reading Tom Gilsenan's letter about the T-shirt with the slogan 'What time is mass?' (June 24) reminded me of the Blessing of the Graves in Tullysaran last Sunday.
I arrived late, so stood outside at my parents' grave, with the overflow congregation, listening to the mass relayed from inside the chapel.
At one point I asked my sister: 'Who's saying the mass?' She looked at me and said: 'You don't need to know that any more. Your mother's not here to ask you.'
Which, when you think about it, is a fairly definitive liturgical update.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
Have we considered the consequences of finding life on other planets?
If we discover extraterrestrial life, what happens next?
The search for extraterrestrial life is seen as one of pure curiosity, but as in other areas of science, we should worry about the consequences of success.
I have to ask why we spend so much time looking for intelligent life on other planets. I would be happy to find intelligent life on Earth.
John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
World's poor shouldn't have to foot the bill as we phase out fossil fuels
We're going to be hearing a lot about Just Transition in the coming months.
At the UN Bonn climate talks, which will shape the road to the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, governments are starting to engage with the idea of a Just Transition.
This is to be welcomed. The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat, but a burning reality for millions. Yet the burden continues to fall unfairly on the world's poorest and those who have contributed least to global emissions and climate change.
While the level of fossil fuel finance had been declining since 2021, last year saw two-thirds of banks increasing their financing by a combined $162bn (€139bn) in a period when the world experienced its hottest year since records began.
Ireland is shamefully playing its part in fossil fuel financing. A recent report by ActionAid Ireland and Trócaire revealed that as of June last year, €31bn in fossil fuel investments was held by Irish-based financial institutions.
Even more disturbing, 91pc of that investment is tied to companies actively expanding fossil fuel operations in direct defiance of inter­national scientific consensus on the need to limit global warming to 1.5C.
Without a clear agreement on Just Transition at Cop30, the energy transition risks deepening inequality and further destabilising fragile economies. The world must move beyond rhetoric to action.