Irish Examiner view: Irish know all too well of Gazan plight
President Michael D Higgins, as he has done so often during his two terms in office, was unequivocal in his address to the National Famine Commemoration in Kilmallock at the weekend when asserting that the Gazan people were being subjected to 'forced starvation'.
His powerful address implicated Israel as using 'starvation as an instrument of war', which will hardly curry any favour for Ireland in Tel Aviv — where our nation's correct views of Israel's murderous campaign in Gaza has led to distinct diplomatic chills.
'As aid dries up, the floodgates of horror have reopened,' the President said. 'Gaza is a killing field — and civilians are in an endless death loop.'
The worldwide repulsion at what has gone on throughout the Gaza Strip since Israel retaliated against the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has been widespread and vocal.
This has not stopped Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies in the Knesset inflicting death, starvation, and destruction on the populace — as well as journalists recording it and aid workers trying to limit the human toll.
The decision yesterday to allow limited aid into Gaza, under pressure from its allies, will mean little unless Hamas frees the remaining Israeli hostages it is holding and stops the carnage. Netanyahu is intent on crushing Hamas, with no regard for the cost in civilian lives.
The Great Famine may have shaped the Irish people, but what's happening in Gaza must harden worldwide attitudes towards Israel. Netanyahu must end the wanton killing and should be told to do so, in no uncertain terms, by the leaders of countries who should see this "war" for what it is: Genocide.
Tight elections make left sweat
It seems these days that whenever an election is called in any European country, there are widespread — and sometimes justified — fears of a right-wing swing.
So it was in Romania, Poland, and Portugal the weekend just past, where there were two presidential elections and a snap general election — in each of which there were genuine concerns that the far right could make substantial gains.
The debated and legally convoluted presidential contest in Romania was narrowly shaded by the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, who overcame the challenge of ultra-nationalist George Simion in what was described as a battle between 'a pro-Western and an anti-Western Romania'.
Staunchly pro-Western and pro-EU, Dan had lost heavily to Simion in the first round of voting, sparking fears in Brussels and further afield that the Trumpist, anti-EU candidate — who vowed to cease support for Ukraine — would take power.
A strong second round for Dan saw him past the post first, sparking relief across the EU. Voting deprived Hungary's Victor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico of a new ally in their opposition to supporting Ukraine in its war against Moscow.
In Poland, the future of the country is up for grabs after a nail biter of a presidential election between pro-European centrist Rafal Trzaskowski and populist right-winger Karol Nawrocki. The decision will go to a run-off vote on June 1.
The closeness of the vote — 31.36% against 29.53% — prompted prime minister Donald Tusk to say the run-off would 'decide the future of Poland' and, indeed, a win for Trzaskowski will end the lengthy stand off between Tusk's government and the incumbent populist-right president, Andrzej Duda — who has used his veto to stymie to repeatedly block the Tusk administration's attempts at reform.
The campaign is expected to be polarising — a confrontation between two visions: One pro-EU, liberal, and progressive; the other conservative, nationalistic, and Trumpist.
The incumbent centre-right Democratic Alliance in Portugal emerged on top after the weekend's general election. While the underperforming socialists were left vying for second place, the far-right Chega party took a record 22% of the vote. These results in part defied expectations, but once more signalled that Europe's right wing still has a long road to travel for widespread acceptance.
Stifled support
While last Friday night's all or nothing URC clash against Benetton Treviso demonstrated once again Munster's ability to back themselves out of a tight corner, it also illustrated the hunger among Cork fans for more top-line rugby matches.
Unfortunately for most Cork rugby supporters, in recent years they have been offered little other than the occasional crumb of unattractive league fixtures or non-competitive games against touring sides to quell their hunger for high-profile fixtures.
The fevered atmosphere in Cork on Friday evening demonstrated once more that the fans, if offered a seriously competitive fixture, will react with positivity and fervour. That only 8,800 were able to attend — because of the venue's capacity — was a travesty in itself.
It is notable that in Leinster, when the opportunity to play matches in front of huge crowds is presented, the province moves those fixtures to Croke Park and its 86,000 capacity. The annual fixture against Munster at Christmas there drew a full house and millions of euro in profit.
Connacht also recently ventured to Hyde Park in Castlebar for a hugely successful and sold-out game — against Munster — which saw them venture into the province's GAA heartland for the very first time.
