Irish Examiner view: Progress towards peace in Gaza requires listening to all sides

Diplomacy requires recognition of the philosophy stated by JFK 60 years ago: 'We must deal with the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be'

Micheál Martin at the Be'eri kibbutz during his visit to Israel, Palestine, and Egypt. Picture: Miri Shimonovich/DFA

A picture, so the old cliché goes, is worth 1,000 words. But in this world of insta-opinion generated thousands of miles away from the scene of action, with little knowledge, or respect, for context, it depends on who the wordsmith is, and the meanings and inferences they want to draw from the “evidence” before them.

Thus it is that Tánaiste Micheál Martin has earned the ire of pro-Palestinian commentators for being thought to have posed for a photo opportunity in aid of Israel when he visited the home of Haim Peretz in the town of Sderot, which is about a mile from Gaza and which was in the front line of the hostilities which erupted on October 7.