Letters: President Higgins was right to call out Netanyahu and his slander of Ireland
Netanyahu's tactics against those who criticise his government's attempt to deflect attention from what the majority see as a calculated and continuing campaign of genocide.
History has shown that aggressors often distort narratives to cast themselves as the aggrieved – a strategy that does not fool the people of Ireland or its political representatives.
President Higgins has devoted his life to standing against injustice, consistently speaking out with moral courage when others remain silent.
His intellect, integrity and advocacy for the oppressed are needed now more than ever. Please continue, Mr Higgins. Your voice matters.
Enda Kilgallen, Dublin 18
Jewish people who want peace are the very ones who were massacred
Bishop Kevin Doran claims that those Jewish people who seek a peaceful homeland for everyone in Israel and Palestine deserve our support and respect ('I understand why some are so hesitant to criticise Israel – but this needs to change', Irish Independent, May 28).
However, he overlooks the fact it was precisely those Jews who were targeted by Hamas and its allies when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and carried out a pogrom involving rape, mutilation and murder.
Jews like Vivian Silver (74), a life-long peace activist who drove sick Gazans to hospitals in Israel every week for treatment. She was shot dead in her home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7 and her house was burnt down. Or Jews like Shiri Bibas who, along with her sons Kfir (nine months) and four-year-old Ariel, was kidnapped and then beaten and strangled in Gaza.
Karl Martin, Dublin 13
Time for France, UK and Canada to follow through on their 'concrete actions'
I listened yesterday to Tom Fletcher, UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, as he described the continuing failure of food and medical aid to be delivered to Gaza.
Eleven days ago, the leaders of Canada, France and the UK spoke in the strongest terms yet about Israel's egregious acts and indicated they will take 'concrete actions' unless the Netanyahu government changes course.
Since then, the world has seen a trickle of aid getting into Gaza – nowhere near the 600 trucks a day that aid agencies deem necessary.
Surely it is clear to those three leaders, and to the 23 foreign ministers who issued a statement at the same time demanding the provision of aid, that Israel is providing optics with the paltry aid getting into Gaza.
The rhetoric from various Israeli government ministers clearly shows there is no sense of a commitment to allowing the necessary levels of aid to enter Gaza. These world leaders must have had in mind what their 'concrete actions' were going to be when they threatened them.
Now is the time to stop talking and take action; they need to unleash their proposed actions. The Netanyahu government has ridden roughshod over every red line put before it over the last 20 months with impunity.
The world must now take firm, punitive action against Israel.
Philip Brady, Donnycarney, Dublin
Trump's political menu lacks sustenance and leaves bad taste behind
I've just learned that Taco stands for Trump Always Chickens Out, and now I can't stop seeing fast food through a political lens ('Trump's woes may turn into Europe's golden opportunity', editorial, May 30).
Take Pizza: Pitches Inflammatory Zealotry, Zero Accountability. Every slice is loaded with something divisive – extra cheese, hold the facts.
Or the Donut: Denies Often, Never Understands Truth – round and repetitive, with a hollow centre.
Then there's the Hot Dog: Habitually Over-Talks, Doesn't Offer Governance. All bun, no leadership.
And who could forget the Burger: Blusters Unceasingly, Rarely Gets Effective Results. It may look substantial, but you'll regret biting into it.
Perhaps it's time the political menu offered something a little more nourishing – or at least less processed.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
Let's hope penny will drop for unwitting vandals damaging the Causeway
Tourists are placing coins in the cracks between the basalt rocks at the Giant's Causeway.
When they realise the damage this is causing, I'm sure the penny will drop.
Noel Kelly, Doonbeg, Co Clare
Leaving Cert diarist a joy to read – I look forward to following her journey
The young people of today never fail to amaze me. They are so full of empathy and bursting with confidence.
No more so than Michaela Gillooly, this year's Leaving Cert Diary reporter, who will be writing about her experiences over the course of the exams.
After reading her first article ('I'm aiming for over 500 points – I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous', May 29), written even before this anxious time begins, let me assure your readers we have much to look forward to.
