레이철 모이젤
@RachelMoiselle · 싱크탱크 및 분석가 — 미국/영국
레이철 모이젤은 이스라엘·가자·반유대주의를 논평하는 아일랜드 작가이자 박사과정 연구자입니다.
A film showing Idi Amin for the monster he was is now ‘Israeli propaganda’. https://t.co/bectX1poZk
The reality is that Irish people’s online behaviour is notably highly aggressive, abusive, and mob-like towards those with differing political opinion, particularly on the issue of Israel/Palestine and Irish antisemitism. Obviously, my own experience speaks to that. For calmly and rationally speaking openly about my sincerely held position that antisemitism is a serious problem in Ireland I have been relentlessly attacked and abused. I have been viciously and conspiratorially attacked as a ‘traitor’, ‘anti-Irish’, and ‘a paid agent of subversion’. I have had multiple people publicly say that I should be charged with treason. I have been harassed and intimidated by powerful figures in Irish society, including a senior politician operating behind an anonymous account who posted about my family and I multiple times a day for weeks. A known hotelier created a parody account of me using photos I never shared on this platform, in addition to threatening to call up my dad’s business mere weeks before his retirement. But it is not just me. At this point I have multiple British and American friends, and even two Palestinian friends, who have remarked to me the toxicity of Irish people online on this issue. Specifically the fact that every time the mere *suggestion* is made that Ireland may have an antisemitism problem, Irish people online will viciously intimidate that belief into silence. When @DrDominicGreen wrote for the WSJ about Ireland’s antisemitism, wherein he was most clear to say that he did not believe the average Irish person was antisemitic but rather that this was a phenomenon pushed by Official Ireland, he said he had never received such vicious backlash in anything he had ever written on a range of contentious geopolitical issues. So great was the outrage that a former ambassador was quick to write a rebuttal that contained minimising inaccuracies about the ongoing push to rename Herzog Park. I sincerely wish this outrage was felt for the experiences of antisemitism and intimidation the Irish Jewish community - who are just as Irish as anyone else - have felt in recent years. The extent of Ireland’s antisemitism problem is a matter of ongoing debate and, unfortunately, denial. But what there simply cannot be a denial of is that Irish society is highly intolerant of dissent, and intensely fragile to any criticism of our ‘Most Oppressed People Ever (MOPE) and therefore most moral’ self-styled image. It’s a profound hypocrisy because Irish pro-Palestine people often will highly praise Israelis with dissenting opinions, for example Gideon Levy who has been regularly platformed in Irish media. This intolerance and fragility results in intense intimidation against those of us who do not toe the line. Such that goes far beyond the bounds of what one would expect from a Western nation and liberal democracy. The greatest irony is that, through this behaviour, they have shot Ireland in the foot. Not only because their own abhorrent conduct speaks for itself, but also because it means that Irish people with nuanced opinions on the issue of antisemitism in Ireland and Israel/Palestine have been intimidated into silence. I was at a Rosh Hashanah dinner on Friday and was speaking with one Irish Jew about how Ireland’s reputation for antisemitism was solidified internationally and how much we had encountered it. Both of us *do not* believe that Ireland is the most antisemitic country in the world, or even in Europe on certain metrics. But because Irish people with opinions such as ours have been intimidated into silence, the platform is ceded to non-Irish sensationalists, such as Alan Dershowitz, who have no love for or knowledge of our country. And so an international perception of Ireland as being more antisemitic than it is has taken hold, all while, conversely, domestically there is a denial that this problem exists at all. It’s a massive and ever-widening gap, and one that I am losing hope of ever being filled.
Those who constantly proclaim that ‘criticising Israel isn’t antisemitic’ (of course true) and yet become aggressively defensive in response to any slight criticisms of their own countries are the biggest and most fragile hypocrites alive.
Robbie Keane was manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv and is referred to as ‘Rabbi Keane’. Former Ireland defender Kenny Cunningham expresses empathy for October 7th victims and says that Ireland should play against Israel in Nations League and is now ‘Knesset Cunningham’. But always remember, folks, there is no antisemitism problem in Ireland.
I have taken time to comment on this because I honestly can’t believe it. A former Ireland defender, Kenny Cunningham, has expressed deep humanity on Israel/Palestine, of a kind that is sadly all too rare in the Irish public sphere. ‘I think it would be a good thing to see the Israeli team come on to the pitch in the Aviva. I think it would be a good thing to see the Israeli national anthem respected inside the Aviva, because that for me would send a signal, maybe from the Irish people to the Israeli people who have suffered as well in this conflict. On a human level, we are actually together here. There are politicians making decisions around this, but genuinely between the Israeli people and the Irish people there is a bit of understanding there on a human level about what has been happening.’ Crucially, Cunningham does what other Irish pundits repeatedly fail to do: he acknowledges October 7th. He does so not prosaically or dismissively, but rather with an assertion that it was harrowing and an affirmation that it ‘precipitated the recent stage of the conflict’. This chronology, which matters, is very rarely emphasised in Irish media. It cannot be stressed enough that this simple expression of basic human decency is, in fact, an act of profound moral courage in the Irish public sphere. Cunningham will undoubtedly be faced with intense vitriol in the days and weeks to come, as he would have been very aware of before making this statement. However, there are also a very many people here who greatly appreciate Cunningham’s stance. They may not be as loud as the anti-Israel extremists, but that does not mean their depth of feeling on this issue is any lesser. Indeed, quite the contrary given that many have been deeply personally impacted by October 7th. They will never forget this significant act of bravery in our febrile political and media climate that is consumed by vicious partisanship.
