Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
'I was told to f**k off to my country': Our readers on their experiences of racism in Ireland
Quiz: How much do you know about Ozzy Osbourne?
Australia v British & Irish Lions, second Test
Israelis hold demonstration in West Jerusalem West Jerusalem - April 9: Israeli police intervened to disperse a demonstration in which Israelis, who do not support Netanyahu, gathered to demand an end to the ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip, condemning the killing of Palestinian aid workers. Alamy Stock Photo
Human Rights
Bobby McDonagh To avert our eyes from Gaza would be a moral travesty
Former ambassador Bobby McDonagh says the horrors of what has happened in Gaza are tough to witness, but we cannot turn our backs.
JOHN MILTON’S PHRASE, “Eyeless in Gaza”, from his poem Samson Agonistes, refers to the biblical story of Samson, forced to work in Gaza after his eyes had been burned out by the Philistines.
Faced by daily footage of the unbearable horrors being inflicted on Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military, there can be a tendency, and perhaps a temptation, for humanity to look away. To become “eyeless in Gaza”. There are profound reasons for us to resist that temptation.
Several factors may incline us towards avert our eyes. The relentless brutality being visited by the Netanyahu Government on the general Palestinian population is so grotesque that it is increasingly difficult to watch. In a spectacular inversion of the other biblical story of David and Goliath, today it is Israel that is a giant with overwhelming military firepower, entirely unconstrained, it seems, either by moral concerns or by its only serious ally, America’s President Trump, who broadly encourages the havoc.
After so many months of witnessing the mass killing, maiming and starvation of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, we risk becoming increasingly inured to it. Shakespeare warns us that, when “blood and destruction shall be so in use/And dreadful objects so familiar”, we risk all sense of pity being “choked” from us.
Our limited attention span is also understandably drawn to conflicts and chaos elsewhere in the world, including the madness and mayhem of Trump’s tariffs, and Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine, with its echoes of Israel’s land grab and brutal targeting of civilians.
Moreover, relentless false accusations of antisemitism against anyone who criticises the Netanyahu Government’s policy towards the Palestinians are designed to intimidate and silence critics.
Advertisement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing diagram of a bomb during his address to the UN General Assembly. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Even those who unreservedly criticise Hamas and their horrific attacks in October 2023, and the ongoing imprisonment of Israeli hostages, are badmouthed by the Israeli Government and its supporters, who consider that Israel’s behaviour should be beyond any criticism.
Political will for peace
It is difficult these days to be optimistic about practical action. The United States will veto any balanced approach, including at the UN. The European Union must take into account how global issues are intertwined, including the need to cajole Trump into maintaining support for Ukraine, likewise a moral issue.
The US tariffs are, for the moment, occupying the bandwidth of global focus. Ireland, while continuing to be principled, must also be prudent and realistic. However, despite the distractions and the limited scope for action, the world should maintain its interest in Palestine.
Our starting point should be to recognise and assert that all innocent lives are of equal value. Israel, of all countries, ought to share that recognition. It is a principle that lies at the heart of the Irish Government’s approach and is, in essence, the ultimate reason that the Netanyahu Government has criticised Ireland so strongly.
Netanyahu's April visit to Trump at the White House. He enjoys full American support. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Moreover, the world community should reaffirm at every opportunity that the Palestinian people have a right, equal to that of the Israeli people, to their own dignity, security, land and nation. The pulverising of Gaza and the relentless seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank, a process started long before the Hamas attack in 2023, underline the overwhelming moral case for the recognition of Palestine.
To postpone such recognition until the country and its people have been eradicated from the map makes no sense. It seems increasingly clear that the Trump/Netanyahu axis is determined to take over Gaza and displace its people. To call such displacement “voluntary” is perhaps Trump’s most preposterous corruption of language in an increasingly crowded field of untruths.
Targeting the innnocent
The recent killing in Gaza of 15 paramedics and aid workers by the Israeli military was, in one sense, merely a continuation of a policy that treats the Hamas enemy and entirely innocent civilians as largely one and the same thing, a strategy that includes targeting hospitals, ambulances and journalists.
Related Reads
Video shows 15 aid workers killed in Gaza were in marked vehicles - contradicting Israel’s account
Fianna Fáil MEP describes killing of 15 aid workers in Gaza as ‘one of darkest episodes in the war’
Bodies of 15 humanitarian workers killed by Israeli forces found in 'mass grave' in Gaza
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
A majority of the unconscionable number of Palestinian dead and injured have been civilians. The only thing different about the recent killings is that they were filmed and witnessed. It is self-evident that the Israeli military would have stuck with their original false account of the incident had there been no hard evidence to contradict them. It is a reminder of how far we can trust their accounts of so many other incidents in which they claim terrorists to have been amongst the civilian dead, or to have attached importance to the protection of civilians.
Netanyahu claims two contradictory things about his country’s army. It is, he proclaims, both the most moral army in the world and the most efficient. Both of those things cannot be true at the same time. Either it is a moral army that does everything to avoid civilian casualties but is spectacularly inefficient in achieving that aim; or it is an efficient army that deliberately delivers unrelenting civilian devastation, collateral or otherwise, in which case Israel’s claim to be defender of important values is not pitched on any high moral ground, but is rather buried along with the ambulances of the aid workers it so recently killed.
John Milton is responsible for the phrase “every cloud has a silver lining”. It is hard to discern any light in the darkness being inflicted on the Palestinian people. However, the undaunted aid workers in Gaza, who risk their lives to assist the innocent and vulnerable, and the heroic journalists who bring it to the world’s attention, represent a bright light that is worth saluting.
Bobby McDonagh is a former Irish Ambassador to the EU, UK and Italy. He is an executive coach and commentator on subjects around EU and Brexit.
Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
'I was told to f**k off to my country': Our readers on their experiences of racism in Ireland
57 mins ago
1.1k
Quiz
Quiz: How much do you know about Ozzy Osbourne?
3 hrs ago
6.5k
15
As it happened
Australia v British & Irish Lions, second Test
Updated
12 hrs ago
52.8k
85
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 214 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 149 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 195 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 158 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 119 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 120 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 51 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 48 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 177 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 78 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 111 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 116 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 65 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 36 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 122 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 126 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 94 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 67 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 116 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 103 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say