Uncategorized
Ireland elects left-wing politician with record of anti-Israel rhetoric as president
Ireland’s new president will be a left-wing politician who has sharply criticized Israel in parliament and faced backlash for comments defending Hamas.
The election of Catherine Connolly, a member of the Irish parliament since 2016, marks the elevation of a vocally anti-Israel voice at a time when Ireland has stood out internationally for its critical stance on Israel. Last year, Israel announced that it would shutter its embassy in Ireland, citing “antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government.”
Connolly won by a landslide after securing 63% of the votes on Friday, the largest margin in Ireland’s history. She defeated Heather Humphreys, a member of the center-right Fine Gael party.
While Irish presidents represent the country for matters of diplomacy and play an important constitutional role, the position is largely symbolic and they do not have the power to enact laws or policies.
“My message is use your voice in every way you can, because a republic and a democracy needs constructive questioning, and together we can shape a new republic that values everybody,” wrote Connolly in a post on X following her victory.
Connolly drew criticism from Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in September after she described Hamas as “part of the fabric of the Palestinian people,” and said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer should not have “any say about Hamas” leading a future Palestinian state.
After Martin criticized her remarks, saying she was “reluctant to unequivocally condemn 7 October,” Connolly later clarified on BBC Radio that Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack was “absolutely wrong,” but added the attacks did not constitute an attempted genocide and that the history of the conflict “did not start on 7 October.”
“I come from Ireland which has a history of colonization. I would be very wary of telling a sovereign people how to run their country,” Connolly told BBC Radio. “The Palestinians must decide, in a democratic way, who they want to lead their country.”
Ireland has historically supported Palestinians in their conflict with Israel, a stance often linked to the country’s own history of British imperial rule.
As a member of Ireland’s parliament, Connolly has also fiercely criticized Israel, referring to the country as a “terrorist state” and saying that it was not “democratic” — including in comments predating the war in Gaza.
In 2021, Connolly formally accused Israel of attempting to “accomplish Jewish supremacy,” swiftly drawing condemnation from Jewish leaders who said her remarks smacked of antisemitic rhetoric.
The members of the Irish rap duo Kneecap, which has protested Israel on stage and drawn a terrorism charge, now dropped, over the display of a Hezbollah flag, urged voters to cast their ballots for Connolly.
Ireland’s current president, Michael D. Higgins, who served his maximum two terms, also has a record of sharply criticizing Israel.
In January, Jewish attendees were forced to leave a Holocaust memorial ceremony in Dublin after they protested Higgins’ remarks during the event about the war in Gaza, which he called a “horrific loss of life and destruction which has taken place.”
Last month, after a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza, Higgins called the finding a “very, very important document” and suggested that Israel and countries who supply Israel with weapons should be excluded from the United Nations.
Connolly, a 68-year-old lawyer and psychologist, describes herself as a socialist and pacifist. She is also critical of the European Union and NATO and worked to legalize same-sex marriage and abortion in Ireland.
—
The post Ireland elects left-wing politician with record of anti-Israel rhetoric as president appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’
Rep Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, on Sunday likened the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric to Nazi depictions of Jews.
“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, commenting on a social media post by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, in which he suggested that “migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.” Miller, who is Jewish, is the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Omar called Miller’s comments “white supremist rhetoric” and also drew parallels between his characterization of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. to how Jews were demonized and treated when they fled Nazi-era Germany. “As we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back, you know, one of them being Jewish immigrants,” she said.
Now serving as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Miller is central to the White House’s plans for mass deportations and expanded barriers to asylum. During Trump’s first term, Miller led the implementation of the so-called Muslim travel ban in 2017, which barred entry to the U.S. for individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and pushed to further reduce a longtime refugee program.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany.” pic.twitter.com/GAjIMqFq26
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2025
Miller’s comments echoed similar rhetoric by Trump after an Afghan refugee was accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last month, killing one.
Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting last week that Somali immigrants are “garbage” and that he wanted them to be sent “back to where they came from.” The president also singled out Omar, a Somali native who represents Minnesota’s large Somali-American community. “She should be thrown the hell out of our country,” Trump said.
In the Sunday interview, Omar called Trump’s remarks “completely disgusting” and accused him of having “an unhealthy obsession” with her and the Somali community. “This kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president,” she said.
The post Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’ appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Nigeria Seeks French Help to Combat Insecurity, Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread violence in the north of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, weeks after the United States threatened to intervene to protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has witnessed an upsurge in attacks in volatile northern areas in the past month, including mass kidnappings from schools and a church.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
Macron said he had a phone call with Tinubu on Sunday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”
“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Macron said in a post on X.
Macron did not say what help would be offered by France, which has withdrawn its troops from West and Central Africa and plans to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.
Nigeria is grappling with a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and deadly clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mostly Christian farmers in the central parts of the country, stretching its security forces.
Washington said last month that it was considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel Nigeria to better protect its Christian communities.
The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups, the US has shared intelligence and sold arms, including fighter jets, and Britain has trained Nigerian troops.
Uncategorized
Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.
Asked by a reporter if planned on retiring from political life if he receives a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “no”.
Netanyahu last month asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, with lawyers for the prime minister arguing that frequent court appearances were hindering Netanyahu’s ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for the country.
Pardons in Israel have typically been granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in response to the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and his lawyers have said that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings, if concluded, would result in a complete acquittal.
US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog, before Netanyahu made his request, urging the Israeli president to consider granting the prime minister a pardon.
Some Israeli opposition politicians have argued that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026.