Madam, - This is my final word to David Rolfe (April 25th and 27th). The Aosdána vote that has caused such predictable but unnecessary uproar calls for artists and arts institutions to "reflect deeply" before engaging with their Israeli state-sponsored counterparts.
This is because the state of Israel - a rogue state that brutally oppresses another people with complete impunity but with the full backing of the US and EU - exploits the arts and artists as propaganda tools while preventing Palestinian artists from engaging in the free practice and dissemination of their trade.
Israel's defenders have no other recourse than to avoid the substantive issues by attempting to defame and otherwise belittle those who draw attention to Israel's crimes and Western governments' complicity in those crimes. This is the game that David Rolfe is playing (April 27th), but since it takes two to tango he may henceforth have the floor to himself. - Yours, etc,
RAYMOND DEANE, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.