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Letters to the Editor: Man-made famine unfolding in Gaza

Letters to the Editor: Man-made famine unfolding in Gaza

Irish Examiner03-05-2025
It has now been two long, harrowing months since Israel reinstated a total siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid and commercial goods into a region already devastated by war.
This marks the longest period Israel has blocked all aid and goods from entering Gaza in history.
With community kitchens — one of the last remaining lifelines in Gaza — now threatened with closure, the world is witnessing a man-made famine unfolding in real time.
Desperation has reached unspeakable levels. Mothers are boiling grass to feed their families. Children are suffering unbearable hunger, trauma, violence, and abandonment.
Gaza's hospitals, already crippled, are close to collapse, unable to function without essential medicines, vaccines, and equipment.
Women, girls, and other vulnerable groups face escalating risks of gender-based violence.
Stocks in aid warehouses are nearly gone. Palestinian organisations continue to seek to supply desperate communities through local markets, but they are facing eye-watering prices.
Yet world leaders are distracted it seems, while the ethnic cleansing and likely genocide of Palestinians rages on.
As the UN Secretary-General put it, Gaza is a killing field, and its civilians are trapped in an endless death loop.
The weaponisation of aid, including withholding food, water, healthcare, and shelter, has led to a surge in preventable deaths and threatens the dignity and survival of Palestinians in Gaza.
This is a preventable atrocity. And it does nothing to address the horror of the remaining hostages and their families.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have intensified military operations in the occupied West Bank, severely disrupting humanitarian aid delivery there.
This includes demolishing Palestinian homes, forcibly displacing approximately 40,000 people, and destroying critical infrastructure.
World leaders must demand an immediate end to the blockade, and tough action must be taken against Israel and its shredding of international law.
Every hour of delay in restoring aid costs more lives. This brutal, illegal, and devastating occupation of Palestinian territory and its people must end.
The Irish Government must also play its part; stop wavering, and honour its pre-election pledge to introduce the Occupied Territories Bill. This would show true leadership on one of the most devastating issues of our time.
This is a moment of moral reckoning. A moment when the world must step up. Otherwise, history will not be kind.
Karol Balfe, CEO ActionAid Ireland, Dublin
Cork GPs condemn genocide of Palestinian people
We the undersigned general practitioners of Cork, on April 29, 2025, wish to condemn the ongoing genocide being perpetrated on the Palestinian people by Israel, and call for the immediate expulsion of Israel from international medical organisations such as the World Health Organization and the World Medical Association.
We demand that the Irish Medical Council, the Irish College of GPs, and the Irish colleges representing other specialties such as surgery, medicine, anaesthesiology, etc, echo this condemnation of Israel, and similarly call for its expulsion from the above organisations.
Eugene Egan, Paul O'Keefe, Patrick Brady, Bob Townsend, Frank Hill, Nurua Zulifee, Jeremy Gibson, Patricia McMahon, Noelle O'Sullivan, Kate Marie Boyle, Adham Jaber, and Ken Harte, via email
Increased military spending and price for peace
Several recent public commentaries in the media and in the Irish Examinerhave made a compelling case for the increased military spending as the price of peace in Europe.
This argument goes that Nato's presence and increased military expenditure may represent the price for peace and longer-term prosperity.
To some extent, history supports this.
The nuclear arms race between the US and USSR provides a classic example of such brinkmanship where the risk of collateral damage was so great that it acted as a deterrent to nuclear war.
However, the reality is more complex than simple measures of military expenditure.
During the 1990s, when average Nato military expenditure exceeded the 2% target, Europe experienced conflict in the Balkans.
Neither did such spending deter Nato members from military interventions in third countries.
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While it is true that military spending boosts economic growth through what is known as military Keynesianism, this spending is often capital-intensive and wasteful compared to other forms of investment.
Analysing US military spending in the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the economist Leslie Fishman noted that because governments typically seek to keep their own military casualties low, military expenditure is necessarily much more capital-intensive than other sectors of the economy.
This means that the current European efforts to repurpose industrial facilities for military purposes may lead to poor long-term returns.
Moreover, the casualties from the US war efforts since the 1950 were of such magnitude that it made any cost-benefit analysis meaningless.
On the other hand, Fishman noted that post-war initiatives such as the Marshall Plan had a high return for the US, keeping the Soviet Union at bay for relatively small outlays.
Finally, military spending is often itself destabilising.
US efforts to contain communist China during the 1950s and 1960s and its build-up of military capabilities in the Middle East have all contributed to current instability.
Damian Tobin, Cork University Business School, University College Cork
Women need more than 'a seat at the table'
The original article from Dr Suzanne Crowe — 'Punishing those who speak out fails us all' ( Irish Examiner, April 23) and the responding letter from Aisling McNiffe — 'Speaking up for Ireland's voiceless' (May 1) — were both written as mothers.
As yet another mother, I agree with both of them.
I also am the parent of an adult with a disability, not one with the acute medical needs that Aisling's son has, but without the 24/7 supervisory care that I provide, my child would soon sink.
The real underlying unaddressed issue here is one of 'power over', equity, and the undeniable fact that our current systems are systems of dominance, patriarchy, hierarchy, and therefore, control.
Suzanne Crowe, president of the Irish Medical Council and consultant paediatric intensivist and anaesthesiologist. Picture: Moya Nolan
They are systems of 'old' and not fit for purpose in this modern world that we live in — they need radical transformation.
It's time to unlearn and rebuild new systems that genuinely serve the people as they are meant to.
It's been said that women and girls are conditioned to believe success is 'a seat at the table'.
It is my belief that we need a new table and one that women help build because 'equity is not about who's at the table, it's about who built it — what is served, and who benefits most'.
Anne Lawlor, Lower Yellow Rd, Waterford
Move World Cup final to facilitate All-Irelands
The GAA president Jarlath Burns has, this week, confirmed that the All-Ireland finals will continue to be played in July in 2026, with the hurling final to be played on July 19, the same day as the soccer World Cup final in America.
In these circumstances, An Taoiseach should, at the first available opportunity, make a request to US president Donald Trump to have the date of the World Cup final moved.
The ace Micheál Martin holds in making this 'deal' with Mr Trump, is his ability to deploy every ounce of Irish blarney and native cunning in convincing Keir Starmer to have the 2028 British Open played at Trump's Turnberry golf course, which, it seems the US president is becoming obsessed about.
Michael Gannon, Saint Thomas Sq, Kilkenny City
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'It is a despicable disgrace': Bob Geldof condemns Israeli government over starvation in Gaza
'It is a despicable disgrace': Bob Geldof condemns Israeli government over starvation in Gaza

