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Surrealing in the Years Thoughtless celebrity commentary on Gaza crisis will make things worse

Popular commentary on the crisis is leading us to the precipice of something even more dangerous.

THE USUAL PURPOSE of this column is to examine some of the stranger and more surreal aspects of the Irish news each week.

With that in mind, it is rare that this week’s Budget announcement would be bumped from the proverbial front page. It is essentially an annual party where the nation gathers to learn by how much the price of cigarettes has increased.

The Budget is something we pay attention to perhaps with the intention of being let down. We hope against hope that some surprise measure will be announced to lift us from whatever hardship we may be facing. This never happens, and it did not happen this year. 

The 8ft steel railing erected outside Leinster House to protect politicians from the wrath of the public was not even called for. So foregone is the conclusion of each yearly budget announcement that it doesn’t even rouse a gathering of the same crowd who brought their gallows to Kildare St just a few weeks ago.

As a humanitarian crisis continues to unfurl in Gaza and Israel, it therefore seems necessary to look beyond what is happening in Ireland this week.

Since the severe escalation in hostilities between Hamas, the Israeli state, and civilians living in Gaza this week, Ireland has played its own role.

The Irish government strongly rebuked the early suggestion – later revoked – that EU tack that aid to Palestine would be halted as a result of Hamas’ Saturday morning attack. Leo Varadkar has held to this stance, telling RTÉ’s Prime Time that Israel “doesn’t have a right to breach international humanitarian law” in its response to Saturday’s attack by Hamas.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tánaiste Micheál Martin has elsewhere said that actions taken by the Israeli government on Friday “put enormous trauma on the ordinary civilians and Gazans”.

This is in sharp contrast with certain neighbouring nations. In the UK, it has been suggested that flying a Palestininan flag could potentially be punished as a public order offence. France has banned pro-Palestine rallies outright. In the United States, Joe Biden implied he had seen intelligence photos of murdered babies before it was conceded by his Press Secretary that he had not. 

It was reported by Naomi O’Leary that Ireland sought language in the EU statement to call against an escalation of hostilities by Israel, but that these efforts were shot down.

Bellicose language has not been confined to the political arena in the wake of this week’s violence, which so far has left over 1,000 people dead in Israel and Gaza respectively, many of which are civilians, and many more of which are children.

Celebrities, as they are often wont to do, have played a particularly grotesque role in the unfolding commentary. Justin Bieber shared an Instagram post in support of Israel – sharing a photo of rubble and destruction with the text “Praying for Israel” overlaid. 

The only problem was that Bieber had accidentally shared a photo of a Gaza in ruins following an Israeli airstrike. When this was pointed out to him, instead of modifying his stance or including Palestinian victims in his post, he simply reposted the words “Praying for Israel” against a stock, blue-green Instagram background. 

A similar outcome befell Jamie Lee Curtis, who shared what she appeared to believe were Israeli children cowering from an air attack, alongside the caption “Terror from the skies” and an Israeli flag. Once again, the children photographed were Palestinian, and once again, Curtis declined to include those Palestinians in her thoughts. She simply removed the post. 

One statement, signed by 700 Hollywood figures, put forward the argument: “As Israel takes the necessary steps to defend its citizens in the coming days and weeks, social media will be overrun by an orchestrated misinformation campaign spearheaded by Iran.”

On Friday morning it was announced by the Israeli government that the 1.1million Palestinians living in North Gaza had 24 hours to leave – a decision described as a “death sentence” by WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestine Refugees, warned that the relocation order “will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss”. Does this fall under the “necessary steps” referred to in the open letter, signed by the likes of Chris Pine, Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber, Amy Schumer, Helen Mirren and Jerry Seinfeld?

It seems this sort of careless is trickling down to the citizenry at large. It is against discursive backdrop that one widely-shared and especially callous TikTok video emerged, appearing to show an Israeli man bragging about how he still has access to running water and electricity as the Israeli government off the supply of such human rights in Gaza. 

One would think that in order to minimise death on all sides, there is now more of a need than ever to address the root causes that give rise to a movement such as Hamas, rather than an indiscriminate approach of violence towards all of those living in Gaza.

That the conflict, grounded as it is in decades of bloodshed, oppression and human rights violations, is being discussed in such thoughtless fashion, should deeply concern anyone hoping for deescalation in the coming days and weeks. 

As it stands, popular commentary on the crisis is leading us to the precipice of something even worse.

