Couple the clampdown on free speech in which only the views from one side of the debate are ever heard, and the complete brainwashing of society with that one sided view, and you’ll have an Ireland completely at odds with Jewish self determination and the right to defend itself.
Here’s a film maker who has chosen to walk a lonely path in Ireland’s artist community, due to his awakening to the truth behind the Arabs’ conflict with Israel, which speaks greatly of his courage and moral compass. He’s been confronted with a reality that runs counter to the one carefully prepared for him by his peers and society at large.
Nicky Larkin not only challenges himself, but his countrymen as well, by sharing this completely different Irish perspective on the conflict. It’s a perspective rarely discussed in Ireland, let alone mulled over, which speaks greatly of the vice-grip hold anti-Israel forces have on that society. Larkin’s efforts offer a ray of hope that rational and reasonable debate on the conflict is indeed possible in Ireland, lets hope that his colleagues take up the challenge.
H/T: Challah Hu Akhbar
Nicky Larkin: Israel is a refuge, but a refuge under siege
Through making a film about the Israeli-Arab conflict, artist Nicky Larkin found his allegiances swaying
I used to hate Israel. I used to think the Left was always right. Not any more. Now I loathe Palestinian terrorists. Now I see why Israel has to be hard. Now I see the Left can be Right — as in right-wing. So why did I change my mind so completely?
Strangely, it began with my anger at Israel’s incursion into Gaza in December 2008 which left over 1,200 Palestinians dead, compared to only 13 Israelis. I was so angered by this massacre I posed in the striped scarf of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation for an art show catalogue.
Shortly after posing in that PLO scarf, I applied for funding from the Irish Arts Council to make a film in Israel and Palestine. I wanted to talk to these soldiers, to challenge their actions — and challenge the Israeli citizens who supported them.
I spent seven weeks in the area, dividing my time evenly between Israel and the West Bank. I started in Israel. The locals were suspicious. We were Irish — from a country which is one of Israel’s chief critics — and we were filmmakers. We were the enemy.