Brian McDevitt, Glenties, Co Donegal
US court will not hold the president back for long, so EU must strike a deal now
While it is reassuring to see push-back by a US federal court on Donald Trump's unilateral decision to impose tariffs on imports, we should all know that Trump is not an enthusiastic fan of courts opposing his will.
I sincerely hope the EU doesn't take too much solace and uses the decision as an incentive now to strike a deal while the iron is hot.
Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
Clarification
In an editorial published on May 21, the UN was quoted alleging that 14,000 babies would die in Gaza within 48 hours unless they were given food and medical aid.
We wish to point out that the UN later issued a correction, clarifying that the figure of 14,000 babies actually represents potential deaths from malnutrition over the course of a full year.
It highlighted a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which stated 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur between April 2025 and March 2026.
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Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Aid is being utterly weaponised, and the result is chaos
It's difficult to imagine things getting worse, but at every turn they do. Israel has inflicted a brutal and inhuman campaign against the people of Gaza, the charge of genocide laid bare. A population deliberately and cruelly starved by an occupying power hell bent on death and destruction. Since March 2, Israel enforced a near-total siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, water, electricity, fuel, and medicine. The resulting humanitarian catastrophe shocked the world with the inevitability of famine becoming reality. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that 1.1 million people, around half of Gaza's population, are experiencing catastrophic hunger. 930,000 children - 93% of the children in Gaza - are at risk of famine. An estimated 95% of Gaza's water is unfit for human consumption, with people forced to drink polluted water, leading to soaring rates of disease and child mortality. And at least 60 children have died of starvation and dehydration in recent weeks. Although aid agencies believe the real number is far higher and growing. Generations of children, their lives destroyed beyond repair. But instead of scaling up humanitarian access in response, Israel has doubled down on control. It has repeated its attacks on the UN and sidelined aid mechanisms that are established, effective and desperately waiting to get in. Just kilometres away from the suffering, over 9,000 trucks are desperate to get in across the border. The only legal and humane solution to alleviate the suffering is total and unfettered aid access, north and south, a flooding of the Gaza strip with food, shelter, medicines and clean water. Rather than really address the issue of starvation, Israel, through the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, will now control all aid distribution. Rather than focusing on what the starving population needs, it will decide where, when and to who aid is distributed to. They are using aid - one of the world's means of expressing care and humanity in crisis - to displace and control. Israel has made clear its intention to clear the north of Gaza. Already controlling almost 80% of the Gaza Strip, this aid distribution is another means to forcibly transfer the population illegally to certain areas and make humanitarian access conditional on screening or political and military criteria. In the last 10 days, 180,000 were displaced. Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 21. Up to 1.1 million people, around half of Gaza's population, are experiencing catastrophic hunger. Photo: Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images Deliberately designed to facilitate forced displacement from the north of Gaza, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund will have distribution hubs in central and southern Gaza, forcing starving families - many of them desperately injured, elderly and too ill to undertake long, dangerous journeys through militarized zones - to collect aid for their families. The UN described this as 'engineered scarcity', secured by private US security contractors, where those Palestinians who can reach them will receive rations. Since last week, about 900 truckloads were submitted for Israeli approval, and 800 were approved. But just over 500 could be offloaded on the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom, and even fewer made it to the Palestinian side, where the UN and others could collect just over 200 of them, limited by insecurity and restricted access. This is organised chaos inflicted upon a starving people. The core principle that aid must reach people where they are is ignored, with deadly results. It compounds the despair, desperation and trauma for people who have already borne too much to imagine. In the clamber to rush and get food, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces killed seven people and wounded 47, using gunfire to shoot at a group of starving and desperate families. There are huge concerns about Israel using biometric screening as part of their aid distribution. This is surveillance masquerading as humanitarian assistance. It's a calculated attempt to weaponise hunger and to reduce relief to a tool of control. Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on May 27. Photo: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana This blurring of military and humanitarian roles endangers aid workers and civilians alike. We've already seen the cost. The humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence are not optional, but are binding under international law. Yet Israel is systematically eroding them. And while hunger and chaos grow, every day brings new atrocities. Just last week, Israeli forces killed nine of paediatrician Dr Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children in shelters designated as safe. Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 54,000 people to date - mostly women and children - and displaced almost the entire population. What is happening is not just a war. It is the slow obliteration of an entire people. Ireland has a role to play and must act. Our long-standing tradition of supporting human rights and international law compels us to do more than offer words of concern. We must finally pass the Occupied Territories Bill, first proposed by Senator Frances Black in 2018. The decision by the Government this week to draft the heads of the Bill is welcome, but long overdue. An Israeli strike in Gaza City on Sunday. Israel has inflicted a brutal and inhuman campaign against the people of Gaza, the charge of genocide laid bare. Photo: AP/Jehad Alshrafi The outrageous atrocities we see over the last 20 months are the worst expression of a 70-year occupation of Palestinian territory. The level of violence is shocking, but it comes with this context of apartheid and occupation. This makes the exclusion of a ban on services from the Bill unacceptable. This is a vital and substantial element which would cover online platforms such as Airbnb which have a significant presence in some of the territories, offering tourist accommodation. Legal experts have verified this can be done. Meanwhile, many powerful countries, including the United States and EU members, continue to fund, arm, and diplomatically shield the Israeli government from accountability. At the same time, they issue platitudes about humanitarian concern. Karole Balfe: '[Israel is] using aid - one of the world's means of expressing care and humanity in crisis - to displace and control.' As well as passing the Occupied Territories Bill the Irish government must lead calls for sanctions, suspension of the EU-Trade Agreement and push for an EU arms embargo. If the Bill is passed at least Ireland can say it took action and gave example to the world at a crucial time when powerful nations were turning a blind eye. We can stand as a beacon of principled action, reminding the world that small nations can lead boldly when justice is on the line. Karol Balfe is CEO of ActionAid Ireland which supports humanitarian response in Gaza Read More Ireland lodges formal protest after Israeli gunfire near peacekeepers in Lebanon
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Irish woman facing deportation after being arrested by Israeli police in Palestine as son tells of his pride
AN IRISH woman has been detained by Israel in the West Bank, according to an activist group. Deirdre 'D' Murphy, 70, was arrested by Advertisement 2 Israeli security forces block the entrance to the village of al-Tuwani in the Masafer Yatta area in Occupied West Bank on June 2, 2025 Credit: AFP Originally from Douglas in After Israeli soldiers ordered the activists to leave, the female activists were reportedly stopped while leaving the village by Israeli settlers serving as reservists with the military. The Israeli police were called and subsequently detained Murphy and Björk for being in a closed military zone. According to the International Solidarity Movement, Björk is now due to be deported while Murphy is fighting a deportation order while detained at Ben Gurion Advertisement Read more in News Murphy is a founding member of Swansea Palestine Community Link and was previously detained in Israel in 2011 when she travelled to the Jewish state with the Welsh pro-Palestine group. The 120-person community at Khalet al-Daba'a is one of a dozen Palestinian hamlets in Masafer Yatta located inside an area which the Israeli authorities designated as a military firing zone in the 1980s. After a long legal battle, Israel's Supreme Court approved the eviction of 1,000 residents from the villages in the occupied West Bank in 2022. Amnesty International says ongoing settler attacks and demolitions place communities in Masafer Yatta at risk of forcible transfer. Advertisement Most read in Irish News International law prohibits both the expropriation of occupied land for purposes that do not benefit the people living there, and their forcible transfer. Murphy's son, Dale Ryan, said: 'As far as I can see her only Israeli military says it began extensive ground operations in northern and southern Gaza 'D has always had a strong sense of justice and I know she could not sit at home while she knew her friends in Masafer Yatta and all of Palestine were suffering unnecessarily. 'I am very proud of my mother for sticking up for the basic human rights of her friends and trying to raise awareness of the injustices the Palestinian people are experiencing.' Advertisement The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance. In 2024, the far-right Israeli security minister Itamar Ben Gvir established a special task force within Israel's West Bank police unit to target left-wing activists in the West Bank including foreign nationals and supporters of the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement. According to the Israeli outlet Haaretz, at least 16 foreign activists working with Palestinians in the West Bank have been detained and deported from Israel since October 2023. Activists often accompany Palestinian shepherds and farmers who are at risk of forced displacement, as well as violence from the IDF and local settlers while they work. Advertisement In 2024, the 2 Deirdre 'D' Murphy, 70, was arrested by Israeli police on Saturday in Masafer Yatta in the occupied region
