Fr Liam Power: Must we stand idly by as Gaza death toll rises

It is utterly distressing to watch news reports of the war in Gaza and the West Bank. Like so many others, the feelings of outrage coupled with powerlessness and sometimes despair are overwhelming as I watch footage of emaciated, starving children with distended stomachs and bones protruding. 

They are being held by their despairing ,mothers crying out for some form of nutrition. 

Viewers are subjected to the barbarity of indiscriminate bombing, which destroys dwellings, hospitals, schools, shops, etc. According to the Gaza Health Authority, over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war to date.

It is estimated that half a million Palestinians are starving, even though we are reliably informed that hundreds of trucks laden with supplies are stationed just outside the Israeli border. But they are obstructed from entering Gaza and the West Bank, though Israel, of course, denies this, claiming that there is a food supply getting through.

The statistics are supplied by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an organisation backed by the United Nations, which monitors hunger internationally. It reports that over half a million Palestinians are facing famine conditions of starvation, destitution and death. 

And it emphasises that the crisis is entirely man-made. 

Israel is weaponising hunger as a military strategy, which is contrary to all international conventions on warfare. The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said it was "a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing".

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Israel, as the occupying power, "has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity."

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has authorised the ground invasion of Gaza city, which would forcibly displace over one million Palestinians. This will have very serious consequences for many people who are sick and malnourished as they may not be able to evacuate.

The barbarity can have a numbing effect, giving a kind of protective shield to isolate us from the horrors. But we can't escape the feeling that we should be doing something. 

It is heartening to see well-attended protest marches throughout the country in support of Palestine. Our Government must be commended for its official recognition of the State of Palestine. (Most experts agree that the ‘Two-State Solution’, which involves the creation of a Palestinian state separate from the state of Israel, is the only viable proposal for peace in the area.) 

The US has shamefully refused to recognise the State of Palestine.

Lately, I was very encouraged to discover that we can do something as a local Church, to challenge the barbarity of the Israeli occupation. The Association of Catholic Priests has called for the Church in Ireland to divest from its main insurer, Allianz, because the company is the principal shareholder in Elbit Systems, one of the main suppliers of drones to the Israeli military. (The use of drones has had a devastating impact on infrastructure in Gaza, killing many thousands of Palestinians.) 

All church property and Catholic schools in Ireland are insured by Allianz. The company is also one of the major sponsors for the GAA.

Our parish property is, of course, insured by Allianz. I ask myself, am I cooperating with evil if I continue our contractual arrangement with Allianz? 

We were always taught that to cooperate with evil in a formal and immediate manner implies moral culpability. For example, if you drive the getaway car from a robbery or supply a gun to a murderer or launder money for a drug cartel, you are complicit in the evil intent and therefore morally guilty. 

Now my association with Allianz’ morally offensive investment is not formal as such and not immediate. It could be classified as material cooperation. Nevertheless, I feel strongly that we should not be supporting a company with such deep financial links with a totally corrupt regime. The Church and the GAA must take a moral stance on this issue and divest.

Dr Michael Malone, of the Christians for Palestine organisation, has emphasised how effective such a boycott of companies like Allianz can be. He is also associated with a movement called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. He is emphatic that financial pressure, created by such movements, may ultimately force the Israeli government to cease the genocide.

I have no hesitation in calling on the Irish Church and the GAA to sever all links with Allianz, regardless of the cost, unless, of course, the company divests from Elbit Systems.

As I write, a peace proposal has just been announced by President Trump. I’m somewhat sceptical as none of the warring parties (the Israeli Government or the Hamas terrorists) were party to the negotiations. It demands a significant climbdown by Netanyahu, reversing as it does the attempt to force Palestinians in Gaza into exile and to agree to the withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces from Gaza. 

However, the fact that Tony Blair, who has been active in the Middle East peace process for several years, will have a leading role in the plan is cause for hope.