Personally, I don’t think the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) or the Democratic congresswoman for Oregon should feel compelled to make any statement. In all likelihood they did not know of the virulent antisemitism present on John Gillick’s public Twitter account. Nonetheless, I think sharing this photo is vital as it so perfectly illustrates the fact that antisemitism permeates Irish society from the top down. John is part of and mixing with the highest echelons of Irish society. He is standing right next to our head of government, the man who holds the most powerful political office in Ireland. And yet on his personal Twitter account, the following sentiments were expressed: ‘Jews in ireland need to be thrown out. They are traitors and land thieves. Our children need to be educated more about how evil Israel and Jews are.’ ‘Israel and Jews are human scum . Ireland needs to cut all ties and deport any Jew living in ireland that supports Israel.’ ‘Jews are evil.’ AIG immediately running for cover for John was no surprise. We so rarely see any sort of accountability for antisemitism in Ireland precisely because it is indulged in (with much sanctimonious delight) by the powerful and wealthy in this country.
Good morning, everyone. This is absolutely appalling, but tragically unsurprising. Someone very high up in AIG saying multiple antisemitic things publicly online. Not in an anonymous account, but rather one where he had identified himself. Some of these statements could amount to incitement to violence. ‘Jews in ireland need to be thrown out. They are traitors and land thieves. Our children need to be educated more about how evil Israel and Jews are.’ ‘Israel and Jews are human scum . Ireland needs to cut all ties and deport any Jew living in ireland that supports Israel.’ ‘Jews are evil.’ As I have always said, in Ireland, antisemitism permeates society from the top down. How does John feel enabled to espouse such open antisemitism on an account where he is easily identifiable? It’s simple, there are no repercussions for antisemitism in this country. He will always be given the benefit of the doubt. His antisemitism will always be rationalised, diminished, excused. He will never be denounced by his compatriots in the way that those of us who highlighted antisemitism in this country have been.
The region of Israel and Palestine is known as the ‘Holy Land’, so honestly I think she means that she is so filled with sorrow that her land and grounds is the true holy ground, such that it makes the Holy Land look like Disneyland by comparison.
But Magneto was a refugee twice over and an immigrant! He lost his entire family in the Holocaust, and after Word War II ended he sought refuge in Ukraine. After his daughter was murdered by a mob there, he fled to Israel as a refugee for a second time. He then chose to move to the US as an immigrant. The only way this can be read is that Magneto is going to be a different *type* of refugee/immigrant. In other words, not a Jewish one.
The arrogant hubris of seemingly the entire Netanyahu family knows no bounds.
Read again. This is perfectly legitimate criticism and not bigotry, just as legitimate criticism of the Israeli government is not bigotry. Something that anti-Israel Irish people have been (correctly albeit redundantly) repeating ad nauseam for three years. Now it appears they are total hypocrites given they can’t handle even a fraction of the same criticism in return. I know many reasonable people who believe the Irish government’s foreign policy amounts to supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. I disagree in the main, but it is legitimate criticism all the same. The push to victim blame a Jewish couple for an Irishman threatening them with murder and saying ‘I’m sorry Hitler didn’t finish the job’ (which would mean they wouldn’t have been born) is utterly repugnant.
> ‘If you come to Ireland you can eat in my house.’ > ‘Thank you so much, man. I thought everyone in Ireland hated Israel!’ > ‘I don’t hate anybody.’ This is the representation we need! The vicious anti-Israel mob in this country drowns out such voices, but there are a lot more Irish people like this decent man than one might think. All respect and admiration to him. It takes no small amount of bravery for an Irishman to go on camera and say this. A rather tragic fact as there is nothing at all controversial in what he said; he speaks positively of Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends alike.
Who made you the arbiter on who is and isn’t a ‘real’ Irish person? The man in that video, who expresses nothing but love for Palestinians and Israelis alike, is just as Irish as you. A Dubliner judging by his accent. Our Irishness is not contingent on our adherence to the anti-Israel movement.
These are the people our government have appeased and our media have lauded for three years. Extremists, of course, but also fundamentally unserious people who have no direction to their movement beyond punishing and abusing those even tangentially related to the word’s only Jewish State. Embarrassing clownery.
I think what makes this account particularly devastating is that this Irish Jew did everything ‘right’ in the eyes of Irish people who claim they are ‘just anti-Israel’. They passed every litmus test imposed on the Jewish community, one that the majority cannot meet. They were at pains to state in the second sentence that they were not Zionist and reiterated that throughout the post. They denounced Israel, and said they were involved in pro-Palestine support/advocacy. And it still wasn’t enough. They were still treated with utter contempt. I would, in fact, contend that the new litmus test in Ireland is not whether a Jew is a Zionist or not. Now it seems to be, does this Jew affirm that Ireland has no serious antisemitism while simultaneously expressing appropriate amounts of shame in their own Jewish identity? Soon there will be no litmus test at all.