Neil McCarthy: Anti-Semitism in Republic of Ireland is a problem for the whole island - and it must be challenged
On October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the Hamas massacres and violations of the innocent in Israel, an event was due to be held at Trinity College, Dublin, in the Robert Emmet Theatre.
It was a political event concerning the Israel/Palestine conflict, hosted by the Irish trade union SIPTU, the name by which the old Irish Transport and General Workers Union has been known since 1990.
SIPTU represents workers in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic.
Emmet was a Protestant patriot, a man who in his speech from the dock in 1803 said to Lord Norbury: “As men, my lord, we must appear on the great day at one common tribunal, and it will then remain for the Searcher of all hearts to show a collective universe who was engaged in the most virtuous actions, or swayed by the purest motives.”
The purest motives for that event in Trinity might have led to a commemoration of the women murdered in front of their children, the women raped and eviscerated by athletic young men in paramilitary uniform yelling “you are dogs”. The most virtuous action might have been to reflect on how such calculated terror, unprecedented since the rampages of SS Einsatzgruppen in Nazi occupied territories during World War 2, has bypassed the consciences of so many in the West, especially those who consider themselves “progressive”.
It is not especially virtuous however to wish for or expect unblemished virtue from others. Perfect virtue is almost certainly the enemy of the good, to paraphrase Voltaire. It is reasonable not to expect the worst from others though, and trade unions forged from the the days of James Larkin and James Connolly and the Great Dublin Lockout of 1913 can surely be expected to behave with some sense of self worth and dignity.
The political event which SIPTU chose to put on that day of all days in Trinity College was a “workshop focusing on How to tell the story of Palestine”. In the progressive management speak of the modern Human Resources (HR) industry, the blurb for the event outlined how “the training will delve into the key frameworks and concepts through which the Palestinian struggle can be understood, such as settler-colonialism, occupation, apartheid” and promised to offer “a critical understanding of Palestine, its history and the discourse around it”.
Was SIPTU aware of the date? At the end of the same blurb one can read the following: “It [the workshop] will be held on Monday, October 7 to coincide with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s call for a workplace day of action.”
No coincidence then in the choice of date.
The date of the workshop was changed by SIPTU on September 25, two days after the original date was revealed on X/Twitter.
The announcement was terse: “We have changed the date of the workshop focusing on How to tell the story of Palestine. It will now be held on Monday, October 14 at 6pm in the Robert Emmet Theatre. All other details remain the same as per our previous update”.
That “all other details remain the same” is chilling.
The same entirely one-sided perspective. The same utter failure to repudiate terrorism or even mention the word. The same omission of any reference at all to what happened on October 7 in Israel; and the total absence of any apologia, any acknowledgement at all that the original choice of date was an egregious insult to the Jewish community in Ireland, and the memory of all those murdered, raped, mutilated, maimed, burned and/or kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
This behaviour is part of a pattern in Ireland.
The president of Ireland disgraced his office and Ireland on September 22 when he claimed at the United Nations HQ in New York that the Israeli Embassy in Dublin had “circulated” a copy of his grovelling letter sent in the summer to the then newly installed president of Iran, despite the fact that the Iranian Embassy in Dublin had tweeted a copy of the letter in late July.
This was after claiming that accusations of anti-Semitism in Ireland made by the Israeli ambassador in May were just a “PR exercise” on behalf of Israel, and more recently claiming that Israel had made “outrageous threats” against Irish UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) soldiers in Lebanon, a claim which was subsequently denied by UNIFIL.
Dublin Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan saw fit to mark the first day of the Jewish New Year - October 2 - by writing to all councillors asking them to take part in a meeting at 5.30pm on - you guessed it - Monday, October 7, to discuss a boycott of Israeli goods produced in the “Occupied Territories”. The meeting duly took place and the vote passed - unanimously.
No representatives of the Irish government deemed the October 7 memorial vigil organised by the Chief Rabbi of Ireland worthy of their attendance. The vigil took place on Sunday, October 6 outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin. A grand total of two members of the Oireachtas - the Irish Houses of Parliament - attended.
Simon Coveney, the former minister for foreign affairs, and not a favourite of unionists in Northern Ireland it must be said, has nevertheless raised his head above this grim parapet with his statement the other day that the Jewish community in Ireland feels itself to be “under siege”.
This is a start.
There is something terribly amiss in Ireland. More particularly, the Republic of Ireland. It’s called anti-Semitism.
It appears to emanate from a particular view of the world - a view many refer to as social justice theory - heightened and saturated by spectacles of a very dark green hue.
As such it is a problem for the whole island, reputationally and morally.
It must be challenged and fought against for all of our sakes.
Neil McCarthy is a teacher and writer based in Dublin and London