(Spectator-UK) Ian O'Doherty - Within Israeli diplomatic circles, Ireland is seen as something of a lost cause. As the true horrors of what happened in Israel began to emerge, before the bodies were even cold, there was an air of grotesque exultation on many Irish social media sites, with the hashtag #karma attached to countless posts. It was a disgusting spectacle. At this point it was no longer possible to justify the response of so many Irish people as naivety. This was positively wicked. Israel is facing the worst pogrom since the Holocaust and many of my fellow citizens are openly celebrating the atrocities. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned the Israelis that they would quickly lose international solidarity if they went "too far." Does he honestly think the Israelis care about squandering international support at this point? As we have seen in the past week, Israel enjoys precious little international support as it is. Is there any other county in the world which would be expected to tolerate such depravity and slaughter of its own citizens and then accept being lectured that they must refrain from retaliation and instead sign a cease fire? There has always been a rump of Irish people who simply hate the Jews. After all, we had our very own pogrom in the city of Limerick back in 1904. Modern day prejudice is couched as purely a form of solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Many Irish progressives seem to look on the Palestinians as if they are cuddly hobbits, mercilessly persecuted by the Jewish orcs, as opposed to people with their own agency. Many decent Irish people left floral tributes outside the Israeli embassy. They were quickly damaged by Irish protestors.
2023-10-16 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive