DONNCHADH O CONAILL,
Sir, - The comments in your edition of April 5th by Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary) and Tom Cooney (Letters) share a certain ingenuity in avoiding an obvious question. If the Israeli actions are merely committed in self-defence against unjust attacks (Mr Cooney), and if the Israelis are not targeting civilians, unlike the Palestinian terrorists (Mr Myers), then how is it possible that the actions of the Israeli armed forces have been responsible for the vast majority of the recent deaths in the region?
Mr Myers is correct to say that the terrorism raises "complex questions", but unfortunately he does not address them. Let us agree that the suicide bombing isn't about self-government; the problem is that this form of terrorism is a relatively recent development in this region. Furthermore, it is one which arose in a certain context, so in answer to Mr Myers's query as to what deal one can make with such terrorists, I suggest an analysis of this context would be appropriate. Unless, of course, Mr Myers was to claim that the context has absolutely nothing to do with the bombing - a position, I suspect, too quixotic even for his tastes.
I agree with both of these writers that suicide bombing is a perverse and loathsome response to the situation in the Middle East. What I would like to hear from them, however, is an acknowledgment that large-scale military movements against a civilian population fall under the same heading. I suggest that when the latter ceases, the former will probably wither away.
In this regard, President Bush should be congratulated for his latest intervention. - Yours, etc.,
DONNCHADH Ó CONAILL,
Duisburgerstrasse,
Berlin,
Germany