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Ireland is Europe’s Most Anti-Israeli Country
By HENRY SREBRNIK Several protesters walked out during Irish President Michael Higgins’s speech at the Holocaust Memorial Day event in Dublin on Jan. 26. Representatives of the Jewish community had asked him not to give the keynote address because, they asserted, critical comments he has made about Israeli actions in Gaza made him an “inappropriate” pick for the event.
They referred to his “grave insensitivity to Irish Jews,” but the president insisted he has always stood up against anti-Semitism.
This was no surprise, because the Republic of Ireland has become Europe’s most merciless critic of Israel. Archbishop Eamon Martin, Ireland’s most senior Catholic figure, in his 2025 New Year’s message also criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as “merciless” and a “disproportionate” response to Hamas’s invasion of the Jewish state.
Two weeks before that, Israel had already announced it was closing its embassy in Dublin in response to the Irish government’s repeated anti-Israel statements, its indifference to rising anti-Semitism, a great deal of it coming from its parliamentarians, and in particular its decision, formalized on Jan. 7, to join South Africa in accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, explained the Dec. 15 decision, stating that Ireland had crossed “every red line” with its actions and rhetoric. He accused Ireland of “antisemitism based on the delegitimization and dehumanization of Israel.”
Israel’s ambassador to Ireland said closing the embassy was a “tough decision” for her country to take. Dana Erlich added that Ireland has taken “a more extreme stance than any other country” against Israel.
“This is an abuse of the international multilateral system by South Africa, we were sorry to see Ireland join it, but this joins an accumulation of steps, rhetoric and initiatives that we’ve seen Ireland trying to promote this past year,” she added. The Irish government said there were no plans to close its embassy in Israel.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, Ireland has emerged as one of the Jewish state’s fiercest critics and relations between the two countries have frayed. Its middle classes are among the most Israelophobic in all of Europe.
Posters of Israeli hostages are defaced in public spaces, while school textbooks disseminate narratives that demonize Israel and Judaism. Vehement opposition to Israel and Zionism has seen demonstrations in Dublin that include the flying of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine flags, with chants that hurl invective at all Jews.
Reports of targeted attacks against Jewish individuals, paired with the embassy closure, have left Jewish residents and visitors without the diplomatic support they need in an increasingly dangerous climate.
On the campus of University College Dublin, a sign read, “Zionist-Free Zone.” Trinity College Dublin was one of the first universities in the world to divest from Israeli companies and the campus is a veritable sea of keffiyehs. (Boycott as a concept and a tool of direct action has its roots in British-colonized Ireland.) The students’ union declared that Zionists were not welcome on campus. Jewish students were offered a safe room if they felt they were in danger.
Yet the republic’s rulers are in denial. “I utterly reject that Ireland is anti-Israel,” declared Prime Minister Simon Harris. We’re just “pro-peace, pro-human rights, and pro-international law,” he insisted.
Harris said his country would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he landed there, following the issuance of arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court.
Shortly after, Micheal Martin, the country’s minister of foreign affairs and defence, announced on Nov. 7 that Ireland would be backing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, in a reflection of the country’s long-standing position of solidarity with the Palestinian cause. His comment came on the same day that the Irish parliament passed a motion saying that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” Three days later, the Anglican Church of Ireland’s Canon David Oxley claimed that Israelis saw Jews as a “master race” — a term usually associated with Nazi ideology.
But Maurice Cohen, Ireland’s Jewish Representative Council chairperson, said the Irish intervention in the ICJ case risks “oversimplifying a highly complex and tragic conflict, unfairly isolating Israel, and undermining the integrity of the term ‘genocide.’”
Relations between the two countries have long been complex. Ireland only extended de jure recognition of Israel in 1963 and established diplomatic relations in 1975. Until recently, Ireland had refused to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, unlike most European countries.
Sa’ar alluded to Ireland’s neutrality during World War II, when anti-British Irish nationalists cooperated against Britain with the Nazis. Indeed, on May 2, 1945, then-Prime Minister Eamon de Valera visited the Nazi ministry in Dublin and sent his condolences to the German people over Hitler’s death. A woefully poor decision, his gesture was nonetheless motivated by the overzealous need to demonstrate Ireland’s anti-British, pro-neutrality position.
