{"id":475789,"date":"2026-05-31T06:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T06:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/475789\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T06:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T06:49:12","slug":"maybe-we-should-ask-irelands-small-population-of-jews-what-they-think-about-anti-semitism-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/475789\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe we should ask Ireland\u2019s small population of Jews what they think about anti-Semitism \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision of the Government<\/a> to proceed with the Occupied Territories Bill<\/a> but not to include services under its remit will please nobody.<\/p>\n

Those who want strong and immediate action against Israel<\/a> think it\u2019s too milk-and-watery; those who fret about the economic consequences of stepping out of the pack to attack Israel will think it\u2019s reckless.<\/p>\n

If the Government was seeking to find a middle ground, I am afraid it is narrow to non-existent on this question.<\/p>\n

The Bill will not remotely satisfy those who want tougher sanctions, while those who are concerned about the consequences will be further alarmed. If the former are more numerous, the latter includes many in the senior ranks of government, officialdom, semi-states and business.<\/p>\n

As if to illustrate the point of it pleasing nobody, there were fierce exchanges on the subject in the D\u00e1il on Tuesday after the Cabinet approved the Bill. Opposition leaders savaged the Taoiseach for the limited nature of the legislation while he pleaded that he had to take account of the possible threats to the Irish economy.<\/p>\n

Do you want to tell Intel that it can\u2019t trade with its sister company in Israel, he asked Richard Boyd Barrett.<\/p>\n

Yes, replied Boyd-Barrett.<\/p>\n

You want a total boycott of Israel, Martin accused the Opposition.<\/p>\n

Yes we do, several TDs, including the leader of the Opposition, answered. <\/p>\n

The Bill is likely to be brought to the D\u00e1il after next week\u2019s recess. Expect more of the above.<\/p>\n

But actually, the Bill may not be the biggest issue involving relations with Israel in coming months. Pressure is building over the two international soccer matches against Israel in the autumn. This could become a sort of crucible for Ireland\u2019s position on the issue.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Higgins won\u2019t attend Ireland v Israel and says claim sport and politics do not mix is \u2018spurious\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The away fixture may be held at a neutral venue (Israel has played a number of its games in Budapest) but the home game is due to be played at Lansdowne Road on October 4th. Campaigners want the FAI to refuse to play, or alternatively for the Government to say the games must not go ahead. Several League of Ireland captains and other leading figures in Irish football signed an open letter calling on the FAI to boycott the game earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be unconscionable for these games to go ahead,\u201d one campaign organiser, Seamus Fox, told RT\u00c9\u2019s David McCullagh this week. They held a protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday, and you can expect the campaign will grow in intensity and reach over the summer.<\/p>\n

The Government, unwilling to support a wider boycott of Israel, has said the games should go ahead, as has the FAI, which said the six-point deduction \u2013 and possibly, other sanctions \u2013 would \u201cnot be in the best interests of Irish football\u201d. By the looks of things, grassroots football supporters are taking a different view.<\/p>\n

This raises the prospect of large demonstrations accompanying the game, as well as \u2013 presumably \u2013 booing the anthem, anti-Israeli chants and all that inside the ground. Like anyone else, football supporters are entitled to express their views about the appalling behaviour of the Israeli government and military forces in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. Whether you think it amounts to genocide, or \u201cmerely\u201d war crimes, is another matter. Football supporters will form their own view and communicate it.<\/p>\n

In the world in which we live, however, speaking out may not be cost free. That is not a reason not to speak out, but it is a reason to think about how we do it. Whether we like it or not, demonstrations against the Israeli soccer team playing in Dublin, booing the anthem and so on, will be interpreted in many quarters \u2013 especially in the United States \u2013 as further evidence of anti-Semitism in Ireland.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know you think that\u2019s unjustified. But the perception is taking hold. For a country that is so depending on foreign direct investment \u2013 and has grown wealthy on the back of it \u2013 this is something we would be foolish not to consider.<\/p>\n

To repeat: this is not to say the country should not speak out against Israeli atrocities and seek to push EU action, especially on the EU-Israel association agreement.<\/p>\n

But it does suggest some degree of caution and forethought is warranted. After all, where do you think the taxes that pay for the NGOs who call for the Israeli boycotts come from?<\/p>\n

There is one further point to make. Just as criticising the actions of the state of Israel is not anti-Semitism, so worrying about anti-Semitism does not amount to defending the actions of Israel.<\/p>\n

Look around. Last week a Dublin city councillor posted online about how we needed a \u201creal final solution\u201d. Protesters routinely call, not just for the salvation of Palestinians, but for the destruction of the state of Israel. Of all the streets and parks that Dublin city councillors choose to rename, they pick the one named after an Irish Jew.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Chief Rabbi: Move to erase Chaim Herzog\u2019s name and history is cruel hammer blowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Maybe we should ask Ireland\u2019s small population of Jews what they think about anti-Semitism. It seems a logical place to start. Many of them are pretty clear about it. They ask: why the singular focus on Israel? Why are the same standards not applied to other countries? Where is the boycott Iran campaign or the demonstrations in support of the Uighurs in China? The President recently told an audience there are 130 armed conflicts worldwide \u2013 why are we (and she) so focused on one of them? Why is it always Israel? What could it possibly be about Israel that occasions such opposition? And why are Irish Jews considered answerable for the crimes of the Israeli government?<\/p>\n

Look around. There is a wave of anti-Semitism crashing over Europe. Ireland should find a way of supporting the Palestinians that is not part of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decision of the Government to proceed with the Occupied Territories Bill but not to include services under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13446,3409,61,60,3410,43,4503,4268,42555,1842],"class_list":["post-475789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-football-association-of-ireland-fai","tag-gaza-strip","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-occupied-territories-bill","tag-palestine","tag-pat-leahy","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}