Higgins says too many EU leaders 'have stayed silent' on Gaza horror

President Michael D Higgins has said the European Union has suffered reputational damage through its "lethargic" response to the daily horror in Gaza.

He said too many EU leaders "have stayed silent", and those who have begun to speak up are not using "appropriate" language.

President Higgins in a statement released tonight said measures announced by the EU on 15th July that would have allowed humanitarian relief into the Palestinian enclave and asked "how many have died" since then.

“In the struggle to achieve democracy, to recover democracy or to make it more inclusive, language is perhaps the most important tool we have.

As Vaclav Havel has said, words can seek freedom but they can also kill - ‘they are capable of being rays of light in a realm of darkness’ but ‘they are equally capable of being lethal arrows’.

Too many in Europe have stayed silent and, however late they break their silence, don't reach for the words that are appropriate to what is happening.

In reacting to the horror that is a daily occurrence in Gaza, and now threatening the West Bank, some leaders seem unable to use an appropriate language to express what is taking place – be it the starvation of hostages held in Gaza or the condemning of young children to a slow death by malnutrition. A comprehensive breach of international law in all its aspects.

Shockingly, more than 200 journalists, those whose words provide immediate reports of the devastation, have been killed.

I agree with those leaders, such as President Macron, who are now acknowledging the reputational damage to the European Union. Europe will find it very difficult to repair the damage that has been done by a lethargic response that has tolerated impunity.

For example, on 15th July a set of measures were announced as having been agreed that would allow humanitarian relief. How many have died since 15th July? How many children have been put into an irrecoverable place?

As somebody who has lived by language all my life, it saddens me to have to say that even an appropriate language has also become a victim of this conflict.”