Letters: Let’s not allow racists posing as patriots to spread their foul hate

The programme should be a wake-up call for anyone who doesn't think we have a problem with racism in Ireland.

What a sad commentary on our ostensibly welcoming nation.

Protesters screaming "get them out" and hurling the foulest of abuse at people already hurt and broken by whatever hell they've escaped from. Buildings earmarked for asylum-seekers set alight.

Workers just trying to do their jobs subjected to vile intimidation, and self-appointed guardians of the white race believing they had the right to tell a cameraman not to film their 'peaceful' demo.

And it isn't just a case of a small extreme element giving the larger anti-immigrant 'movement' a bad name. Those who attach themselves to these hate campaigns are encouraging the toxic far-right agenda.

Apart from garda action to apprehend the racists identified on film and through crazy online ranting and incitement, we urgently need a new, hard-hitting anti-racism message to be hammered home in all primary and second-level schools. It won't be in time to change the minds of some of the charmers we saw and heard on Thursday night, but it might help to prevent another generation of Irish people from being brainwashed by nutjobs posing as patriots.

It's time for Ireland to say no — to racism and the 'politics' of hate.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny

Empathy is missing — Israel has crossed line Sir — In reading the re-called ambassador Dana Erlich's , you could feel a deep sense of disappointment towards Ireland ('Ireland's lack of empathy for plight of Israelis is bewildering', September 15).

It is difficult to argue with someone who feels so hurt follow­ing the barbaric events of last October 7. Her thoughtful and provoking piece is all-consuming against the ­enemies of Israel and would-be sympathisers.

She reflects that Ireland needs to be what she calls a true "neut­ral" observer. Is there any such observer? We all take sides consciously and subconsciously; we see what we see.

A true friend will offer support and that support may be to speak out honestly when you are wrong. Like many Irish people, I have a great love for the Jewish people, born out of a biblical history, but also out of the horror of the Holocaust, forever etched in my mind.

But Israel has crossed the line of legitimate defence of its people in inflicting revenge against ­Hamas while killing thousands of innocent people trapped in Gaza and putting millions in harm's way.

You cannot hide behind the shield of Hamas doing likewise as a justification.

Thousands dead and injured, families destroyed, hostages held in terror, all more unending hurt.

Empathy lies and will always lie with those suffering attack, oppression or pain, be they ­Israelis or Palestinians.

Ms Erlich hopes the people of Ireland will understand the complexities of the situation, rather than "accepting simplistic" or "binary views" that are presented. The taking of innocent hum­an life is always wrong; it is as binary as that for those with an ounce of humanity in their soul.

Compassion for the Palestinian people is not an anti-­Israel senti­ment. Israel must never morph into a barbaric terrorist state because of the actions of others, including its own questionable leaders.

Israel and Hamas must seize peace to truly end the ­suffering and the killing.

Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18

Jews at home and abroad oppose war Sir — The Israeli ambassador to Ireland conflates being anti-Israel with being anti-Jew. Jews inside and outside Israel are opposed to the continuing slaughter in Gaza, including prominent ­Jewish historians such as ­Norman ­Finkelstein, who is a son of ­Holocaust survivors.

The ambassador says Hamas has been absolved of any responsibility for the war, yet every RTÉ report says it started on October 7 following the Hamas attacks.

The ambassador has never once expressed empathy for the Palestinian people.

Michael Jordan, Point Road, Dundalk

Funding from US has prolonged violence Sir — It is ironic that the ­Israeli ambassador accuses "Irish people largely" of a "disregard of history" while insinuating that there are "significant similarities" between the peace process in Northern Ireland and what passes for peace negotiations in the Middle East.

The glaring difference, which the ambassador disregards, is that in Northern Ireland the US administration was largely even-handed and had the credi­bility to play a groundbreaking role as a facilitator.

In the Middle East, by contrast, the US has unconditionally funded and facilitated the Israeli state's oppression of the Palestin­ian people, perpetuating a grotesque power imbalance and prolonging the violence.

David Murphy, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14

​Media are showing a clear bias in conflict Sir — I would like to commend the Sunday Independent for publishing the by the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

Whatever one's view in relation to this conflict since the ­Hamas attacks on Israel on ­October 7 last year, Ms Erlich is correct in her observation that there is a clear bias against Israel within large elements of the general media in Ireland.

