International community indicted over failure to act in Middle East
Issued : Monday 17 July, 2006
With the situation in the Middle East deteriorating by the minute, the international community is indicted over its decision to stand aside and accept the aggressive and illegal actions of Israel that have exacerbated the conflict.
Yesterday’s anodyne statement from the G8 was a shameful sop to Israel – excoriating the actions of extremists, yet merely calling on Israel to be ‘mindful’ of the humanitarian consequences of its massive response. There was little criticism of the nightly rocket attacks launched by Israel over the last week that have killed at least 150 Lebanese civilians.
Only now have the UN and the EU taken the step of sending delegations to the region to try and broker a peace deal. Yet, the United Nations representatives have thus far been invisible, while the sum of the EU’s action has been merely to express support and solidarity with the Lebanese Government.
The entire principles of the United Nations and the fundamentals of international law, as well as the lives of hundreds and thousands of people in the Middle East are in jeopardy if Israel fails to pull back. The pervading sense remains that the Israeli military are in complete control of this offensive with the full backing of the Government.
Now that the Irish Government has secured the safety of Irish citizens in the region, they must play a much more pro-active role in brokering an end to the violence and securing Lebanese sovereignty. Our voice must be heard and Minister Ahern should stop abusing language by saying simply that the Israeli response is ‘disproportionate.’
He must immediately meet with the Israeli Ambassador to express outrage at this action and demand compliance with international law. We cannot continue to be among those nations who have settled for muted criticism of Israel, and should be leading the international response to end these attacks before the carnage gets even worse.
