Israel is defined by law

Re “Howlin right to chastise Left for anti-Israel talk”

(Irish Examiner, Letters to Editor, September 5), while the right to self-defence is not in question, one should not judge the behaviour of a democratic state against the actions of its enemies; in doing so the democratic imperative is lost. The atrocities happened upon Israeli citizens are independently horrendous acts, as is the violence inflicted on Palestinians via direct and indirect punishment. Reciprocal acts are not justifiable by reference to the behaviour of the perpetrator.

The responsibility to national and international laws and conventions lies with the democratic state, and with that responsibility come the benefits of statehood, which has been denied to the Palestinians.