The Journal
9 hours ago
- The Journal
Suspect in Colorado flamethrower attack told police he targeted ‘Zionist group'
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago A MAN ACCUSED of using a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device to attack a US group bringing attention to Israeli hostages in Gaza has been charged with a federal hate crime. Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, told police he had planned it for a year and targeted what he described as the 'Zionist group', the FBI said. Eight people were injured in the attack in Colorado, some with burns, as a group was concluding a weekly demonstration to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza. Witnesses reported the man shouted 'Free Palestine' during the attack. An FBI affidavit says Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody on Sunday and told the police he would do it again. The affidavit was released in support of a federal hate crime charged filed by the Justice Department on Monday. The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street shopping centre, a four-block area in central Boulder, unfolded against the backdrop of a war between Israel and Hamas that continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the US. The attack happened on the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is marked with the reading of the Torah, and barely a week after a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Monday saying he, his wife and the nation of Israel were praying for the full recovery of the people wounded in the 'vicious terror attack' in Colorado. 'Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country,' said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Denver field office. In New York, the police department said it had upped its presence at religious sites throughout the city for Shavuot. The eight victims who were wounded were aged between 52 and 88 and the injuries ranged from serious to minor, officials said. The attack occurred as people with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives was concluding a weekly demonstration to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza. We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available. @FBI — FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 1, 2025 Video from the scene shows a witness shouting, 'He's right there. He's throwing Molotov cocktails', as a police officer with his gun drawn advances on a bare-chested suspect holding containers in each hand. Alex Osante, of San Diego, said he was having lunch when he heard the crash of a bottle breaking on the ground and a 'boom' sound followed by people yelling and screaming. In video of the scene captured by Mr Osante, people can be seen pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who Mr Osante said had caught fire during the attack. Advertisement After the initial attack, Mr Osante said the suspect went behind some bushes and then re-emerged and threw a petrol bomb, but apparently accidentally caught himself on fire as he threw it. The man then took off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before the police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without any apparent resistance in the video filmed by Mr Osante. Law enforcement found more than a dozen unlit petrol bombs near where Soliman was arrested. Inside his car, officers found papers with the words 'Israel', 'Palestine,' and 'USAid', the affidavit says. Soliman told investigators he constructed homemade petrol bombs after doing research online and buying the ingredients. He drove to Boulder with the devices in his car and stopped on the way for fuel, according to the affidavit. He said in his interview that his goal was to 'kill all Zionists', the FBI said, and that he targeted the group and knew they they would be assembled on Sunday afternoon. 'He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,' the affidavit says. Police investigate the scene of an 'act of terror' in and talk with witnesses on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Authorities said on Sunday they believed Soliman acted alone and that no other suspect was being sought. He was also injured and was taken to hospital to be treated. Authorities did not give details of his injuries, but a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear. Soliman was living in the US illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. She added that Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorisation in March 2023 that had expired. Public records listed him as living in a modest rented townhouse in Colorado Springs, where local media outlets reported federal law enforcement agents were on the scene on Sunday. An online resume under Soliman's name said he was employed by a Denver-area health care company working in accounting and inventory control, with previous employers listed as companies in Egypt. Under education, the resume listed Al-Azhar University, a historic centre for Islamic and Arabic learning in Cairo. FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism and the Justice Department denounced it as a 'needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans'. 'This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,' FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said.
