THIS years greatest crime against humanity was committed by Israel last week. To get their man, which they did, they resorted to the bombing of a Gaza City neighbourhood consisting of family apartments.
Along with killing their intended target, Salah Shehada, (a military strategist in Hamas the Palestinian organisation behind the suicide bombings which have brought death and destruction all over Israel) there were 14 others killed including nine children the youngest just two years old.
There were around 150 wounded in this horrendous attack, which must be on a par with the frightful deeds of the suicide bombers which The Examiner pointed out in its second leader headed "Urgent Need To Stop Cycle Of Violence" (July 24)
A missile attack on a densely populated area is no more justifiable than a suicide bombing.
This terrible deed brought criticism from one of Israel s greatest allies, George W. Bush, President of the USA.
He called the action "heavy handed" which could yet turn out to be one of the understatements made during his term in office at least he let the Israelites know that he did not approve.
This was not the case with Israels P.M. Ariel Sharon who described the bombing as a "great success" because the action succeeded in killing its target, Salah Shehada, Sharon expressed regret over the loss of civilian lives stating that Israel had no interest in harming civilians.
It was left to his foreign minister Mr. Peres to state that the action was "a mis-take".
In the leader headed A Mistake Too Far The Irish Times (July 25) stated that the civilised world was rightly appalled when it hears the prime minister of Israel, Mr. Sharon, describe an action with such consequences as a "great success."
His words stretch to the limits the sympathy most of the rest of the world feels for Israel in its struggle to live in peace and security among its neighbours, a cause it has been forced to prosecute by defending to the death its very right to exist.
However, Israel s conduct under Mr. Sharon begs the question as to whether he prefers to live in a state of near perpetual war with Palestinians (and Mr. Yasser Arafat in particular), rather than negotiate peaceful co-existence.
As one of his predecessors and an architect of the Middle East peace process, Mr. Rabin, famously said: "You don t make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavoury enemies." The trouble with Mr. Sharon is that he has shown very little inclination to make peace….
There needs to be a full and open investigation into who ordered an F-16 jet to fire a so-called smart bomb into an apartment block whose occupants can only have included and been known to include very many civilians who were not of the same ilk as Mr. Shehada.
Concluding this leader stated: "if any good can come from this tragedy it will spring from the soul searching now taking place in Israel. Public pressure must be brought to bear on Mr. Sharon to make peace with his enemies. He must put as much effort into negotiation as he is clearly willing to put into retaliation. And the Bush Administration should use its good offices firmly to encourage him in that direction."
Hopefully some leaders will see the light in the Middle East eventually and peace will be restored.
Brilliant Karsh put himself in the picture
THE greatest in any field is always worthy of note.
Into that category I put Yousuf Karsh who was surely the greatest of all portrait photographers.
The historian Peter Pol-lack put it well in his Picture History Of Photography when he stated that "Yousuf Karsh, in his powerful portraits transforms the human face into legend".
That s praise enough surely to put him to the top of the tree.
Yousuf Karsh died this month at the age of 93 and I have no doubts his portraits of the famous and not so famous will be seen hanging on walls all over the world till Gabriel blows that final trumpet blast.
Yousuf Karsh was born in Armenia in 1908. His father was an illiterate merchant and he grew up in a Turkey that was anything but peaceful two of his uncles were killed there and his family narrowly escaped one of the many massacres by fleeing to Syria from where the young Yousuf was sent to live with an uncle in Canada hence Karsh of Ottawa being credited to his portraits.
After getting to Canada which he regarded as a safe haven when he got there, his uncle gave him a Box Brownie camera and encouraged him to consider a career in photography.
No doubt he had the necessary flair for the job on hands and ends up the world s greatest. He had that added dimension that he was intensely interested in his subjects and researched their lives and careers before meeting them. He enjoyed the challenge and no matter who you were it was a big plus to be photographed by Karsh.
His portraits of the celebrated and powerful from Albert Einstein to Nikita Khruschev are known to millions.
Karsh s big breakthrough came in 1941 when he photographed Winston Churchill as he walked into the Canadian Parliament.
Here s how The Daily Telegraph recorded what happened:
"During the darkest days of World War 11, the British PM was walking into the Canadian Parliament when the photographer flicked on his lights.
"Two minutes for one shot, and I mean two minutes for one shot," growled the great man as he lit a cigar. Karsh, however, did not want to take a picture of Churchill with this "already familiar prop", and proferred an ash tray. When Churchill continued to smoke, the photographer stepped forward and, muttering "forgive me, sir", plucked the cigar from the prime ministerial lips.
"By the time I got back to my camera," Karsh later recalled, "he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me." At that moment, Karsh caught the PM s furious expression on film. The photograph was syndicated around the world, and reproduced on stamps in seven countries."
That was the shot that made Yousuf Karsh. After that every door was open to him and he "Karshed" many of the world s lead-ers including all the American Presidents from FDR on.
So be on the look out for any Karsh portraits you come across and keep them.
Fr Ted fan takes over at Canterbury
THIS time the favourite got home safely. Yes Dr. Rowan Williams was strongly fancied to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury and it was no surprise when the announcement was made on Tuesday last.
He succeeds Dr. George Carey who was a surprise choice last time when Margaret Thatcher had the final say.
Tony Blair was not going to upset the applecart this time and stayed with the Church of England s choice.
To me Dr. Williams comes across as a younger version of Pope John XX111 so it will be interesting to monitor this progress.
He was born in Wales in 1950 and became Oxford University s youngest professor of theology at the age of 36.
He was enthroned as Bishop of Monmouth in 1992 and elected Archbishop of Wales in 2000. He is the first Archbishop of Canterbury from outside England since the Anglican Church broke with Rome.
Dr. William s appointment has also been welcomed warmly by other religious leaders, including the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Jonathan Sacks, who described him as "a quite exceptional thinker and man of God."
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, had no doubt that he would prove to be "a force for great good", while Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff described him as "a man of great personal integrity and deep spirituality" who had "an easy pastoral style, relates well to a wide range of people, and has a delightfully mischievous sense of humour."
Reuters report in The Irish Times records that: Dr. Williams and his wife Jane, a theology lecturer, have two children and he cheerfully admits he is too busy getting them ready for school to find any time to pray in the morning.
He cuts a striking figure with his flowing druidical beard, he has a penchant for shaggy sweaters and says one of his clerical heroes is Father Ted, the priest played by Dermot Morgan in the Channel 4 television series of the same name.
Dr. Williams should brighten this passing parade while he is in office.
