LETTER: Self-serving myths not historical truths

SIR – Dr Denis MacEoin’s accusation that I am ‘hate-filled’ requires a response (Southern Star, June 25th). Following his earlier claims, I pointed out some uncomfortable facts; unable to dispute these, he resorts to personal abuse. That is to be expected from a propagandist, but is hardly compatible with Dr MacEoin’s vaunted academic status.

In a letter notable for bluster and posturing, he addresses just one of the points I raised – Golda Meir’s contemptuous dismissal of the Palestinian people. He triumphantly quotes her rambling justification for her stance, the gist of which is that Palestinians don’t exist because they never had a national government. 

According to this pseudo-logic, the Czech people are also a figment of someone’s imagination, since the Czech Republic never existed before 1993.

In fact the Palestinians acted as a nation as long ago at the 1830s, when they rose up against the occupying Egyptians – just as they did a century later in opposition to the joint British-Zionist takeover. But I must concede that being driven from one’s home at gunpoint is a powerful incentive to strengthen communal solidarity in Palestine as elsewhere.

It took two centuries for white Australians to admit officially that the continent was inhabited by human beings (with human rights) before Europeans usurped the lands – by divine right, of course. It seems that Israel may need just as long to reach a similar level of honesty and maturity.  

That journey has already been begun by those courageous Israeli historians who, unlike Dr MacEoin, are not prepared to accept self-serving myths in place of historical truths. Identifying who was responsible for generating hatred will be central to that process.

Yours faithfully,

S O’Mahony,

Gurteenakilla,

Ballydehob.