Criticise Israel, but also criticise Hamas

Zoe Lawlor and Mags O’Brien (Letters, August 1) are justifiably outraged about the devastation being wrought on the Palestinian people of Gaza.

Any person with a moral compass would be. However, in their examination of the situation, which was followed by a call for a boycott and sanctions on all things Israeli, and a call for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, there is no mention of Hamas’s role in the crisis.

The suffering of the Palestinian people, at the hands of the Israel Defence Force, is being aided and abetted by a group, Hamas, that called for the destruction of the state of Israel in its 1988 charter.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organisation by the civilised global community, yet there is no mention of its rocket attacks on, and tunnel incursions into, Israel. When Israel inevitably reacts with disproportionate force and Palestinians die, the Hamas leadership sits back and gloats as the world reacts with fury, leading to marches on the streets by appalled citizens of Ireland. Surely, the role of Hamas in Gaza needs to be also acknowledged, criticised and denounced with equal fervour.

Dr. Kevin McCarthy

14 Seán Hales Terrace

Kinsale,

Co Cork