By Mike Konrad
Contrary to what many Israelis are now saying, the Irish are NOT antisemitic, but they are acting foolishly, so I cannot blame the Israeli government for pulling its embassy out of Ireland.
Israel is furious that Ireland has opened up a full embassy with Palestine, and that joined with South Africa to press for a case of genocide against Israel at International Court of Justice at The Hague.
But if truth be known, there is more to it.
Norway and Spain have also recognized the Palestinian state, and so has a lot of the planet. (About three quarters of the member states in the United Nations). Yet, Israel has not closed down their embassies with all of those states.
In terms of raw antisemitism, Ireland is rather low in antisemitic incidents, lower than most other European nations, including some nations which support Israel.
So that cannot be the problem.
Among comments made by some Jews on some websites, and social media, the blame is fixed on Ireland’s Catholicism. However, Catholicism as a social force is dying out in Ireland. Catholicism is not the root of the present situation.
Rather, what is driving the Irish is that they conflate their historical experience with the British as being similar to that of the Palestinians. (I know some dispute the validity of that demonym.)
Irelandâs historic experience of being persecuted has created a mindset where they do not identify with a lot of their fellow Europeans.
Some complain that Ireland’s prime minister during World War II, Eamon De Valera, sent condolences to the Germans when Hitler died, and list such an action as proof of intrinsic Irish antisemitism. The problem is that around 50,000 Irish volunteered to serve in the British forces during World War II, with most of them coming from the Free State.
De Valeraâs action was supremely stupid, but based on what I know, he just wanted to assert Irish independence from Britain.
George Bernard Shaw, a dual U.K.-Irish citizen born in Dublin who considered himself Irish â and who hated Nazism â defended the diplomatic action. In other actions, De Valera favored the Allies. Ireland interned crashed Nazi pilots, but returned Allied airmen. He gave weather reports to the Allies. In substance, Ireland was more pro-Allied.
On other hand, Spain sent 47,000 volunteers to fight with the Nazis on the Eastern Front. Yet, all of that is forgotten while De Valeraâs diplomatic foolishness is remembered.
Does anyone remember that when most of Europe was withdrawing civil rights from the Jews, in 1937, the Irish constitution recognized the Jews as free part of Ireland?
And the critics are also bringing up what was called the 1904 Limerick pogrom where no one died.
Russia was killing hundreds at that time, but in Ireland, a few punches and rocks were thrown. Compare that to attacks on Jews throughout history in other European nations. While not justifiable, the Limerick incidents were more of a boycott.
Innate antisemitism is not the real source of Irish foolishness.
Mark Regev, an Israeli diplomat, and former ambassador to the U.K., hits the nail on the head with this observation:
There was a time when actually Zionism was very popular in Ireland. And it shows maybe the superficiality of the Irish approach to ⊠Israel. They loved Zionism when Mr. Begin was heading the Etzel (the Irgun) and Mr. Shamir was leading the Freedom Fighters for Israel (the Stern Group) … when they were shooting British officers. Then we were, we were at the time â and I challenge if we got any Irish listeners to this podcast â look at how the Irish press at the time and the Irish public opinion, they were all for Jews and Zionists when we were fighting the British. Then we were were the flavor of the month â Jewish News Service, JNS-TV
Thatâs it: Superficiality! That is the problem. Not innate antisemitism, but horrendous superficiality.
The Irish conflate their history with that of the Palestinians. That is positively preposterous, but seems to be the national delusion driving such foolishness.
The Irish are ignoring:
The Irish drink. The Muslims forbid alcohol.
Celtic women are fierce. Muslims abuse their women.
The Celts have a concept of democracy. The Muslims are presently incapable of democracy.
As for fighting the British, the Jewish founders of Israel fought the British also.
The Irish want to resurrect their once-dead language. The Jews have resurrected Hebrew.
The Irish would like their country back. The Jews would like their country back.
Ireland is now a tech hub. Israel is the start-up nation.
Instead, âwokeâ Ireland is allowing their country to be overrun with incompatible immigrants to the point that, where Ireland was once 94% Gaelic by ancestry, the Gaels are now down to 77%. And make no mistake about it, hyper-leftists in Ireland are driving it.
If the Irish want a prosperous high-tech economy, they should not be aggravating high-tech masters like the Jews of Israel. They should be partnering with them. If the Irish cannot bring themselves to support Zionism, at least stay as officially neutral as they did during World War II.
They should act more like the Israelis, and restrict immigration to their native stocks, just as Israel prefers Jewish immigration. The Irish should stop re-electing leftists who trash Israel while letting Ireland be overun (click here). This Jewish media commentator in this essay here, sees the issue rightly.
I do believe there is a God who authors history; and I think the Irish are acting abysmally. If the Irish would stop working to impose a two-state solution on Israel, and concentrate on their own predicament, who knows, but the divine author of history might deign to remove the two-state solution imposed on the Irish by the British.