The Journal

time3 hours ago

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'It is a despicable disgrace': Bob Geldof condemns Israeli government over starvation in Gaza

BOB GELDOF HAS strongly condemned the Israeli government amid the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where international aid agencies have warned that the population is facing 'mass starvation'. International anger and condemnation has grown in recent days as images and footage of malnourished Palestinian children continue to emerge. The World Health Organisation has said Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by Israel's blockade of aid into the territory. In a live interview on RTÉ's Prime Time this evening, Geldof said that the only way for hunger crisis in Gaza to end is for the Israeli people 'to equally rise up in disgust as the rest of the world is'. 'Their government is clearly out of control, and their army, probably, as well,' the musician and Live Aid campaigner told Miriam O'Callaghan on the programme. 'I fear that until they do, there's very little we can do against the alliance between [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Trump government.' 'I'm not sure that the world can continue to look at those images for much longer without something necessary happening,' Geldof said, adding that he was not sure whether this would be collective action from the EU. It is a despicable disgrace, and for the Israeli people to allow this in their name is a despicable disgrace. Advertisement Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. 'Deliberate starvation' But in a joint statement, 111 aid organisations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods. Today, MSF said that one in four young children and pregnant women in Gaza are malnourished, with rates of severe malnutrition in children under five having tripled in the last two weeks alone. 'This is not just hunger – it's deliberate starvation, manufactured by the Israeli authorities. The weaponisation of food to exert pressure on a civilian population must not be normalised,' MSF said in a statement. According to the UN, Israeli forces has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – effectively sidelining the existing UN-led system. Geldof told Prime Time that what is happening is 'unconscionable'. '[The Israeli government] are deliberately killing children by purposely starving them, and when their panicked mothers try and approach whilst they dangle food tauntingly in front of their starving bodies, they shoot them,' he said. He said he found it 'utterly bizarre' and 'bewildering' that he was talking about Israel 'given the horror of their own past' and said the 'shame of this' would be 'yet another historic burden they may have to carry'. 'I've been in Gaza. I've been on the West Bank. I've been in Israel. They are an hour away,' he continued. Related Reads Gaza: Warnings of 'mass starvation' as Taoiseach says 'humanity is shocked' by what's happening 'We have no energy left due to hunger': The last remaining journalists in Gaza are facing starvation Over 20 children die from starvation as UN warns 'last lifelines' are collapsing in Gaza 'They're all eating their dinners right now, and they're turning on Netflix and they're watching their heavily censored news while they prosecute this action, while their government does this purposely. What are we living in?' Geldof said the images of malnourished children reminded him of 1984 'but in completely different circumstances', referencing the famine in Ethiopia that prompted him to organise the Live Aid concert to raise money for relief efforts. H went on to say that it was 'seriously telling' that France has announced it would recognise the State of Palestine, and that he would urge the British government to do the same. He also said that Ireland 'has something to say to this, because of our past'. 'Our diplomats are very clever and very respected. I've seen them at work in the UN. I think we step up now and we speak very loudly and very clearly about what we as a country feel.' Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Gaza? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online. Visit Knowledge Bank Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

Inspector of prisons backs findings of jail report by European watchdog
Inspector of prisons backs findings of jail report by European watchdog

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Inspector of prisons backs findings of jail report by European watchdog

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TP O'Mahony: Pope Leo's words on Gaza have gone unheeded in the Knesset and the White House
TP O'Mahony: Pope Leo's words on Gaza have gone unheeded in the Knesset and the White House

Irish Examiner

time3 hours ago

  • Irish Examiner

TP O'Mahony: Pope Leo's words on Gaza have gone unheeded in the Knesset and the White House

With Gaza haunted by the spectre of mass starvation, Pope Leo XIV's call for respect for humanitarian law has gone unheeded in the two places on Earth where it requires compliance if peace in the Middle East is ever to be achieved - the White House in Washington DC and the Knesset in Jerusalem. The phrase 'the globalisation of indifference' has for too long accurately described the inaction of the international community to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, and its collective punishment of the Palestinian people. When I learned just over a month ago that nine out of 10 members of one family had been killed in Gaza during an Israeli raid, I thought - in my naivety - that if one incident could stir the conscience of the international community this was surely it. Never, it seemed to me, were the lessons of Pope John XXIII's great encyclical Pacem in Terris ('Peace on Earth') more apposite. But in today's troubled world it is the absence of peace - the peace of which John XXIII spoke so eloquently and movingly back in 1963 - that is one of its most worrying features. Gaza is a shocking example, but it is by no means the only example of the world's lawlessness. In 2024 there were 61 'state-based conflicts' in the world, the most since 1946, according to the Peace Research Institute in Oslo. And that was before the Israel-Iran conflict. We may well ask: why are there so many wars? That lawlessness - fostered by President Donald's Trump's disregard for international law, conventions and norms - is tragically evident on a daily basis in Gaza. Each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect food for their families. Medicins Sans Frontieres has accurately described the system as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. The Belfast rap trio Kneecap - who have drawn a lot of criticism, especially in the British media - have been unflinching in their support for the Palestinian people. JJ O Dochartaigh, one of the group, said in a pre-Glastonbury interview: Everyone knows what's happening is wrong. You can't even try to deny it now - Israel's government is just acting with impunity and getting away with it. Gaza's health ministry says that over 58,000 people (mostly civilians) have died in Israeli attacks since the war began. And that number grows daily. Studies at Yale and other universities suggest the official tolls are being underestimated. Meanwhile, the two-state solution - backed by Ireland and other countries - is looking more and more remote. The political situation is not helped by the fact that the Trump White House does not see an independent Palestinian state as a goal. Matters are also not helped by the fact that the EU is divided on support for a Palestinian state, or how to respond to the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, beyond mere words. Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief of the EU - Israel's biggest trading partner - has said that 'all options are on the table'. But so far there is no agreement on a plan of action. Ireland has played its part, at least in terms of recognition, much to the chagrin of the Israelis. On May 22, 2024, it was officially announced by the then Taoiseach Simon Harris that 'Ireland will recognise the State of Palestine, effective 28 May'. Ireland made the announcement on the same day as Spain and Norway. 'Ireland today recognises Palestine as a nation among nations with all the rights and responsibilities that entails,' said the Taoiseach. Ireland has for many decades recognised the State of Israel and its right to exist in pace and security. We had hoped to recognise Palestine as part of a two-state peace deal but instead we recognise Palestine to keep the hope of that two-state solution alive. The formal recognition of the State of Israel was an altogether different story. The new state of Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, and it immediately sought diplomatic recognition from countries around the world. The United States, under President Truman, was the first to grant recognition. On May 28, 1948, Ireland received a telegram from the Israeli foreign secretary asking that 'Eire may grant official recognition to the state of Israel and its provisional government'. On June 4, the Irish government discussed the telegram, and it was decided that 'no action be taken on the telegram apart from the appropriate acknowledgement'. 'For Ireland the issues of Israeli statehood, protection of the Holy Places, the status of Jerusalem and diplomatic recognition remained unresolved. It could have chosen any tack concerning Israel, including the Arab position that the partition of Palestine was illegitimate . . . Instead, Ireland chose the position of the Holy See as a basis for its policy towards Israel. "Not only did the Holy Places argument win prestige for Ireland from the Holy See, but placing such a condition on recognition meant that Ireland would not be entering into diplomatic relations with Israel in the immediate future,' according to Paula Wylie, lecturer in international relations at the University of North Carolina (she studied at UCC). A charity organization distributed food to Palestinians facing severe difficulties accessing basic necessities due to Israel's ongoing blockade and military operations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images The Holy See's policy was that there would be no recognition of Israel until it guaranteed the internationalisation of Jerusalem and the protection of, and free access to, the Holy Places throughout Palestine. 'Ireland's policy of non-recognition towards Israel was maintained by the Department of External Affairs from 1949 to 1963 as a unilateral foreign policy. To date, historians have accepted the thesis that Ireland refused de jure recognition to protest Israel's lack of regard for the Holy Places in and around Jerusalem,' wrote Ms Wylie. On February 11, 1949, the Irish Government had granted de facto recognition to the state of Israel, an acceptance of the situation on the ground. The New York Times reported Ireland's de jure recognition of Israel in January 1964, just after Pope Paul VI's historic visit to Israel and the Holy Places. Recognising the State of Palestine On June 29, 2025 - 10 years after the Holy See formally recognised the State of Palestine - the new minister of state for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Varsen Aghabekian, said the 2015 agreement offered a 'vision of hope for the future of the Holy Land'. The historic agreement between the Holy See and Palestine was signed on June 26, 2015, making the Holy See one of the first states in Europe to recognise the statehood of Palestine. The question now is who will follow the example of the Holy See and Ireland? The 'vision of hope' to which the Palestinian foreign minister referred will remain dormant until Israel's ends its collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Trump White House is the key to that. Only Washington can persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon his genocidal war. Meanwhile, the peace for which Pope John XXIII so fervently pleaded and prayed still seems in this troubled world a distant prospect. But without it, at least in the Middle East, the dialogue that could prepare the way for a solution in which two states, Israel and Palestine, can co-exist side-by-side with equal dignity, respect and security, cannot even begin. Read More Israeli official says Gaza ceasefire proposal from Hamas is 'workable'

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