Sir, – Kathy Sheridan (“We look away from some conflicts because we are human”, Opinion & Analysis, September 14th) takes a familiar and simplistic attitude to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, blaming everything on the Israeli side.
She states that “Ireland largely ignores the conflict” when the opposite is clearly the case: the Irish media and Irish politicians give very disproportionate attention to this conflict, far more than they do to conflicts and territorial disputes or human rights issues elsewhere in the world, such as in China, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and in Africa.
Indeed, for some Irish activists and commentators Palestine and Israel are a veritable obsession. All too often, as in her article, the perspective is extremely biased against Israel and ignores the complexity and roots of the conflict.
For example, Kathy Sheridan says that Palestinians are “the largest and longest case of displaced persons in the world today”. But why is it still the case? The world has known many displaced people in its history, including 40 million to 60 million after the second World War and 900,000 Jews that were expelled from Arab countries where they have lived for thousands of years, and many more. All of them found a new home, and became part of society. Unfortunately there is a cold reasoning behind the existence of them as “refugees” – cold financial considerations and as a tool against Israel. Many Arab countries could have absorbed them a long time ago but the funding that the countries receive through the the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) incentivises them to keep the status quo and allows them to “Help their brothers” and “hold the torch” of opposing the very existence of the state of Israel.
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Let’s talk about the numbers. According to figures compiled by the OECD, aid to the Palestinians amounted to more than $40 billion between 1994 and 2020. Of this, non-Arab donors provided close to 77 per cent of all aid for the period in question. The EU remains a steady supporter and one of the main donors to the Palestinians and it envisages providing up to €1.152 billion in financial support from 2021 to 2024. The EU recognises the need to establish accountable institutions for a future Palestinian state and to support the emergence of a self-sustaining economy.
There are more than 160 NGO’s who deal directly with the Palestinians. After a long investigation, Israel found that six of them have close relations with terror groups and even facilitate terrorist activity. Israel shared this information with the world. It is a fact that money was also directly provided to the families of terrorists with blood on their hands. This is an act that motivates young people to take part in the cycle of hatred.
The world should know what some “aid” money is actually used for. The EU has in the past cut funding to Palestinians due to concerns that Palestinian textbooks issued officially by UNRWA gave false information, glorified violence and promoted anti-Semitism. Transparency is what the world should be looking for from the Palestinian leadership.
Peace in the region will only come about through reason and compromise on both sides. Western commentators pointing the finger and blaming the only Jewish state in the world will not be the answer.
I implore everyone to learn more about the conflict – both sides of the story – and please dig deeper than Kathy Sheridan’s opinion article. – Yours, etc,
ADI OPHIR MOAZ,
Deputy Head of Mission,
Embassy of Israel,
Dublin 4.