Reports misleading on Palestine/Israel violence

In a report in the Irish Examiner (World, October 20) on the most recent escalation of violence in Palestine/Israel, this line appears: “During a month of violence, nine Israelis and the Eritrean have been killed in a wave of shootings and stabbings by Palestinian assailants.”

Although the unfortunate Eritrean man was shot by security forces and then attacked by a mob of Israelis, this reporting would give anyone the impression that he was killed by Palestinians.

Further the piece states: “Forty-one Arabs — including 20 identified by Israel as attackers — have been killed, with the rest dying in clashes with Israeli troops.”

This line would lead the reader to believe that they had simply expired in clashes rather than being killed. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al Haq and other rights groups have condemned Israel’s use of force, particularly against unarmed demonstrators, saying that some of their acts amounted to “extra judicial killings”.

As is so often the case with media coverage of this conflict, the context is absent. A context of Israeli settler colonialism, apartheid, occupation and ethnic cleansing — which the Palestinian people have been subjected to for 67 years.

As the international community, including the Irish government, continues to grant Israel absolute impunity for its actions, civil society must follow the Palestinian call for BDS — boycott, divestment and sanctions until justice prevails.

Zoe Lawlor

Co-ordinator Gaza Action Ireland

South Circular Road

Limerick