Do you remember when Joe Biden visited Belfast in April? How could we forget that day (well, half a day actually) when everyone cheered and said he was a great man and sure wasn’t he a son of the old sod and all that?
In Dublin, the three main parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin – agreed that he was a great statesman. They gave him a standing ovation in the Dáil, especially the bit where he condemned violence, and sure didn’t we miss the chance to canonise him when we had him here?
Fast forward to today and Joe Biden supports Israel as it continues its slaughter of over 21,000 civilians (so far) in Gaza, where 700,000 residents are effectively imprisoned in an area the size of the Ards peninsula. It is Israel’s fifth invasion of Gaza since 2005.
Biden has refused to back calls for a ceasefire at the United Nations, even though 153 countries supported the proposal. None of the three main parties in Ireland said “Hang on, Joe, you’ve got this wrong”.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu this week promised months of continuing war. Trailing heavily in the opinion polls, he hopes his destruction of Gaza will win support in his re-election campaign. He is electioneering over the dead and injured, the starving, the homeless, and the traumatised children.
Israel’s objective is the destruction of Hamas, which launched a terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on October 7. However, as this column has already indicated, Israel created Hamas to split the Palestinians who, from the 1960s, were represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Israel funded a charity headed by a disabled Muslim cleric to build schools, clinics and libraries (the same ones they are now destroying). By 1987 this charity had evolved into Hamas, following an intifada (uprising) against Israel. Now Israel vows to destroy its own creation.
- Patrick Murphy: Israel's role in creation of Hamas demonstrates how today’s problems begin with yesterday’s decisionsOpens in new window
- Welcome to the last days of neutral Ireland – Patrick MurphyOpens in new window
- After shooting of women at Catholic church, killing in Gaza must end nowOpens in new window
Every year Israel receives €3.3 billion in military aid from the US, more than all other countries combined. The nearest American base to Israel is Cyprus. US planes on their way to and from there refuel at Shannon. By allowing this, the Irish government is on the side of America and good old Joe Biden.
Yes, Leo Varadkar has called on the EU to back a ceasefire in Gaza, but the EU’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, has refused to do so (despite a letter of complaint from her staff). No-one voted for her but she represents us on the world stage.
That’s the same EU for which the Irish government is now preparing to abandon its neutrality, leading Ireland into a European army. That army will be on the same side as the US in any future conflicts.
Sinn Féin is the only major Irish party to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. It originally instructed its councillors in the north to oppose calls for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, presumably hoping not to offend its rich backers in the US. That policy changed when one of its MLAs was heckled at a public meeting and another had their office daubed with pro-Palestinian slogans.
Today nationalist working-class areas fly Palestinian flags and unionist working-class areas hoist the Israeli flag. (The middle classes do not do flags.)
The real test of Irish support for the Palestinians will come in March, when our politicians queue up to visit Washington
Unionists support Britain, where both Tory and Labour side with Israel. Nationalists support the EU and the US, which also side with Israel. (Maybe someone should tell nationalists.) All of which shows that despite sectarian rivalry here, both sides support world powers which are pro-Israeli.
The real test of Irish support for the Palestinians will come in March, when our politicians queue up to visit Washington. Fifty-seven per cent of US voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the Gaza conflict. Will any Irish politician openly join them?
Or will they all claim to stand with Palestine, while sitting down with America? St Patrick’s Day will reveal their true stance on Gaza – if there still is a Gaza by then.