Any TV debates on certain channels in Ireland where Israel is being discussed usually have a panel and presenter sharing similar viewpoints and speaking against Israel, while rarely if ever discussing the motives and actions of Hamas.

When one reads and watches media outlets and channels from outside Ireland, the information and viewpoints that are shared in relation to this conflict are far more balanced and would make one believe there is a completely different conflict than the one being reported within the Irish media.

The Sunday Independent to its credit bucks the trend here and is to be commended for doing so.

Sean Burns, Knocknacarra, Co Galway

​Ambassador's take on war misleads us Sir — The Israeli ambassador's claim that "we have both... made painful compromises to achieve peace" is misleading.

Perhaps the ambassador was referring to the Israeli state's withdrawal from its illegal ­colonial settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, or to the ­Israeli military's conclusion of its 18-year occupation of the southern part of Lebanon in 2000. Surely the conclusion of blatantly expansionist projects cannot be regarded as "compromises to achieve peace".

More likely, the ambassador is referring to the Israeli government's withdrawal of its troops and illegal settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Far from being a concession towards harmony, this served as a decoy to deflect the growing international outcry over its indefensible oppression of the Palestinian people, thus allowing the Israeli state to continue its occupation, fragmentation and de facto annexation of the larger and more desirable territory of the Occupied West Bank.

Brian Ó Éigeartaigh, Donnybrook, Dublin 4

​Support for Palestine is growing stronger Sir — Instead of providing a single reason or new insight to explain her claim, what Dana Erlich's achieves is to confirm that Ireland is correct to support the people of Palestine.

The grounds on which she appeals for empathy with the Israeli position are unconvincing, to say the least, and the destruction of Palestine and attempted annihilation of the Palestinian people remains completely unjustifiable.

The does not contain one word of compassion or mercy for the plight of the homeless, displaced Palestinian people or those killed or left with horrific injuries. In seeking to undermine the affinity and solidarity Ireland has with Palestine, Dana Erlich has instead helped to clarify and strengthen the reasons for that resolve.

Mary Clare Walsh, Drogheda, Co Louth

​Lack of humanity is truly bewildering Sir — What Ireland finds bewildering is that the good people of Israel have tolerated an extreme right-wing government that defied Joe Biden's plea last October not to seek revenge.

Ireland is well aware of Israel's history; that is why it finds the lack of humanity shown in Gaza utterly incomprehensible.

Teresa Mitchell, Arklow, Co Wicklow

​Sir — Dana Erlich has to understand that voicing one's opinion to the awful and dreadful policies of the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not imply that one is promoting antisemitism. If the Irish people decided to stay quiet on this situation, we would be giving Netanyahu a free hand in doing whatever he wishes.

John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

​Sir — In response to the Israeli ambassador's insulting and denigrating Ireland for a perceived lack of understanding of the brutal campaign of indiscriminate violence perpetrated on over 40,000 Palestinians — mainly innocent women and children in Gaza — clearly she doesn't realise we in Ireland are sickened and disgusted by the callous disregard for the dignity and lives of fellow human beings.

Ms Erlich arrogantly dares to lecture and insult the Irish Government and population.

John and Elaine Leahy, Wilton Road, Cork

Sir — In response to Ms Erlich, I would like to point out that the war on Palestinians did not start after the Hamas outrage last October 7. It started with the Deir Yassin massacre of Palestinians by Jewish terror gangs in April 1948, which led to the exodus of 330,000 Palestinians, who fled in terror.

Most Irish people have empathy with Palestinians because we share a history of colonialism.

Daniel Teegan, Union Hall, Co Cork

​Hamas aims to wipe out an entire nation Sir — Over 700 Israeli soldiers are dead in a completely unnecessary war started by Hamas, a cruel and cunning foe, just like their comrades in arms, Hezbollah.

Israel is the size of Munster. It is where Jewish people have a refuge and they call it home. The obvious aim of Hamas and Hezbollah is to finish the work of the Nazis and wipe Israel and its largely Jewish citizens off the map.