Cork fans clearly demonstrated their desire to see big-time games on Friday night, but sadly, all too few of them are currently accommodated. Surely, it need not always be that way.
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
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Now even Israel's most blind defenders are admitting the truth of what the state they support so fiercely is doing in Gaza
Britain announced it is ready to follow suit, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution. President Donald Trump appears to have had a visceral reaction to the photographs of suffering children, dismissing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that 'there's no starvation in Gaza,' and saying, 'Those children look very hungry. … That's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that.' Influential MAGA voices have sounded the alarm, too, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who became the first Republican in Congress to call what's happening in Gaza a 'genocide". Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon sees a deeper political shift: 'It seems that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support," told Politico. Though this might be overstating the shift, Bannon is right that Israel is haemorrhaging support among conservatives. Even before the starvation crisis broke through in international media, 50pc of Republican and Republican-leaning adults younger than 50 said they had an unfavourable view of Israel, up from 35pc in 2022. Trump said the US would work with Europeans to set up food distribution centres in Gaza. Netanyahu ordered a pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza to allow 'minimal' aid to enter. For thousands of Palestinians, this will have been both too little and too late. Israel's temporary resumption of aid comes after it cut off supplies in March. Once acute malnutrition sets in, the damage can be long-lasting, particularly in children. Bodies ravaged by hunger struggle to process even basic nutrition. At least 111 people, including 81 children, have died of starvation, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The priority now must be to prevent more suffering. The only way that can happen is with a durable ceasefire and an end to a war that has taken the lives of more than 60,000 and perhaps tens of thousands more, according to a recent study published in the Lancet. The problem is that Netanyahu has had strong incentives to prolong the war. By July of last year, top generals determined that Israel's key objectives had been met. The war's continuation served no discernible military purpose. Netanyahu pressed on anyway because ending it would have meant political suicide within his own far-right coalition. In other words, 12 months of war – and all the resulting destruction – did not need to happen. The world is waking up to this perverse reality. Even some of Israel's fiercest defenders, such as journalist Haviv Rettig, have acknowledged the reality of 'desperate hunger' after denying the evidence for months. Amit Segal, chief political correspondent for Israel's Channel 12, wrote recently that 'Gaza may well be approaching a real hunger crisis.' These are reluctant admissions, filled with caveats. I, myself, am reluctant to commend them for the barest minimum of moral awareness and human decency. But it matters. I have Palestinian friends who respond, understandably, that the newly outspoken critics of Israel's conduct are acting in bad faith and that they should have been speaking out when it could have made a difference for the thousands of Palestinians who have already died or who are already starving. They have a point. But at the same time, The pro-Palestinian movement must be a big tent and welcome anyone willing to question their past positions and update them in the face of incontrovertible evidence of Israel's crimes against humanity. My hope is that more of Israel's most ardent supporters will come to see how this war – this genocide – is putting a permanent moral stain on a state that they believe in and have dedicated themselves to defending. Until now, whenever I provided pro-Israel hard-liners with evidence of Israel doing bad things, they would insist that there must be an explanation. Their belief – akin to a faith, really – is that Israel is good, therefore it is not capable of committing something like genocide. It is hard to reason with people whose belief is based on projection, rather than facts. An anecdote from Shaul Magid, a professor of Jewish studies at Harvard, is instructive here. He recalled: 'I once asked someone I casually know, an ardent Zionist, 'what could Israel do that would cause you not to support it?'. He was silent for a moment before looking at me and said, 'Nothing.'' But when does nothing become something? Presumably, there is a red line for Israel's supporters. And, for many, it is being breached. Only Washington commands the kind of influence that could meaningfully change Israel's behaviour. But administration after administration has been unwilling to use that leverage. Those of us who pray for a better future for Palestinians are in the uncomfortable position of placing our faith in Trump's unpredictability, which is never a good place to be. But it's where we are. It's too little, too late. But it's also not too late. The dead cannot be brought back, but the living can still be saved. For their sake, we must be willing to take yes for an answer, even when it comes from unexpected quarters. And there's one unexpected quarter that matters most, now: the Trump administration. The moral arc of the universe might bend toward justice, but it doesn't bend on its own – and it doesn't bend fast enough. If Trump, of all people, can be the instrument of ending this catastrophe, then we must swallow our pride and our doubts and pray that his visceral reaction to hungry children becomes something more than words.
