Pope's comments about the genocide in Gaza did not go far enough
On February 25, Francis said 'there should be an investigation into whether Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide.'
Was he unaware that the United Nations had already investigated and called what Israel was doing a genocide, or that 15 months ago the International Court of Justice said Israel was committing a plausible genocide, or that the International Criminal Court indicted Netanyahu for war crimes?
READ MORE: Bishop to represent Scottish Catholics at Pope Francis funeral
Although he was in poor health these past few months, Francis could have gone to Gaza last year to tell Israel to stop. Imagine the impact this would have had.
Archbishop Oscar Romero took such a stand 45 year ago, and in 2018 Francis made him a saint. Romero was assassinated by a US-backed Salvadoran death squad in March 1980 while celebrating mass in San Salvador. The day before he was murdered, he addressed members of the military: 'It is time to regain your conscience. In the name of God and the name of the suffering people, I implore you, I beg you, I order you, stop the repression!'
Another disaster is looming. Netanyahu has been begging the US to attack Iran for years – not because it's on the brink of developing a nuclear bomb (it isn't, although Israel has the bomb), but because, other than Yemen which the US is mercilessly bombing, it opposes Israel's genocide and domination of the Middle East.
READ MORE: Israeli police officers aimed guns at two British MPs in West Bank
The George W Bush administration planned a series of wars on Israel's targets in the Middle East (Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Syria) and Islamic East Africa (Libya, Somalia and Sudan). All these countries, apart from Iran, are in ruins.
Will church leaders condemn this and the other horrors? These 'moral leaders' should remember what Archbishop Oscar Romero said in 1979: 'A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin in the society in which it is being proclaimed, what kind of gospel is that?'
Leah Gunn Barrett
Edinburgh
A FEDERAL judge has threatened the Trump administration with contempt of court over its failure to comply with an instruction not to deport alleged gang members to El Salvador. You can almost hear the laughter in the White House from here.
The US Supreme Court previously ruled that a president cannot be charged for any action carried out while in office. In addition, the president has the power to pardon any and all of his various henchmen at will. This power has been wielded increasingly corruptly in favour of cronies, friends and family members in recent years, even apparently for unnamed future indictments.
READ MORE: Mike Small: US history is being rewritten as we enter Orwell's endless present
Combined with Trump's predilection for declaring states of emergency to justify government by executive order, elsewhere called presidential decree, this does not bode well for the survival of US democracy. This calculated bypass of Congressional authority is not only dubious in its legality, its performative implementation is deliberately provocative.
He has already demonstrated he is prepared to interfere in the election process and to incite a mob of his gullible supporters to attack the seat of government in an attempt to overthrow the result when he lost. Upholding the much-vaunted but clearly fragile constitution has not proved to be one of his strong suits.
In a country where there are estimated to be 20 to 30 million assault rifles in civilian hands, a large proportion of them in the possession of Trump's most devoted followers, there is potential for the widespread breakdown of public order, particularly if Trump starts to make moves to run for an unconstitutional third term.
The first real test may come in the run-up to the midterm elections next year. Let's hope the constitution prevails.
Cameron Crawford
Rothesay
STEPH Brawn's article of April 22 highlights the SNP's Nibelung love affair with the EU (with Alyn Smith in the starring role).
Given that three-eighths of Scotland's electorate voted for Brexit, I reckon this SNP dogma harms the cause of indy. The EU-sceptic Alba has positioned itself wisely but, deprived of Alex, is unlikely to make any significant headway at Holyrood.
READ MORE: How campaigners are fighting for Scotland to get back into EU
A further reason to be sceptical is the EU's by now blatant militarism, risking a disastrous confrontation with Russia. An independent Scotland should keep a neutral stance, lest we land in the line of fire as Poland well could, perhaps even Germany and France if their courts stymie the revolt led by the 'Putin-understanders' Marine Le Pen and the AfD.
The UK was always a net contributor to the EU, latterly to the tune of some £9 billion annually (the equivalent of circa £150 per adult!). Scotland back in would be liable for at least that, especially if Ukraine is granted accession.
