January 3, 2025
Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh
Ara Coeli. Cathedral Road. ARMAGH BT61 7QY.
Tel (028) 3752 2045. Fax (028) 3752 6182.
Dear Archbishop Martin, Your grace,
You have been reported to have described the Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza as a "merciless war" which in some quarters would be considered a compliment considering Israel is responding to a merciless barbaric attack on its citizens resulting in more Jewish deaths since the Holocaust.
May I remind you that Israel did not start this war, but it must finish the war because the real merciless party Hamas wants to murder all the Jews in the world (Article seven Hamas Charter), not just in Israel, the world. That's merciless.
There is no hope whatsoever for a peaceful resolution if Hamas remains in power, and because it is a formidable fighting force, its defeat will not be overnight. That suits Hamas that cynically exposes its own citizens to death knowing that an ever increasing list of casualties will be blamed on Israel's "merciless war".
Your undersealing of the conflict as Hamas fighting Israel on behalf of the oppressed Palestinians is incorrect. Hamas is an Iranian proxy fighting Israel on behalf of its patron, not to free the Palestinians, which is of no interest to Iran, whose sole purpose is to erase Israel. Of course Hamas couches its motives in attacking Israel as protecting the Al Aqsa Mosque compound from Israeli designs to take it over and destroy it, an event never attempted or contemplated by Israel, but perfect fodder to stir up the masses for a religious war which is how the Palestinians interpret it.
Your desire to see Israel twin its war against Hamas with Palestinian statehood is a pipe dream. Israel doesn't need a war to make peace with the Palestinians. On six separate occasions, Israel offered land for peace proposals to the Palestinians who rejected every one because they claim all of Israel as theirs.
Perhaps its time for a man of your stature to hold the Palestinians to account for their intransigence over the existence of a Jewish state.
As long as dignitaries like yourself hold Israel responsible for the conflict, Hamas will be emboldened to keep fighting and refusing to release living hostages if there are any. Is this the result you want?
Respectfully yours,
Lawrence C. Shapiro, Calgary,
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