Ena Keye, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14

Sinn Féin prejudice is an insult to voters Sir — One sure-fire way to know a general election is in the air is when the front pages of the Sunday Independent are disparaging Sinn Féin and when columnists like Eilis O'Hanlon want us to remember the horrors of the Troubles before we vote.

Add in the fact that Phil ­Hogan is back in the Fine Gael tent and one begins to realise nothing is going to change. Housing and providing homes for our young people, most of whom will not be reading this newspaper, are relegated to afterthoughts.

The most pressing challenge of our time — that of providing affordable housing for the up-and-coming generation — is being left to the ones who have failed to address the problem after three successive terms in government.

How one solves the macro-economic issues of wealth inequality, which is all about ownership, will not happen without changes in our politics.

Regrettably, it seems the Sunday Independent has again taken the bait in favour of maintaining the status quo, rather than offering real-world solutions to present-day problems.

Tom McElligott, Tournageehy, Co Kerry

​Politicians right to delete attacks on X Sir — Sam McBride alleges that Mary Lou McDonald was deleting posts on X that were critical of Sinn Féin (Sunday Independent, September 15).

Anyone who uses X will know it is a cesspit with no lid, a breeding ground for cowardly, masked abusers who target leading politicians from under the cover of not just aliases, but multiple different ones.

Most of these cowards have notifications set on their devices so that as soon as there is a mention of Mary Lou McDonald, Micheál Martin, Stephen Donnelly or Eamon Ryan, they are out from beneath their rocks with insults that are so personal it is a wonder anyone would want to become a politician.

What Leo Varadkar endured on X was despicable. Meaningful debate is stifled and there seems to be some kind of sadistic contest aimed at seeing how close we can go to wrecking the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr McBride knows, or should, that X has provided a delete facility for the very purpose of protecting followers of your posts from being exposed to vile and despicable comments. I encourage your readers to go to X and take a look at any post from any politician and see the hateful comments for themselves.

Tom Fennelly, Firhouse, Dublin 24

​Simon Harris must identify his best vote-getters Sir — Gabija Gataveckaite was right last Sunday about a week being a long time in politics; a year has to be an eternity. Only a year ago, it looked like Fine Gael was about to return to the opposition benches for the first time since 2011 and the Shinners and Fianna Fáil were about to form a lethal partnership.

It's remarkable how some new leaders can change a party's fortunes. The big challenge for Simon Harris now is getting the right runners in place to replace the non-runners.

It can be a tough task identifying a potential vote-getter. I can remember entering a Fine Gael ard fheis some time ago and meeting a former vote-getter who was on a smoke break.

I encouraged him to come out of political retirement and give it another shot. He did, won back his seat and improved the party's fortunes. Sometimes the solutions are under our noses.

Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo

Asylum stats show flaws in our policy Sir — Given that all political party think-ins of late stayed remarkably silent on the thorny issue of asylum (one wonders why), the latest statistics on the subject (belatedly put up on the government website recently, despite the figures being avail­able from September 5), make for interesting reading.

The good news is that median processing times have fallen from 82 weeks to 75; the not-so-good is that International Protection Office applications pending are 23,727 (up from 16,566 12 months ago), while the International Protection ­Appeals Tribunal has 6,748 ­applications pending.

However, the figure that stands out is a 64pc refugee status grant rate for August by the ­Ministerial Decisions Unit, which has greatly increased compared to previous months.

It would appear the accelerated interview procedure for Jordanian (often Palestinian) claimants may have contributed to the surge in grant rates, with the knock-on effect that all granted refugee status can apply to bring their family into the country under family reunification.

Other than having a belligerent Israeli for a neighbour, I am unaware of any political turmoil in Jordan that would cause over 2,000 (mainly males) to claim international protection here so far this year.

Yet again, it would appear unintended consequences are at work in the make-it-up-as-you-go-along world of international protection policy.

Michael Flynn, Bayside, Dublin 13

Writer Eamonn Sweeney on song in fine satirical column Sir — Eamonn Sweeney's column of September 8 ('The Gaelic Gigs Association') was satire at its best, a wonderful piece of writing. It should be required reading for journalism students.

Paul Colligan, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin