Merkel has been like Good Samaritan and will not ignore the crushed

In Morning View (July 29), while acknowledging the noble humanity of modern Germany, and in particular its Chancellor, Mrs Angela Merkel, you take Madam Chancellor to task for demonstrating too much compassion and practical assistance towards poverty stricken migrants who are dying in their thousands on the doorstep of Europe.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Aug 2016, 15:54 BST
Updated 1st Aug 2016, 17:20 BST
Like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, Mrs Merkel will not allow Germany to pass by and ignore crushed and broken. Migrants, above, at the border between Serbia and Croatia last year. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)Like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, Mrs Merkel will not allow Germany to pass by and ignore crushed and broken. Migrants, above, at the border between Serbia and Croatia last year. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, Mrs Merkel will not allow Germany to pass by and ignore crushed and broken. Migrants, above, at the border between Serbia and Croatia last year. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

You seem to imply that they are rather a nuisance.

It is interesting to compare your editorial, or Morning View, with that of the New York Times (international edition) July 23 who take a polar opposite point of view to that of your good selves on the issue.

The New York Times states: “Through July 17, 2016, more than 240,000 migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean, roughly equal to last year’s crossings during the same period.

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“Nearly 3,000 died in the attempt, 60% higher than last year’s grim toll.” and “To protest what it called ‘shameful deterrence policies’, Doctors Without Borders announced last month that it would no longer accept funds from the EU and its member states”. The New York Times robustly takes Europe to task for not doing enough to alleviate this terrible humanitarian tragedy.

It is narcissistic to give so much attention to the economic and political difficulties facing Britain outside the EU, which are unnecessary, self created and self centred, and are relatively small compared to the existential threat facing impoverished defenceless migrants.

Apropos the Morning View stance it seems to bear out Lord Acton’s warning about conflating nations and states; he writes: “By making the state and the nation commensurate with each other in theory, (nationality) reduces practically to a subject condition all other nationalities that may be within the boundary ... Accordingly, therefore, to the degree of humanity and civilisation in the dominant body which claims all the rights of the community, the inferior races are exterminated or reduced to servitude, or put in condition of dependence”.

I doff my cap to the magnificent Madam Chancellor of Germany, who, like the Good Samaritan in the Gospel, will not allow herself to put Germany above all others and pass by and ignore crushed and broken non German humankind.

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Regarding the fallacious linking of Islam and terrorism, the Paris news paper, Le Monde, seems to have put the kibosh on confusing them.

Le Monde, July 29, published a profile of 22 persons who carried out terrorist attacks in France since 2012. The conclusion was that they were not interested in Islam ... they often had a big narcissistic problem. Islamic State offers them a kit to become an instant hero and an enemy of the West.

Micheal O’Cathail, Fermanagh

Related topics:GermanyEurope