An open letter from the Irish Christian Friends of Israel, publicised by nefariously anti-Palestinian pressure group Irish4Israel entitled “Ban of Israeli Settlement Products”, was sent to the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, on 06th of June 2013, contains factual errors so numerous, twists easily verifiable facts and makes so many tendentious allegations it cannot go unanswered. They start off by expressing how ‘appalled’ they are that Eamon Gilmore is seeking to label Illegal settlement produce and post the question “why is he singling out Israel?” and go on to ponder “why no comparable Irish zeal exists to single out products from such occupied lands as Tibet, West Papua New Guinea, Western Sahara or Northern Cyprus, to name but a few.” Such a spurious argument is nothing more than a straw man designed to imply that a level of hypocrisy is at work where none actually exists. Something that should concern us all is the misuse of other instances of human rights abuse for propaganda purposes. Why for example has the Irish Christian Friends of Israel never once mentioned the occupation and subsequent Chinese suppression of Tibetan rights in any other context except to obfuscate around, and shut down legitimate criticism of Israel?
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:42:19 +0000