I HAVE to confess, I don’t have a dog in the fight as the latest in a long and tragic line of horrors unfolds before our eyes in the Middle East.
I was outraged and felt desperately sorry for the Israeli civilians killed and kidnapped by Hamas a month ago, and I feel outraged and desperately sorry for the Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza in retaliatory attacks by Israel.
As for which of them has ‘right’ on its side? There are professors of history who specialise in international conflict, who profoundly disagree about who started the war, who is the aggressor, and who is the victim. So what hope do I (and probably you) have of untangling the mess and passing judgement?
Why this rush to judge and pick a side anyway? What good does it do? However, I think it’s fair to say that Official Ireland has most definitely picked a side in the conflict, and that that side is clearly the Palestinian one.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste, although remaining guarded and respectful in tone, have been outliers in not just the European Union, but among western nations, in voicing support for the Palestinians and their opposition to Israel’s response.
It’s a stance that has the backing of our President, and is almost unanimous on social media and among the general public.
This week, a poll revealed 51% of Irish people favour Palestine in the conflict, and just 10% side with Israel, while 29% - like me - expressed an equal sympathy for both sides.
Why is this?
Well, a simple answer may be that these people are right. Palestine, good, Israel, bad; and the killing of so many civilians, including children, in retaliation for the Hamas attacks has certainly cost Israel a lot of support.
But... how can anyone give unequivocal support to a side represented by such sick terrorists? And Israel is the only democracy in the region. And...
See, now I am getting sucked in.
I hope it is clear I really am on the fence on this war.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave an inkling into one reason for Irish support for Palestinians, when he recently stated: “I think Irish people, given our own history, have a particular sympathy towards Palestinians.”
Seeing similarities with Ireland in the recent past, and our own experience of colonialism and violence, may well be behind much of the support for Palestine; then again, we are far from unique: most countries in Europe have witnessed occupation and violence in the past century.
So, I ask again: Why, in such a complex, long-running, and intractable dispute happening more than 4,000km away, do so many people in Ireland see one side as good, and the other as bad, with no grey in between?
Well, another short answer is that the numbers favouring Palestine are actually far from unanimous.
Have a look at that poll again: yes, 51% of Irish people indicate support for Palestinians, but 49% don’t, All I can say is, those 51% are incredibly vocal, and the 49% are keeping quiet about their allegiance (or lack of one).
When our President spoke out strongly against Israel, and said he felt it was his responsibility to reflect “the will of the people who put me in Aras an Uachtarain” - did he realise that 49% of those people may not share his view of the conflict? And that poll was published this week, when public opinion worldwide had long since taken against Israel’s retaliation.
However, there is another issue at play here which is relevant to our own country: if Ireland is going to be vocal about the war in Gaza, and fly in the face of many of its western allies in doing so, where does that leave our supposedly cherished ideal of neutrality?
In February last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the issue of our traditional neutral stance was centre stage. Now, that is a war where virtually everyone is in agreement that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine the victim. Yet lots of people, particularly in left-wing parties, clung onto our neutrality as a badge of pride.
When some politicians dared to suggest we needed to at least debate our neutrality, and we had to take Ukraine’s side in the war, they doubled down.
Their message was that Ireland is a neutral country, and we mustn’t meddle in foreign wars - even one on our continent that threatened our own EU partners.
Yet here we are, 20 months on, and a conflict that has been simmering since the 1940s - and has its roots thousands of years ago - erupts. And some of the very same people urging neutrality in Ukraine leapt off the fence and swiftly nailed their (and our) colours to the Palestinian mast.
It begs the question: What is neutrality?
The dictionary defines it as: The state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartiality.
And also: Absence of decided views, expression, or strong feeling.
And this: An impartial or unbiased state or person.
This meaning was certainly put forward by plenty of people when Russia invaded Ukraine - but the virtues went out the door when Gaza exploded into fresh conflict.
I don’t get that: In the first war, the issue is cut and dried. In the second, it’s complex and divisive.
I even recall some voices claiming Ireland could play a role in brokering peace in Ukraine if we were perceived as neutral by both sides. Well, I don’t think that’s a role we will be playing in Gaza any time soon.
Now, we are facing a bizarre, contradictory stance for a so-called neutral country: The Russian Ambassador is still a guest of our nation, despite the horrors his country are unleashing in Ukraine. Yet the clamour is growing - from Sinn Féin and also Cork city councillor Ted Tynan this week - for Israel’s Ambassador to be sent packing.
What a strange neutral country we are!
Read More
Two grieving fathers who hold key to ending horrors of Gaza More in this section
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