Gaza atrocity must be condemned

■ Once again we witness the barbarity of the Israeli military as it kills civilians in cold blood in Gaza and injures more than a thousand, some critically, last Friday.

Israel’s response to the peaceful ‘March of Return’ protest was to carefully prepare and attack protesters with sniper gunfire, drones, artillery and tear gas. None of the deaths and injuries is accidental. The protesters were deliberately targeted and the scenes are so reminiscent of the Sharpeville killings in South Africa, or those of Bloody Sunday in Derry.

Those killed include farmer Omar Wahid Samour (26), who died when Israeli forces fired artillery shells at him while he was on his own land, more than 700 metres from the boundary fence in southern Gaza. Videos show a 19-yearold shot in the head while desperately running away and a woman shot while standing waving a Palestinian flag.

The people of Gaza, who have suffered an unjust, crippling siege for more than 10 years as well as three Israeli military onslaughts, have a legitimate right to protest on their own lands, including calling for the right of return which is guaranteed by UN Resolution 194.

Instead of the hopelessly muted response from Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, the Irish Government should publicly condemn these killings for what they are – premeditated executions by a rogue state.

Can we expect Taoiseach Varadkar and Minister Coveney to expel an Israeli diplomat from Ireland in solidarity with those Palestinians killed?

Jim Roche

PRO Irish Anti-War Movement, PO Box 9260, Dublin 1