“Shared societal beliefs, such as beliefs about victimhood, serve as a basis for construction of a common reality, culture, identity…and so on. Moreover, societies may choose to internalize past harms and to transform them into powerful cultural narratives which become an integral part of the social identity. Finally, the collective sense of victimhood becomes a prism through which the society processes information and makes decisions.”

Daniel Bar-Tal et al., ‘A Sense of Self-Perceived Collective Victimhood in Intractable Conflicts’ (2009)

For many years, Ireland has been a refuge for Ex-Muslims and others fleeing from persecution in the Islamic world. Unfortunately, Ireland has also long been a hub of vocal anti-Israel sentiment, a phenomenon that has only intensified since Hamas’ massacre of at least 1,200 Israelis on October 7th 2023. This hostility is not merely a matter of political opinion – it is an expression of something deeper in the Irish psyche. It is shaped by a long history of grievance, an ingrained sense of victimhood, and a compulsive tendency to view the world in terms of oppressors and oppressed. These traits, once forged in the crucible of genuine historical suffering, have since hardened into a moral framework that often blinds Irish people to reality.

For many in Ireland, Israel is not perceived as a small nation fighting for the survival of Jews in an extremely hostile region, but as a convenient stand-in for Britain. The belief is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict mirrors Ireland’s own struggle against British rule. This simplistic, Manichean narrative ignores the fundamental differences between the two situations. Unlike the British Empire, which ruled Ireland as a foreign occupier, Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, who were driven into exile and faced centuries of persecution before re-establishing their state. The conflict is not a one-sided colonial struggle, but a complex, longstanding territorial and religious dispute, exacerbated by Hamas’ commitment to Israel’s destruction.

Alas, this crude analogy continues to capture the Irish imagination, as it flatters the national self-perception as freedom fighters. Public demonstrations, like those following October 7th, erase Israeli suffering entirely and frame Hamas’ attack as justified, with some even glorifying it outright. Politicians such as Mary Lou McDonald regularly condemn Israel in the strongest terms while offering little acknowledgment of Hamas’ atrocities. Similarly, President Michael D. Higgins has denounced Israel’s military response as having “transcended all boundaries of humanitarian law.” But this outrage ignores the reality of urban warfare against an enemy that embeds itself within civilian areas – an enemy that diverts international aid meant for hospitals and infrastructure to build terror tunnels and rocket stockpiles, yet whose flag flies on the streets of Dublin:

In their hatred of Israel, certain Irish politicians can only be described as unhinged fanatics. A prominent example would be Richard Boyd Barrett, a People Before Profit-Solidarity TD for the Dún Laoghaire constiuency. At various ‘pro-Palestine’ rallies, a hysterical Barrett has described Israel as “filthy”, “savage”, “psychopaths” and “mass murderers”. He has even called for Israel’s destruction, stating “The only answer is intifada.” In Dáil Éireann, Barrett has used his parliamentary privilege to argue that Israel has no right to defend itself. In other words, Jews in the Middle East should just let themselves be destroyed by jihadists:

Worse still, this outrage is strikingly selective. Irish policymakers have been at the forefront of pushing anti-Israel measures in the EU, often adopting stances that are even more extreme than those of Arab states. Meanwhile, Ireland remains eerily silent on other, greater humanitarian crises. There are no protests in Dublin against the mass killings of Christians by jihadists in Nigeria and the Congo, no marches for the Alawites, Christians, Druze and Shi’a Muslims being slaughtered by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria, no student occupations over China’s horrific repression of the Uyghurs, no Irish boycott movements against Turkey for its decades-long occupation of Northern Cyprus, and no calls for Ireland to sever diplomatic ties with Iran despite its ruthless suppression of women, apostates, LGBT individuals, and ethnic minorities. The Tweet below says it all:

This deafening silence extends to Gaza itself. While Irish activists rage against Israel, they ignore the suffering of Palestinians under Hamas’ rule. There are no protests in Dublin against Hamas’ use of hospitals as command centres, no marches for the Gazans tortured and summarily killed by their own rulers, and no outrage over Hamas’ systematic theft of foreign aid. When Palestinians risk their lives to protest Hamas’ corruption and repression, the “pro-Palestine” crowd looks away. If the likes of Barrett truly cared about Palestinian lives, they would support these protests and demand an end to Hamas’ tyranny. They don’t – because their activism is not about protecting Palestinians, but attacking Israel. To them, Palestinians are not human beings with agency, but pawns in their ideological crusade, to be discarded when they cease to be useful.

