Sir,-Capt John Dunne is completely justified when he claims that other atrocities in the Middle East and on the African continent should not detract from the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza (August 7th).
However, he also completely misses the point that more objective commentators are attempting to make, that the acts of genocide being carried out against, for example, the Christians of Iraq by Isis are virtually ignored by the western media.
Of course this does not minimise the terrible suffering of the people of Gaza, but when these issues are raised they seem to draw down the contempt of individuals like Capt Dunne, who glibly dismiss them as attempts to deflect attention from the current crisis. This is not so; it is merely an attempt by fair-minded people to raise a pertinent question. Why is this so? Why is any attempt at objectivity deemed to be anti-Palestinian? – Yours, etc,
DR KEVIN McCARTHY,
Sean Hales Terrace,
Kinsale,
Co Cork
Sir,– Noel Leahy (August 7th) should be careful in calling Israel “the only truly democratic state in the Middle East”, as if democracy automatically confers virtue . In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” – Yours, etc,
ALAN EUSTACE,
Annadale Drive,
Dublin 9
Sir, – Permit me to briefly clarify my points for the benefit of Noel Leahy (August 7th). To adapt Bill Clinton’s phrase “it’s the economy, stupid”, it’s the death toll, Mr Leahy: some 65 on one side of the ledger, over 1,800 on the other. Is that logic enough ? Only Mr Leahy knows if he is deliberately misinterpreting my point on apartheid South Africa: boycotts, isolation, as the world got fed up. It has already started in the theatres of north London and Edinburgh. – Yours, etc,
DAVID STEWART,
Randalstown,
Co Antrim