1 week Ago
PRESIDENT MICHEAL D HIGGINS called out Israel for its actions in Gaza and criticised world leaders present at the funeral of Pope Francis for staying “silent” on the ongoing war raging within Gaza. Speaking to reporters following Francis’s funeral in Rome this afternoon, Higgins commended the late pontiff for his outspoken stance on conflicts ongoing globally. “He kept saying, you know, making a war is easy, making peace is difficult,” Higgins said.
“You might say, in a way, has his state been utopian? No, because one of the most interesting things about Francis is that he spoke out. I think this is when, in fact, you know that one powerful phrase he had about an epidemic of indifference. “When he speaks about the epidemic of indifference, he’s really speaking about people taking as natural and unchangeable, a preparation for war rather than peace, a form of economy, global hunger, global poverty, so much exclusion in cities and so on.
” When asked by a reporter present about his thoughts on Pope Francis’s support for the people of Gaza and criticism he faced in turn, Higgins replied: “It’s very significant, not only who is at the event today, but who is missing” in an apparent jab at Israel, which sent a low-level dignitary to attend the funeral. Continuing, Higgins mentioned Netanyahu and then said that many people who have spoken out against Israel have been labelled anti-semitic. Israel’s foreign minister , which Higgins and various other politicians have strenuously denied.
Higgins also said that the narrative had been spread that if someone was opposing the views of the prime minister “who is directing an army that is in breach of international humanitarian law”, they were a supporter of Hamas – “which is absolutely untrue”. “Today, we’ve had a wonderful gathering here in Rome of representatives of government and state. How could any of them remain silent then, if you are in fact, actually starving people to death by blocking food, blocking medicines, blocking the basic water itself, the basic necessities of life? “I think when you think of his own concept, Francis’s own concept of indifference, that’s what he meant.
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