Israel/Palestine Thread

I suspect for Alan, much like some other pro Israelis, the timing argument is an insincere one, they are really against the recognition of a Palestinan state without Israel's consent. The problem is there will never be a good time for some of them… Bibi is on record as saying there will be no Palestinian state under his watch. Maybe for you it is purely about timing, so let's outline a scenario whereby Simon Harris had postponed this move till after the war with Hamas no longer ruling Gaza , would you welcome the Irish Government move to recognise the state of Palestine at that time?

Well Hamas did beat the Palestinian Authority in the Battle of Gaza when they were throwing prisoners of war off 15 storey buildings (at least they can't do that anymore) and shooting people from news vans. It was so insane that the Israelis gave bullet proof jackets to the Palestinian Authority! But Hamas and it's backer won that war too.

See why Simon Harris is trying to shift the focus to Hamas and the PA? They make the Irish government look almost respectable. Pity about the Irish 'border', immigration, housing cost of living and other crises etc. but just look away instead…

Hypothetical scenarios are pointless. At the moment Gaza and the Palestinian people are ruled by Hamas which is a horrendous terrorist organisation supported by Iran and both organisations want to wipe Israel from the planet. Most people including many Israelis would support a Palestinian State if it was peaceful and posed no threat whatsoever to it's neighbours but we are nowhere close to that situation now. I don't believe a peaceful non threatening Palestine is possible until Iran changes it's support for Hamas, Hezbollah etc and I can't see this happening until the current Iranian regime is overthrown. Harris's timing is doing nothing but providing support for Iran and Hamas, nothing more, nothing less. It will achieve nothing but provide a PR boost for Hamas, Iran and the various nefarious extremist groups Hezbollah and the Houthis too. It is naive, simplistic and a stunt.

Makes me feel all warm inside seeing Israel pull its ambassador and have a go at Ireland, and all the posters in here having little hissy fits thinking it's ok to bomb millions but it's not ok to recognise them as a state.

Wouldn't be so sure of that, there's significant Irish support from all generations for Palestine. I'm guessing there will be polling in the next week or two that'll indicate public support for the decision too.

Who knows. Probably something cyber-related, or maybe they'll commit some terrorist attacks using Irish passports. Maybe they'll run some online operations to swing us out of the EU etc. All the sort of shlt Israel always gets up to.

And yes, the Irish posters here who support Israel will continue to, even as they threaten Ireland. They're in too deep after defending seven months of atrocities. I'm old enough to remember them deny that Israel would ever attack a hospital. A week later, they were all defending the bombing of hospitals and refugee camps. If Israel bombed the Mater and told the world there was a Hamas leader receiving treatment in it, they'd defend the bomb as necessary.

I disagree this move could be a win for Palestinians long term.

The irony is through the conduct of this war Bibi and the IDF are doing an excellent pr job for Hamas. The main objective of Hamas have been met- the idea of a Palestinian state has been brought to the fore in the international community . There is another way to see it though, that if Palestinians see a viable alternative , Hamas may be weakened long term far more effectively than through a military solution. This is likely why Hamas was able to regroup in parts of Northern Gaza despite the IDF saying it was cleared of Hamas fighters. The current IDF campaign is probably providing plenty of new recruits for Hamas . Ensuring the cycle continues.

Ireland did not just reward the murder, but also the mass rape of women carried out by the Palestinians on October 7th. The Hamas sex crimes feel far worse than the mere killing of soldiers and terrorists. There is something premeditatedly and quintessentially evil about these Hamas sex crimes. What they did to girls in front of their family members. Shame on Simon Harris for associating Ireland with this catastrophe.

Are we losing the Israeli ambassador here as well? Like two birds with one symbolic stone.

Given Israel's cyber capabilities, and Ireland's lack thereof, they could inflict massive damage and disruption on the State covertly, as Russia and others have done for years, and that's just for starters.

Ireland gains nothing from this narcissism and stands to lose much. US won't be happy either. At least Harris will not be in power for long.

Open to correction here but I assume the Palestinian State will have Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank as its head of state, as is currently recognised by many countries around the world?

More like in the case of ICC they get their big brother, USA to bully on their behalf.