The island was under English and then British rule for more than 800 years (and Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom). That “has undoubtedly shaped how people from Ireland engage with post-colonial conflicts,” asserted Jane Ohlmeyer, a history professor at Trinity College.
So clearly, some of the Irish hostility to Israel derives from the anti-British, anti-imperialist perspective of Irish history: the idea that the Palestinian experience at the hands of Israel is similar to that of the Irish with the British.
“Leaders often ask me why the Irish have such empathy for the Palestinian people. And the answer is simple: We see our history in their eyes,” former prime minister Leo Varadkar explained. “A story of displacement, of dispossession, national identity questioned or denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now, hunger.” Not surprisingly, Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland, agreed, maintaining that Irish support comes from a history of shared experiences.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Eddward Island.
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Lia Koenig describes her life as an actress, from Bucharest to Tel Aviv
צװישן די יאָרן 2018 און 2024 האָט דער ישׂראלדיקער טעאַטער־פֿאָרשער ד״ר יניבֿ שמעון גאָלדבערג פֿונעם בר־אילן אוניװערסיטעט פֿאַרבראַכט לאַנגע שעהען שמועסנדיק מיט דער באַרימטער ייִדישער אַקטריסע ליאַ קעניג. פֿון דעם איז אַרױסגעװאַקסן דאָס בוך די בינע פֿון איר לעבן, װאָס איז פּובליקירט געוואָרן אױף ענגליש דורכן באָסטאָנער פֿאַרלאַג „אַקאַדעמיק סטאָדיז פּרעס“. קעניג, שרײַבט גאָלדבערג אין דער הקדמה, איז אײנע פֿון די לעצטע לעבעדיקע ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן, װאָס האָבן זיך געלערנט זײער קונסט דירעקט אין דער טעאַטער־סבֿיבֿה אין מיזרח־אײראָפּע פֿאַרן חורבן.
דאָס בוך פּרוּװט, װי װײַט עס איז מעגלעך אין דער ענגלישער איבערזעצונג, אָפּצוהיטן דעם נאַטירלעכן טאָן פֿון די שמועסן. גאָלדבערג שטעלט פֿראַגעס און קעניג ענטפֿערט אױף זײ, אָפֿט מאָל מיט לענגערע אָנאַזײַטן, װאָס ציִען נאָך זיך װײַטערדיקע פֿראַגעס.
דער לײטמאָטיװ פֿון קעניגס מאָנאָלאָגן איז די אַנטױשונג, װאָס ייִדיש האָט ניט באַקומען קײן געהעריקע אָפּשאַצונג ניט — דעמאָלט אין אײראָפּע און ניט הײַנט אין ישׂראל. „זײ האָבן ניט קײן דרך־ארץ פֿאַר ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן אין ישׂראל,“ זאָגט זי מיט אַ טאָן פֿון ביטערקייט.
דער שמועס נעמט אַרײַן פֿאַרשײדענע תּקופֿות פֿון קעניגס לעבן. זי איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין לאָדזש אין 1929. אירע עלטערן יוסף קאַמיען (שטײן) און דינה קעניג זײַנען געװען באַרימטע ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן אין פּױלן. לאה איז געװען דרײַ יאָר אַלט װען די עלטערן האָבן זיך צעשיידט און זי איז אַריבער קײן טשערנאָװיץ מיט דער מאַמען, װאָס האָט געשפּילט אינעם דאָרטיקן ייִדישן טעאַטער. דער טאַטע איז פֿאַרבליבן אין לאָדזש און איז אומגעקומען אינעם חורבן.
װען די דײַטשישע חיילות האָבן באַפֿאַלן דעם סאָװעטן־פֿאַרבאַנד אין 1941 זײַנען זײ אַנטלאָפֿן קײן אוזבעקיסטאַן. דאָרט איז די מאַמע שיִער ניט געשטאָרבן פֿון טיפֿוס. דאָס זײַנען געװען די סאַמע שװערסטע יאָרן אין קעניגס לעבן, אָבער אַזױ האָבן זײ זיך געראַטעװעט פֿונעם חורבן.
