By Damien Grant on STUFF…
The Levant is a complex place. I don’t understand it. I suspect that many of those who live there struggle to come to grips with its long history and interlocking internecine grievances, real and imagined.
So, I am not going to proffer my view on the rights and wrongs of the various resentments that continue to boil over into violence in that troubled region. My sympathies lie with the State of Israel. I lay no claim to objectivity.
What I can, and will, comment on is the way the latest conflict is being covered in this country and the reaction of a number of our citizens who have elected to wade into this difficult area with the confidence and certainty of a dilettante at a gallery opening.
The latest burst of activity began, according to news stories, with a fracas at the Al Aqsa mosque. No one died.
In response to this, or at least in the immediate aftermath, Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip, unleashed thousands of rockets towards Israel. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) reacted. This isn’t a shock. The first responsibility of a state is to defend its citizens.
Read Damien Grant’s article in full on STUFF here.
