WE live in a globalised world, yet we can all feel helpless in the face of events. War in Ukraine, slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon: the blood and dust smears our screens night after night. It’s got to the point where many turn their eyes from the horror and switch channels or switch off. The big brutal world out there is not of our making, appals us, and so we withdraw our attention.
But if we’re stuck in a rut of helpless horror, maybe our representatives can put their shoulder to the wheel. Just about everyone one knows by now that Israel would find it impossible to sustain its cruelty and killing if it didn’t have the weaponry to do so. We all know that it is the US and ‘Butcher’ Biden who keep the weaponry flowing to Israel. If the tap can be turned on, it can be turned off.
Last week the Taoiseach had an audience with Biden in Washington DC, after which he told reporters he had made it “very clear to President Biden that every country needs to do everything it possibly can to bring about a ceasefire”.
Mmm. But did Simon Harris point out that Biden should stop sending weapons to Israel – weapons which they use to kill innocent Palestinians? Ah, no. You don’t want to be upsetting the US President. He might stop being proud of his Irish genes and start encouraging giant companies like Apple and Google to pull out of Ireland. Faced with a chance to speak truth to power, Harris bottled it.
The Taoiseach also made a lot of noise about the Israeli attack which wounded two UN peacekeepers. Do you think Netanyahu went into a huddle with his advisers and said “Sheesh, guys, that Irish Prime Minister is leading the charge against us for attacking the UN peace-keepers – we’d better stop”? Hard to imagine.
But then, the Republic of Ireland is developing a reputation for bottling it. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the UN and made a defiant speech, many countries left the chamber in protest. Again, the Irish representative stayed put.
The problem with the UN, of course, is that it lacks muscle. There may be blue-bereted forces in the Middle East, but if they can’t stop the Israeli armed forces committing mass murder, what use are they?
The usual answer is that they chronicle the conflict, they expose Israeli brutality for all the world to see. The only catch with that is that Israel doesn’t give a damn what the rest of the world thinks or if its deeds are classified as war crimes.
Sometimes condemnation is not enough; a lot of the time it’s useless. If the US turned off its conveyor belt of weaponry to Israel, the Middle East butchery would stop.
But since Butcher Biden just keeps it coming, maybe we should check out another possible route to peace. Trade with the EU matters to Israel: it accounts for 28 per cent of Israel’s total trade. That’s almost double its trade with the US. So if the EU acted, it could cripple the Israeli economy, and when your economy has tanked, a war becomes impossible.
No wonder there are those, myself included, who see Simon Harris as an empty suit, spraying all who listen to him with his rapid-fire empty words.
If Harris had reacted as swiftly and decisively over the Middle East as he did when grabbing the top job in Fine Gael, Irish people might be able to hold their heads a bit higher today.