נאָך דער מלחמה האָבן די מאַמע מיט דער טאָכטער זיך באַזעצט אין בוקאַרעשט, װוּ לאה האָט אָנגעהױבן שפּילן אינעם ייִדישן טעאַטער. אירע אײַנדרוקן פֿון יענע יאָרן אין דער קאָמוניסטישער רומעניע זײַנען געמישטע. זי לױבט דעם ייִדישן טעאַטער װאָס איז געװען גוט אָרגאַניזירט און האָט באַקומען אַ סטאַבילע שטיצע מצד דער רעגירונג. דער בוקאַרעשטער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט געהאַט אַ פּראָפֿעסיאָנעלע טרופּע און האָט געשמט װי אײנער פֿון די בעסטע טעאַטערס אינעם לאַנד.
אָבער דער קאָמוניסטישער רעזשים האָט ניט דערלױבט קײן פֿרײַהײט ניט אין קונסט און ניט אינעם פּריװאַטן לעבן. דער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט עקזיסטירט אין אַ מין „געטאָ“ בעת אין דער אַרומיקער געזעלשאַפֿט זײַנען געװען פֿאַרשפּרײט אַנטיסעמיטישע געפֿילן. אינעם יאָר 1961 האָט זײ זיך אײַנגעגעבן עולה צו זײַן קײן מדינת־ישׂראל.
אין ישׂראל איז דער מצבֿ פֿונעם ייִדישן טעאַטער געװען גאָר אַנדערש פֿון רומעניע. אין דער ייִדישער מדינה זײַנען געװען פּריװאַטע טרופּעס, װאָס האָבן אָפֿט געשפּילט „שונד“. די מאַמע האָט שטרענג געהײסן לאהן: „הײב אָן אין העברעיִש און ערשט װען דו׳סט װערן באַקאַנט, קענסטו טאָן װאָס דו װילסט אױף ייִדיש.“
לאה קעניג האָט געשפּילט אױף דער העברעיִשער בינע מיט אַ גרױסן דערפֿאָלג העכער װי פֿופֿציק יאָר. און דאָך זאָגט זי: „איך רעד העברעיִש אָבער מײַן אמת איז אין ייִדיש.“ העברעיִש איז „ניט קײן שפּראַך פֿאַר טעאַטער.“ זי קען ניט שפּילן שלום־עליכם אױף העברעיִש אָדער אױף ענגליש: קײן שום איבערזעצונג „רירט נישט מײַן נשמה“.
ערשט פֿיר יאָר נאָך איר אָנקומען אין ישׂראל האָט זי װידער אָנגעהױבן צו שפּילן אױף ייִדיש, טײלװײַז צוליב פּרנסה. דער פּריװאַטער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט באַצאָלט בעסער אײדער די מלוכישע „הבימה“. אין די 1960ער און 1970ער יאָרן האָט זי גאַסטראָלירט אין אײראָפּע, דרום־ און צפֿון־אַמעריקע און אין אױסטראַליע. איר מאַן הירשל (צבֿי) שטאָלפּער, דער רעזשיסער פֿון זײער טרופּע, „האָט כּסדר געבױט אַ פּראָגראַם װאָס האָט זיך אָנגעהױבן מיט נאָסטאַלגיע נאָכן נעכטן, און דערנאָך זײַנען מיר אַריבער צו די הײַנטיקע ענינים,“ דערמאָנט זיך קעניג.
די שמועסן קערן זיך װידער און װידער אַ מאָל צו לאהס טאַטע־מאַמע. זײ האָבן געהערט צו דעם דור ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן, װאָס האָבן „אײַנגעפֿלאַנצט די ליבע צום טעאַטער אינעם מיזרח־אײריפּעיִשן עולם“, האָט זי באַטאָנט. אין מדינת־ישׂראַל, להיפּוך, איז די באַציִונג צו ייִדיש אַ ביטולדיקע.
