In a few hours, it will be tomorrow :).
Yes, it will be March 17! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
As a Christian character, Saint Patrick is all about those beautiful values of universal love, forgiveness, kindness, understanding, and acceptance of the uniqueness of everyone.
To what extent are such values reflected in the behaviours of some in today’s Ireland?
Perhaps not much when it comes to the spitting and unkind words of rejection of an Israeli young man, Mr. Tamir Ohayon, who was recently visiting Ireland for a conference. He was told Zionists are not welcome in Ireland by a group of girls who made him feel scared and distressed in addition to receiving their saliva on (https://tinyurl.com/yhpdtbsu). In times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the latter behaviour would have been considered socially shocking.
Isn’t it sad when the level of intolerance is that high in some? Indeed, what is the fault of this young man? And even if he had served in the armed forces of his country, so what?
Mr. Ohayon could have been from Canada, the USA, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon or from anywhere. He could have served in the armed forces of any country, not just Israel, or even within a militia. As a visitor, he still deserves to be treated with civility.
Mind you, Bambi is saying the above, even if Israel (former occupier) has destroyed her birth country again, in addition to reoccupying it, in its war with the Hezbollah. As a reminder, this pro-Iranian Lebanese militia opened a battlefront with Israel on October 8, 2023, claiming to support the Palestinian cause (no clue how).
As for the government of Ireland, it is free to endorse one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it did. Even if this endorsement seems unwise or biased, it is the approach that was chosen in external politics. One must respect this choice. However, when citizens of this beautiful country start aggressively mistreating visitors/tourists, it is worrisome.
May calmness, civility, respect, and dignity for all prevail nor just in Ireland, but everywhere, including Canada. May we all learn to separate ideologies from the personal treatment of individuals we encounter, even if they come from countries we may dislike.
To conclude this post, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all, including to these girls!