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    Mute Christine Paulette Roche
    Favourite Christine Paulette Roche
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:03 AM

    Heartbreaking, may he rest in peace.

    200
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    Mute Charles Williams
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:35 AM

    @Christine Paulette Roche: Yes his suffering is now over thankfully. The bigger story here is 7000 children are dying every single day from hunger but it’s met with a defending silence, no Pope, no US President seem to notice, care of comment and the media, not interested. So it’s amazing how one child with little chance of survival could solicit such support while the other 7000 others who could survive were ignored.

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    Mute joanne murphy
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:27 AM

    @Charles Williams: oh be quite, this is about one little boy. Not a political / social statement. Sleep tight little Charlie xx

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    Mute sue
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:45 AM

    @Charles Williams: not the time or place Charles

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    Mute Ryan Carroll
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    Jul 29th 2017, 11:23 AM

    I think we should let the Charlie story rest now, there is something that just does not sit right in me debating it anymore, it feels wrong. The childs health is no longer something that can be affected by the debate so it would just become a cheap ego contest over who was “right” when really this was not about who gets proven right or wrong.

    It is however appropriate to call out the hypocrisy of many of those, especially in the US, who complained about “socialized healthcare” not keeping him alive when they have the only developed country where you can go bankrupt from medical expenses. Thanks to McCain it won’t happen but they were 1-2 votes away from 32million people loosing their health insurance and it was calculated to cause thousands of deaths, including kids.

    30
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    Mute gerry fallon
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:10 AM

    There really are no words fitting.
    That poor couple will take a long time to get over Charlie’s death.Its time now to leave them to grieve in their privacy.I hope the Journal and other media just move on now.

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    Mute Frank Dubogovik
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:26 AM

    For such a short life there was so much love packed into it….rest now little fighter.
    R.I.P.

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    Mute Margaret Henry
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:37 AM

    Their real journey starts now . Thank God little Charlie is at peace and no longer suffering . RIP

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    Mute DaisyChainsaw
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    Jul 29th 2017, 11:22 AM

    @Margaret Henry: Sure it was god’s will that he suffer in the first place.

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    Mute JeanieD
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    Jul 29th 2017, 11:48 AM

    @DaisyChainsaw: Troll sick one at that.
    RIP little boy and may your grieving parents find comfort and solace in the knowledge that so many people truly cared.

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    Mute DaisyChainsaw
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    Jul 29th 2017, 12:38 PM

    @JeanieD: What’s trolling about it? If god is going to be thanked for relieving Charlie of his suffering, then he has to be blamed for giving Charlie the fatal disease to suffer in the first place.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Jul 29th 2017, 12:57 PM

    @DaisyChainsaw: Let it go. If you understood the Theology around suffering you would know that what you say is not the case. Regardless let people express their condolences in the manner that they see fit. If religion brings them solace it’s no skin off your nose. The one thing I do know that it’s not possible to expect tolerance if your give it. I’m not religious but I’ve made an effort to try to understand where they are coming from. The baby has died and it’s time to move on.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Jul 29th 2017, 12:58 PM

    @Catherine Sims: * if you don’t give it* that should have read.

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    Mute Liam Whelan
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    Jul 29th 2017, 1:24 PM

    @Margaret Henry: This god you speak of, if you thank him for letting Charlie be at peace now then who do you fault for him having this disease in the first place? It certainly wasn’t the parents who placed this disease upon him so does your god take full responsibility for it? And if so can he tell you as to why he done it? Because I would love to know why any “all loving” person can do things like this to innocent children day in day out. I think you know what you can do with your “thank god”.

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    Mute Margaret Henry
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    Jul 30th 2017, 1:12 AM

    @Liam Whelan:

    I lost a young child myself Liam Whelan . So I think I’m qualified to speak on this . When I said Thank God his suffering is over I meant just that .

    If you have watched your young child suffer in pain for months through operations and treatments you would thank God when it finally means they are no longer suffering even when that means they are no longer with you

    its not about you in all this it’s about your child who is suffering

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    Mute Celtic_Horizon
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    Jul 29th 2017, 8:31 AM

    RIP

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    Mute Tony
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    Jul 29th 2017, 9:43 AM

    Look after your parents now Charlie. Rest little one.

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    Mute Louise Dunne
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    Jul 29th 2017, 10:37 PM

    R.I.P. gorgeous little boy. Beautiful photo to treasure forever.
    That picture of him smiling up at his dad is haunting, i can’t equate that with all I’ve read about his condition. looking at that picture no wonder they were keen to try various treatments.

    9
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