אינעם יאָר 1986 האָט קעניג באַקומען די העכסטע ישׂראלדיקע פּרעמיע „פּרס ישׂראל“ פֿאַר דער הױפּט־ראָלע אין יעקבֿ גאָרדינס דראַמע „מירעלע אפֿרת“. די קלאַסישע ייִדישע דראַמע האָט מען אױפֿגעפֿירט אױף העברעיִש בײַ „הבימה“ אין תּל־אָבֿיבֿ. דאָס איז געװען אַ מאָמענט װען קעניג האָט דערפֿילט אַז זי געהערט טאַקע באמת צו ישׂראל, כאָטש זי האָט ניט קײן מענטאַליטעט פֿון אַ ישׂראלי.
נאָך דעם דאָזיקן דערפֿאָלג האָט „הבימה“ דערלױבט צו שפּילן „מירעלע אפֿרת“ אױף ייִדיש מיט די אײגענע אַקטיאָרן. דאָס איז געװען דאָס אײנציקע מאָל װען דער טעאַטער האָט אַרײַנגענומען אַ ספּעקטאַקל אױף ייִדיש אין איר רעפּערטואַר. אָבער דעם ייִדישן נוסח האָט מען ניט געשפּילט אינעם הױפּט־זאַל, נאָר אױף דער קלענערער בינע „בית־החיל“ („דעם זעלנערס הױז“).
דער גרעסטער טײל פֿון די שמועסן אינעם בוך זײַנען געװידמעט פֿאַרשײדענע טעאַטראַלע עפּיזאָדן און ראָלעס פֿון לאה קעניג אין ישׂראל. עס זײַנען דאָ אַ סך אינטערעסאַנטע עפּיזאָדן, פּערזענלעכע פּרטים און שאַרפֿזיניקע באַמערקונגען. צום סוף פֿונעם בוך געפֿינט מען ניצלעכע צוגאָב־מאַטעריאַלן װעגן לאה קעניגס עלטערן; די רשימה פֿון אירע ראָלעס און אַ היפּשע צאָל פֿאָטאָגראַפֿיעס.
אַלץ איז זײער אַ װערטפֿולער מאַטעריאַל, אָבער צומאָל װערט דער לײענער, בפֿרט אַן ענגליש־רעדנדיקער, פֿאַרפּלאָנטערט אין די פֿילצאָליקע פּרטים װעגן פֿאַרשײדענע אױפֿפֿירונגען אױף דער ישׂראלדיקער בינע. פֿון דעסטוועגן וועט דאָס בוך זײַן ספּעציעל אינטערעסאַנט פֿאַר מומחים פֿונעם ישׂראלדיקן טעאַטער. דער אַלגעמײנער לײענער װעט זיך באַקענען מיט אַ מערקװירדיקער פֿרױ, װאָס האָט געװידמעט איר גאַנץ לעבן דער ייִדישער קונסט און איז טאַקע מצליח געווען, ניט געקוקט אױף די שװערע נסיונות און האַרבע מניעות אױף איר לעבנסגאַנג.
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Bondi gunmen condemned ‘Zionist’ actions prior to attack and threw bombs that failed to detonate, police say
The two gunmen who opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia last week, killing 15, recorded a manifesto video prior to the attack in which they condemned the acts of “Zionists.”
The description of the video, which was included in newly released documents from the Local Court of New South Wales on Monday, comes as one of the attackers, Naveed Akram, 24, currently faces 59 charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of terror. His father, Sajid Akram, 50, was killed on the scene of the attack.
In the video, which was filmed in October and found on Naveed Akram’s cellphone, the pair sit in front of an Islamic State flag and four long-armed firearms and appear to recite a passage from the Quran. Later, the pair explain their motivation for the attack on Bondi beach, and condemn the acts of “Zionists,” according to the court documents.
“Police allege that the Accused and his father, S. Akram, adhere to a religiously motivated extremist ideology linked to the Islamic State,” the court documents read. “This is demonstrated by their videoed speech and use of Islamic State flags during the attack.”
