It’s wrong to accuse Israel of apartheid
REGARDING Sally Rooney and Frances Black’s comments on Israel: apartheid, under the guise of ‘separate development’, appeared on the statute book in South Africa in 1948... a unique state-sponsored system of racism now legalised.
Palestinians, refused a larger state than Israel in 1948, expected Pan-Arab forces to erase the state of Israel. However, Israel survived and developed. Palestinians, losing wars against Israel in the 1950s and 1960s, had no policy other than the elimination of Israel. Amazingly, pragmatic conservative moderates in Israel managed to get the government to grant freedom to Gaza. Of course, the freedom had restrictions, but it offered a chance to develop tourism, and improve education and business life.
Palestinians in Gaza then democratically voted into government Hamas, an organisation that made our ‘Provos’ seem like pussy cats and which sends bombs and suicide missions into Israel at regular intervals. Israel is not a Mother Teresa state, and of course Palestinians suffer abuses from Israel, on whom they have declared war, but the label of apartheid is incorrect.
JOHN P. KELLY, Clontarf, Dublin.
EU must take a stand
WE haven’t even finished with Brexit yet and now there’s talk of Poland drifting towards a similar EU exit. It seems to me that the ruling Law and Justice party (PIS) is advocating policies that will jeopardise Poland’s future in Europe. It’s as if this party’s raison d’être is the violation of democratic rules with impunity.
Ostensibly, this country’s Supreme Court ruled last week that some EU laws were ‘incompatible’ with the Polish constitution and warned EU institutions not to interfere with its judiciary by requesting that it be independent from politics.
I see that Hungary, too, has found itself at odds with the European Commission over issues ranging from LGBT rights to judicial independence.
It’s my contention that no member country would attempt to leave the EU now, especially if they were to look at the omnishambles that is Brexit.
It’s my belief that this is nothing short of sabre-rattling by these countries and it’s my view that all this is akin to a baby spitting out its dummy and then throwing the mother of all tantrums.
The vast preponderance of Polish citizens will never want to return to those difficult austere times when they were essentially not a part of the EU family,
The PIS party is presently in real polemical mood and one would hope that its recent political pronouncements will come to nothing. The EU has to now exercise punitive sanctions on these member states if they are not abiding by the rules.
I see the behaviour of these two countries as falling under the rubric of what I would refer to as ‘grave breaches of the rule of law’.
I would urge the EU to suspend funds to these two countries if they continue in displaying such fragrant recalcitrance to EU authority. These countries have to always remember what they signed up to when they became EU members. There is nowhere in the EU rules where they have the words cherry picking.
JOHN O’BRIEN, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
A Question of failure?
LIKE many others, I’ve stopped watching A Question Of Sport. The new format is embarrassing, the inclusion of non-sporting celebrities isn’t working and even the team captains Samantha Quek and Ugo Monye display little sporting knowledge.
Why wasn’t football pundit Ian Wright considered as the new presenter instead of comedian Paddy McGuinness? With his infectious humour and wit, I could listen to Wrighty all day.
M. BARNES,
by email.
... IT’S unsurprising the revamped A Question Of Sport has lost so many viewers. Why change a successful, entertaining programme that has been popular for years? The selection of sportsmen and women, together with the comical captains, made the show.
MIKE JONES, by email.
... IT’S regrettable that A Question Of Sport is now a joke – and, like presenter Paddy McGuinness, not a funny one!
The answer to one recent question was a female tennis player. The contestant couldn’t pronounce her name and Mr McGuinness said: ‘Well, don’t ask me. I can’t pronounce her name either.’
Everyone on the programme fell about laughing.
This was not respectful to the tennis player or viewers who did know the correct answer.
PATRICK WICKHAM,
by email.
... IT should be renamed The Paddy McGuiness Show as no one else can get a word in with all his attempts at humour that fall flat. The show is not about sport anymore, but is more like It’s A Knockout. Commenting on the criticism the new format has received, the BBC states it’s attracted a younger audience.
Don’t they realise that on Friday evenings youngsters will be out on the town, not watching a thirdrate comedy show.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED.