LARRY DONNELLY considers President Biden’s support of Israel, remembers two Irish broadcasting legends who have left us in recent weeks, and talks about his Boston background and roots in Co. Galway
THERE are innumerable observers around the world who are justifiably critical of and disappointed in President Joe Biden for his administration’s handling of the atrocities unfolding daily in Gaza. A not insignificant swathe, comprised predominantly of those on the left of the ideological spectrum, now despise a man they once deemed congenial and decent. “Uncle Joe” has morphed into “Genocide Joe” in their eyes.
There is no question that the commander-in-chief has long been a staunch supporter of Israel, like most Americans of his generation for whom the Holocaust is not an altogether distant memory. Additionally, there is the undeniable truth that the friends of Israel in the United States wield a disproportionate amount of power and influence in campaigns and elections. He may have been too glib, but the prominent conservative commentator, Pat Buchanan, was not incorrect when he quipped that “Capitol Hill is Israeli occupied territory.”
The result of a recent New York Democratic primary for a seat in the US House of Representatives offers a cautionary tale on this front. The soon to be former member of the House, Jamaal Bowman, one of a vocal group of progressives nicknamed the “Squad” and who accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, was defeated by a 70-year-old challenger, George Latimer, who was urged by Jewish figures in the district to enter the race and has pledged to back Israel to the hilt.
Notably, Latimer benefitted from the financial largesse of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which effectively sponsored his candidacy and spent a staggering $15,000,000 to ensure his victory. AIPAC plans to spread hundreds of millions throughout the country to bolster its political allies and vanquish its adversaries.
Those assailing President Biden at the moment should be aware of the context he is operating in. AIPAC et al can swing close contests and, notwithstanding the prevalence of pro-Palestinian opinion on this side of the Atlantic, the polls show that Americans remain generally pro-Israel, even as there is rising opposition to the US foreign policy in the Middle East among young voters and there are cohorts of aggrieved Arab Americans is battleground states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania who may abandon Biden in November.
Many Biden detractors assert that there is next to nothing separating him and the Democrats from and Trump and the Republicans in this regard. They are wrong. The incumbent has, at least, argued that Benjamin Netanyahu needs to do much more to limit civilian casualties and has pushed for the free flow of humanitarian aid to the suffering.
The putative GOP presidential nominee has expressed no concerns. And lots of his party colleagues in Congress are affiliated to far right elements in Israeli politics. Some evidently would have no problem with the near extinction of the Palestinian people if that’s what it takes to eradicate Hamas.
In short, President Biden is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t when it comes to Gaza. Advocates for Palestine who are clearly furious with him would do well to acquaint themselves with his quandary and to recognise that the alternative is infinitely worse.
A return to the family roots
MY son, Larry Óg, and I made the pilgrimage to Galway’s Pearse Stadium on Saturday, 22nd June, to watch the maroon and white of our ancestral county beat Monaghan in the All-Ireland football championship. It was fantastic to be with him in the Salthill mist and drizzle while shouting for Pádraic Joyce’s men and enjoying the company of good pals.
The ties binding Boston, the city of my birth, and Galway are well-documented. A massive chunk of the Boston Irish trace their roots to all corners of the county. And I was reminded of my late uncle Brian Donnelly’s words as I scanned the crowd and strolled the streets of the western capital.
The seven-term congressman, celebrated for the Donnelly Visa programme he created, remarked to a friend years ago: “You’re going to love Galway. You’re going to see people there who you will swear you know from Boston. They look exactly like people we know, but it’s not them – it’s their cousins.” As ever, I saw plenty of individuals who are dead ringers for the guys and girls I grew up with. It’s uncanny.
After the match, we headed to see our own cousins in north Galway, in Lavally to be precise, between Tuam and Dunmore, from whence the Boston Donnellys came. It was an overdue visit; it was terrific to catch up with them; and they were wonderful to us.
What struck me, however, and not for the first time, were the palpable feelings of travelling to my actual home as we drove from Tuam out the winding roads and of peace as soon as we arrived and gazed upon the vast expanse of green grass and stone walls. Of course, cynics dismiss all of this as twee and might be tempted to hum “too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra” scornfully in response. Fair enough; I find some aspects of Irish American sentimentality for the “ould sod” nauseating and OTT.
I can assure you that what I felt was 100% real, though. I am not alone. And the diaspora’s innate sense of attachment to “home” has been and continues to be a boon for Ireland in every way imaginable.
RTE's former political correspondent for Northern Ireland Tommie GormanThe loss of two broadcasting legends
IRELAND lost two excellent broadcasters and fine gentlemen on the last Tuesday in June. Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, the lilting voice of Gaelic games for decades on RTÉ radio, died at 93. And Tommie Gorman, esteemed for his superb journalism in the north at a crucial juncture in history, passed away. He was just 68.
Ó Muircheartaigh had literally dozens of signature calls and renowned lines in which humour and unparalleled familiarity with players and localities featured in equal measure. Interviews with him invariably revealed a spirit of Christian generosity. Gorman, who I had the immense privilege to get to know a bit at a personal level, has been praised for relentlessly pursuing important news stories in the public interest and for his uniformly genuine human kindness not only to the high profile protagonists in the big events he covered, but also to everyone from all walks of life who he encountered. Each was remembered, above all, as a dedicated family man.
Mícheál and Tommie were both great men. And they will be sincerely missed.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston born and educated attorney, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a regular media contributor on politics, current affairs and law in Ireland and the US. Twitter/X: @LarryPDonnelly