Now of course, legitimate criticism of Israel is both fair and necessary. There is much to condemn, be it the ongoing occupation of the West Bank, the displacement of Palestinians by Israeli settlers, or the war crimes committed by members of the Israeli Defense Forces. However, the selective nature and sheer intensity of Irish hostility towards Israel goes far beyond legitimate criticism. At best, it reflects a crude and self-indulgent worldview that projects Ireland’s colonial past onto an entirely different conflict, conflating Israel with Britain and the Palestinians with its oppressed subjects. At worst, it betrays a deep-seated antisemitism.

Indeed, while Irish ‘anti-Zionists’ strongly deny any antisemitic intent, the demonisation and dehumanisation of Jews is an undeniable feature of Irish political history. Given this precedent, it is perfectly reasonable to question whether contemporary hostility toward Israel is entirely divorced from historical prejudices. Take a look at these anti-Jewish leaflets, preserved for posterity by the Irish Jewish Museum:

In recent months, Jews and Israeli nationals in Ireland have been subjected to appalling attacks by ‘anti-Zionists’, leaving little doubt as to their intent. In November 2024, a Jewish student was beaten and kicked in a Dublin pub after confirming he was Jewish when asked. In March of this year, two Israelis on a business trip to Ireland were verbally abused and spat on at another pub in Dublin. This is the video:

In July, a Jewish man was assaulted in Dublin by a raving antisemite on public transport. Caught on camera, the attacker screams that his victim is a “genocidal Jew” and claims he could tell that he was Jewish “by his face”; he then slaps the man and attempts to seize his phone. When another passenger intervenes, she is verbally attacked as a “white woman standing up for genocide”. Outrageously, despite clear video evidence of the unprovoked attack, Gardaí would ultimately release him without charge. This episode starkly illustrates how anti-Israel hysteria in Ireland is spilling over into targeted violence against Jews, exposing both the community’s vulnerability and the failure of state authorities to confront such hatred. This is the video of the assault:

Beyond the moral, historical, and intellectual failings of Ireland’s anti-Israel stance, there is also the sheer practical stupidity of it. Israel is a global leader in technology, medicine, and cybersecurity – industries from which Ireland could greatly benefit. Yet, instead of fostering trade and cooperation, Irish politicians prioritise empty virtue-signalling, pushing boycott movements that achieve nothing of substance. This self-defeating ideological posture, rooted in Ireland’s fixation on affirming its historical victimhood, not only alienates Israel, but also distances the country from key Western allies. In doing so, Ireland isolates itself, stunts its global potential, and undermines its own national progress. This is not principled diplomacy; it is self-sabotage.

*****

Conclusion

The Irish psyche has always been drawn to noble lost causes, to the romanticism of struggle rather than the pragmatism of statecraft. But this attachment to righteous victimhood has a darker side: it fosters an inability to recognise when the victim narrative no longer applies. In the case of Israel, it has led many Irish people to side with jihadists, theocrats and antisemites – all the while convincing themselves that they are standing up for justice. They see Hamas as “the resistance”; in reality, they are Islamic fascists who strive to exterminate the Jews and subjugate the entire world under shari’ah. Even if Israel didn’t occupy an inch of the West Bank or fire a single shot in Gaza, Hamas would still seek to annihilate the Jews as their mortal enemies:

One must state it plainly: Ireland’s hostility to Israel is less about justice, and more about indulging a simplistic and self-flattering narrative in which the Irish always take the side of the “oppressed”. It betrays a deep-seated need among many Irish people to see themselves as unwavering defenders of the downtrodden, irrespective of the full context. If Ireland wants to maintain any credibility as a voice for human rights, it must confront its own moral inconsistencies and abandon its reflexive hostility towards Israel. Otherwise, it risks becoming an outlier in the Western world – aligning itself with Islamic fascists who murder, rape and abduct Jews while pretending to champion peace and justice. Seasaimis le hIosrael agus leis na Giúdaigh.