George Morton
Rosyth
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For over five years, Gibraltar has been at the centre of one of the most complex, technical, and geopolitically sensitive negotiations undertaken by the United Kingdom and the European Union since Brexit. The process has consumed me. It has occupied close to half of my time in elected office, taken over almost every waking hour of the last five years, and, in truth, deprived the people of Gibraltar of their Chief Minister in the way they are used to having him, that is, from fixing housing and parking complaints to defending their sovereignty in the international arena. For much longer than I would have wanted, I have been behind closed doors, in physical or virtual boardrooms, working through the details of a document that will shape the next generation of our people. It has been a relentless, exhausting endeavour. Throughout this time, the UK and Gibraltar teams have worked together seamlessly, 'hand in glove', without a flash of daylight between us. We have worked in close partnership with both Conservative and Labour prime ministers and foreign secretaries; from Dominic Raab, Liz Truss and James Cleverly to David Cameron and now David Lammy. What we have negotiated is not the product of fragmented agendas, but the position of a unified British family determined to find a solution worthy of our people. Without a treaty, Gibraltar could be staring down the barrel of a hard border, marked by endless queues, disrupted supply chains, and a deeply uncertain future for many of our businesses. Our hospitals and elderly care homes would face chronic understaffing, and the surrounding region would suffer the almost certain loss of employment for many of the 15,000 cross-border workers who depend on Gibraltar's economy to support their families. The services we deliver to our people would all come under strain. Our public finances would be pushed to the brink. The self-governing Gibraltar we have built would be diminished, replaced by something poorer, more isolated, more inward-looking, and ultimately less able to thrive as a proud, British European Territory. Instead, we now stand at the threshold of something remarkable, and not just for Gibraltar, but also for the United Kingdom, for Spain, and for Europe and our people. Something bold. Something forward looking and hopeful. Something that finally breaks free of the negative inertia that has defined too much of our recent past. Unlocking potential across borders This is politics at its most elevated. The service-led principle of working for our people's benefit and not the performative personal antagonism that too often infects public life. Real, hard graft that overcomes challenges to deliver progress. This is the kind of result our people demand when they voice distrust and decry the political 'establishment'. Our Spanish and EU counterparts, for their part, have brought to the table a seriousness of purpose that also reflects the gravity of the moment. They, too, have recognised that this treaty is not merely about fluidity of movement, but about unlocking human and economic potential across borders. Make no mistake: the treaty that is now within reach is not one that the Gibraltarians have been forced to accept. Our people voted for us to have a mandate to turn our New Year's Eve agreement of 2020 into a UK/EU agreement/treaty. So we say 'yes' to this agreement, but not because we don't know how to say 'no' when we have to. We did so, emphatically, in 2002, when we triggered a referendum to reject Jack Straw's proposal of joint sovereignty with Spain, and I am just as adamant today that this treaty will not in any way compromise British sovereignty over Gibraltar. That will be set out, black upon white, in the treaty when it is published. It is a legal undertaking given by both sides in clear and unequivocal terms. So to be clear: in this treaty we have not ceded any control of Gibraltar to any authority. Just like today, only Gibraltar will decide who enters Gibraltar – exactly as we agreed in 2020 when Dominic Raab was foreign secretary and Boris Johnson was prime minister. This treaty unleashes the potential to usher in a new era. One in which we move beyond the tired narratives of the past on constant sovereignty disputes, towards a future defined by hope, cooperation and shared prosperity. It will pave the way for better jobs, more investment and lasting stability for Gibraltar and the wider region. It can deliver more harmonious human relations and a better quality of life for all our people. When you read it, I ask that you to look up from the pages of this treaty and see that better reality as it peers back at us from the future. This will be the treaty Gibraltar wants. It will be a treaty the UK and the EU can be proud of. And it will be a treaty that will propel us all to the better future politicians are elected to deliver. When the time comes, back Gibraltar and its proudly British people by backing the Gibraltar treaty.
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