During the attack, the pair also threw three pipe bombs and a “tennis ball bomb” that failed to detonate, according to the court documents. Another explosive device was also found on the trunk of their car.
The court document also alleges that the father and son had “meticulously planned” the attack for “many months,” detailing that the pair had engaged in: “Making an ISIS inspired video; Making of ISIS flags; Firearms Training; Making of pipe bombs and improvised explosive devices; Booking of accommodation as a staging post; and Transportation of firearms and ammunition for the attack.”
In October, the pair booked a house on Airbnb that was used as a “staging post” for the attacks and were also recorded conducting firearms training in a “countryside location” that police believe was in New South Wales.
On Dec. 12, two days before the attack, the pair were also seen on CCTV footage driving to Bondi beach and walking along the footbridge from where they would later shoot at the Hanukkah event.
Naveed and Sajid Akram allegedly traveled to Bondi Beach on Dec. 12 to plan for the attack on the Hanukkah event days later, according to surveillance video shared by law enforcement. (Local Court of New South Wales)
“Police allege that this is evidence of reconnaissance and planning of a terrorist act,” the court documents said.
On Monday, Naveed Akram was transferred from the hospital where he had been healing from injuries sustained during the attack to the Long Bay Correctional Complex in Malabar, a high-security prison facility.
The parliament of New South Wales was also recalled on Monday to vote on new legislation that would limit gun ownership for non-citizens and reduce the number of firearms a person can legally own to four.
Sajid Akram was an Indian national who had been living in Australia on a resident visa and owned six firearms.
The new legislation would also ban the display of terror symbols and place restrictions on protests, including giving police the power to remove face coverings during protests. The state government has also vowed to ban the popular pro-Palestinian slogan “globalize the intifada.”
“We have got a responsibility to knit together our community that comes from different races and religions and places from all over the world. We can do it in a peaceful way,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters outside of Parliament on Monday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed at a vigil on Sunday at Bondi beach for the victims of the attack, underscoring growing pressure on the Australian leader to call a Royal Commission, Australia’s highest level of inquiry, into the terror attack.
Albanese has so far dismissed calls for a Royal Commission, arguing that it would take too long, instead announcing a review of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
“Emotions were raw and a lot of people in the community are hurting and angry, and some of that anger was directed towards me, and I understand that,” said Albanese at a press conference on Monday. “As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m Prime Minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Bondi gunmen condemned ‘Zionist’ actions prior to attack and threw bombs that failed to detonate, police say appeared first on The Forward.
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Toronto men, including 1 linked to ISIS, charged with targeting Jewish women for assault
Three Toronto men were arrested by Canadian police on Friday for allegedly attempting kidnappings targeting Jews and women.
Waleed Khan, 26, Osman Azizov, 18, and Fahad Sadaat, 19, of Toronto each face over a dozen charges, including two counts of sexual assault with a weapon and two counts of attempted kidnapping with firearm, according to the Toronto Police Service.
Khan was also separately charged with multiple terrorism offenses, including providing property to fund ISIS and conspiring to commit murder on behalf of a terrorist group, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The arrests stemmed from an investigation into two failed kidnappings allegedly perpetrated by the men several months ago. The attempted kidnappings stemmed in part from “hate-motivated extremism,” according to Toronto police, who said they found evidence in the suspects’ homes that they were “particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community.”
The arrests were welcomed by Noah Shack, the CEO of Canada’s Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who warned that the recent terror attack in Sydney showed that “we are one intelligence failure away from a devastating loss of life.”
“It is alarming that multiple Islamic State-related terrorist plots have been uncovered over the past two years in Canada,” Shack said in a statement posted on X. “This goes far beyond the safety of any one group. It is a matter of national security and public safety. There is a ticking time bomb in our country that our leaders must confront before it’s too late.”
In September 2024, a Pakistani man was arrested in Quebec for plotting to kill “as many Jewish people as possible” in an attack in support of ISIS in New York City. Months earlier in July, a father and son were also arrested in Toronto for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired attack on the local Jewish community.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Toronto men, including 1 linked to ISIS, charged with targeting Jewish women for assault appeared first on The Forward.