Irish Examiner view: Balanced comments welcomed on Israel-Palestine issue

Thu, 19 Oct, 2023 - 02:00

Earlier this week Taoiseach Leo Varadkar touched on the EU’s response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In doing so he illustrated how Ireland operates within the EU.

Speaking in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said he had spoken to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen about her controversial comments on the Israel-Hamas situation.

When visiting Israel just after the Hamas attack Ms von der Leyen expressed unreserved solidarity with Israel on behalf of the European Union as a whole — but she did not explicitly call on Israel to respect international law in its actions in Gaza, and she was roundly criticised for not doing so.

The Taoiseach said on Tuesday that he had discussed this matter with Ms von der Leyen, saying: “... some of the statements that she made lacked balance in my view, and I said that to her and had no difficulty saying that.

“I do think statements which she made more recently were more balanced, specifically talking about the tripling of the humanitarian aid for Gaza.”

It is important that Ireland intervene in such circumstances and maintain its independence of viewpoint within the framework of the European Union.

This is not undermining the European project in any way but is a matter of identifying the necessity for clarity and balance. The Taoiseach also acknowledged that Ms von der Leyen has performed well in her role and given good leadership on issues as various as climate change, covid, and the conflict in Ukraine, and she deserves credit for that. However, one cannot be exempt from criticism when making errors, and the Taoiseach was entirely correct to point out the lack of balance in Ms von der Leyen’s comments.

In discussing the matter himself, the Taoiseach said: “Israel has the right to defend itself and to pursue Hamas terrorists who attack civilian population, and we accept that rage.

“However, Israel’s response must be exercised within the parameters of international humanitarian law. Even wars have rules. Collective punishment should not be inflicted on the population of Gaza.”

This is a reasonable acknowledgement of pain and
suffering alongside the need for humanitarian consideration. In that sense few could disagree with it — or say that it
lacked balance.

Choosing the bus is a plus

The terrible flooding across Cork city and county yesterday had several contributing factors, such as extremely heavy rainfall and a storm surge, while rising sea levels due to climate change are also implicated.

In the latter context it was interesting to read in these pages yesterday that there has been an sharp increase in journeys taken by public transport — and a fall in the number of privately licensed cars.

Data collected by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, the National Transport Authority, Dublin City Council, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, and the Department of Transport showed the number of new private cars licensed fell by 433 vehicles (9%) when compared with September 2022.

In contrast, the number of bus journeys outside of Dublin for the third week of September (3,770,186) exceeded 2019 figures by 17%, and the number of bus journeys in Dublin increased by 10% when compared with the same week in 2019.

What makes those figures significant is that they are comparing pre-pandemic figures with current figures — the fact that there are such significant increases shows a robust recovery in the numbers of people using public transport, and those increases correspond to the decline in private car licence numbers.

The benefit to the environment of more people using public transport cannot be overstated.

A sense of powerlessness is a recurring theme in debates on climate change — the sense among some that the problem is so multifaceted that one person’s individual choices cannot make a difference. Yet making the choice to use public transport is a positive step which contributes towards reducing carbon emissions.

It is encouraging to see that more and more people are making that choice. If this week’s floods in Cork are anything to go by, every little bit helps.

Dolly is a delight

Listeners to Liveline on Tuesday afternoon were spared the usual onslaught of complaints in favour of a rare treat.

The terms “legend” and “icon” can be thrown around cheaply these days, but no other descriptions will suffice for the guest who surprised the audience earlier this week: Dolly Parton.

For almost six decades, Parton has been a household name. Her accomplishments as a singer and songwriter would assure her place among the immortals, but she has also been a successful actor, businesswoman, and philanthropist — her Imagination Library literacy programme has given away over 215m books, over 200,000 to children in Ireland.

She has long since ascended to the ultimate in international fame — being recognised by her first name alone.

On the radio, she mentioned previous visits to Ireland, including a now-legendary trip to an establishment run by another person known by their first name: In 1990, she sang one of her songs on a visit to Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Ventry.

Dolly Parton performing on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2014.

Parton also spoke warmly of Sinead O’Connor, saying: “I always felt connected to her. She was very, very sweet. And I hated to hear she was gone.”

At a time when the bad news seems incessant, it was uplifting to hear Parton’s positivity and generosity. No one better to talk about the dreams they’ll never take away, as she sang herself long ago.

Irish Examiner view: Testing time for Europe amid terror attacks