Shame in short supply as indefensible continues

I went AWOL there for two weeks but not much happened. The genocide in Gaza continues unabated and now the Israeli people have added starvation and famine as weapons to their killing machine. Tanks and bombs are not enough. Jews in this country take exception to the description of Israeli people condoning the slaughter that is going on in Gaza and blame Netanyahu. The reality is that the people of Israel could, if they wished, put an end to Netanyahu’s reign of terror. All they have to do is get out on the streets of every Israeli town and village and bring the country to a halt. Will they do it? No way. They are committed to empire building and of course they won’t be happy until every Palestinian in Gaza has been shot and every Palestinian has been driven out of the West Bank. The settlers need the land and the Palestinians are in the way.

One can understand the furious reaction in Israel to a bit of proposed Irish legislation (the Occupied Territories Bill) which would seek to ban trade with the Israeli settlers. At its best, it is a mild piece of legislation that would have little impact on Israel. But you don’t dare do anything that might inconvenience the great state of Israel and much less do you do anything that might annoy the US and even more you do not annoy US companies doing business here. After all, if the US were to retaliate, it might hurt the Irish economy. If it is correct, in conscience, to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, then it should be passed irrespective of any damage that might be done to the Irish economy.

I made the point here previously that I thought Alan Shatter was a good Minister for Justice and I expressed the view that the Taoiseach of the day, Enda Kenny, was remiss in dismissing him. Now I can see that Mr Kenny had more of an insight into Shatter than I had. Mr Shatter, who is of course a Jew – nothing wrong with that – took to the airwaves recently in defence of what Israel is doing in Gaza and the Middle East. He was defending the indefensible. He ignored the killing and starving of innocent Palestinian, men, women and children, placing all the blame for the killing on Hamas. In other words, he spouted the Israeli propaganda line. He should be ashamed of himself. Then again, perhaps he has no shame.

And I don’t suppose he would have, as an Irishman, felt insulted by the comments of the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee who branded the Occupied Territories Bill as the creation of a drunken Irish government who had fallen into a vat of Guinness before coming up with the proposed legislation and advising the people of Ireland to sober up and follow the US line on Israel.

As diplomats go Huckerby is clearly the lowest of the low and what is worse, the Irish Government ignored his stupid remarks instead of taking him to task. We might not be in a position to reprimand Mr Huckabee but the least that could have been expected is that the US Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Edward E Walsh, would have been summoned by Simon Harris to the Dept of Foreign Affairs and told that such ignorant commentary by Huckabee is unacceptable. Walsh is on record as wanting to strengthen “the ties between our two great countries”. He could make a start by distancing himself from Huckabee’s comments.

It may be late in the day but it is welcome that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, has announced that France will join with other countries in recognising the state of Palestine at the UN general assembly in September. France and the UK and Germany has been a supplier of weapons and munitions to Israel up to very recently. Macron’s announcement is the first real breach in the support for Netanyahu’s murderous regime and the hope is that the UK and Germany will follow suit. I would not place much faith in Keir Starmer or indeed the Germans to do the right thing but no government can continue to ignore what is going on in Palestine in the face of the increasing public opinion in both the UK and Germany against the genocide in Gaza. Macron makes clear that the priority now, as Gazans face starvation, is to end the war and the necessity to build a state of Palestine.

It is of course no surprise that Netanyahu would claim that France has bowed to the terrorist threat and the reaction in the US is as predictable as it is reprehensible. An increasing number of people in the US are coming out in favour of ending the genocide in Gaza. It has not yet reached the proportions of the anti-Vietnam war protest movement, but it is growing. What remains to be seen is whether Mr Trump will take any notice. His demeanour to date suggests that he supports Netanyahu’s programme of annihilation in Gaza and indeed in the West Bank. We will have to wait and see if popular opinion in the US has any impact.

Mr Trump has embarked on a semi-state private visit to Scotland where he will visit his golf courses in the home of the sport. He will meet with Keir Starmer as part of that visit. It would be nice to think that Mr Starmer might give a bit of a lecture to Mr Trump rather than fawn at his feet. The previous encounter between the two in the White House showed Mr Starmer as a grovelling twit, waving his letter from King Charles, inviting the Donald on a state visit to the UK. It was hardly Starmer’s most glorious hour and does not auger well for a bout of common sense, truth talking to power as our own Mary Robinson was inclined to put it, when the two meet.

Which brings me to that offer I made a few weeks back to stand in the race to replace Michael D as your President. At the time, everyone and sundry were humming and hawing about standing. I made it clear, without equivocation, that I was available and, not alone that, but I would take the job without any pay. I have the OAP and with free accommodation in the Áras, I would not have any need for remuneration. No sooner had the Western People hit the newsstands than there was a rush of people seeking to contest.

The first was Catherine Connolly who would make a good President. She was put through the hoops by the media who were concerned that she might be a continuity candidate. Perhaps some of the media types might explain what a continuity candidate is and why being a continuity candidate is such a bad thing. Ms Connolly also visited some of those Middle Eastern countries (I think Iran was mentioned!). I would have thought that a bit of international experience and travel might be a feather in her cap as she campaigns for the Áras.

My declaration of intent soon brought Máiréad McGuinness out of hiding. She threw her hat into the ring without giving that great bastion of democracy, the FG party, a chance to have a meeting that might (or might not) endorse her. Ms McGuinness has experience, bucketloads of it. She started out in media (that may come against her) and was elected to the European Parliament where her skills and her FG connections saw her become a Commissioner for financial services and stability (that suggests a very conservative lady) and later Vice President of the Parliament.

It looks like there will only be the three of us in the contest. I don’t see any other credible candidates on the horizon despite the media touting anyone who has appeared on television in the past few years. I have yet to hear my opponents match my offer of doing without a salary. Both have well paid pensions from their previous/existing employments. They would not be candidates for the poorhouse, if they were to match my generous offer.

Thought for the Day:

A bully is always a coward.