I happily define myself as "right-wing" (classic liberal right)
but not all pro-Israel people do.
I suppose there is no reason why support for a secular liberal democracy in the
conservative reactionary Islamic Middle East
should be a "right-wing" thing.
Cliona Campbell,
a brave young Irish woman who
volunteered for the IDF.
Good for her.
"People see me as a terrorist", Sunday Tribune, 8 Aug 2010
(or via here).
Campbell talks about the hostility she got from ignorant anti-Israeli people in Ireland.
I contributed to the comments
on the above article.
It's important to counter
the anti-Israel narrative in Ireland
from the likes of "Irish_Gaels" above.
For the sake of Ireland's good name as much as anything else.
Joanna Tuffy, 3 Aug 2014, confirmed the group then existed
and she was a member.
Leo Varadkar, 5 Aug 2014,
said he was not a member.
By May 2018, Varadkar was coming out with
boilerplate leftism on Israel.
He is right. He is no friend of Israel.
The alleged members of the group as at 2024,
according to the anti-Israel outlet
The Ditch.
The members include one person who absolutely hates Israel, namely
Gerard Craughwell.
When The Ditch asked him for comment, he said:
"Despite my personal feelings watching the sickening slaughter of innocent people by Netanyahu and his henchmen,
keeping lines of communication open is vitally important".
This suggests the Oireachtas Friends of Israel is not a serious group.
Any serious group would expel Craughwell.
A small
pro-Israel rally
was held in Dublin on 25 Nov 2012.
An aggressive number of Israel haters turned up, requiring a massive police presence to stop them attacking the pro-Israel people.
This explains the police presence:
The day before, on 24 Nov 2012, some guy called
Rowan Clarke (Rowan O'Clerigh)
calls for violence against the pro-Israel rally.
(Left) From his facebook (now deleted).
(Right) From counter-demo page.
This guy is apparently
known to Gardai
as a Republican dissident.
At the protest
he said (now deleted):
"I joined some comrades from RNU ... a person who identified himself as member of the Gardai special branch based in Harcourt Street approached me stealthily and said 'Rowan we know you're the main man behind this today, we're watching you, any problems come to me', I informed him I wasn't the main man anything but he didn't seem too interested".
(Syntax and spelling corrected.)
Imagine an Ireland run by the likes of him!
It would be like Pol Pot's Cambodia.
Counter-protesters display the terrorist flag of the PFLP,
the home invasion butchers of the Fogel family in Itamar in 2011.
From 11:15 in video
here.
There are also eliminationist chants:
"From the river to the sea ..."
The guy behind the camera, Tommy Donnellan,
is an open supporter of the Palestinian jihad.
See another shot
of PFLP flag
from here.
In one moving passage, he said we must always remember that, even if it is self-inflicted, Palestinian suffering is real,
and children and non-Hamas-supporters
are caught up in the consequences of the appalling decisions of the majority:
"As well as solidarity and optimism, I think it is also important to emphasise the need for compassion. Each death or injury of an innocent civilian in Gaza is a tragedy which must primarily be lain at the door of Hamas, but which also calls for restraint and for the path of peace. It is essential to recognise that there is a Palestinian perspective and there is Palestinian suffering. Many Arab commentators have taken the lead in pointing out that a great deal of that suffering is self-inflicted but it is real nonetheless."
It is extraordinary to think
that the above excellent speech appears on the same website as
Michael D. Higgins' disgraceful tribute to Arafat.
It is good to see that there is some diversity in the Labour Party.
YouTube user
"MasonWatcher"
comments on the above video.
I went to the very civilized pro-Israel protest against Mahmoud Abbas' visit to Dublin in 2018.
Protest at Áras an Uachtaráin, 22 Sept 2018.
I speak in this video
from the protest.
And here.
More from our Dublin Rally yesterday to stand with Israel when >500 supporters marched from
Dail Eireann to ?@IsraelinIreland? ???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/3jwZ1eFD6d
I was proud to be on this big pro-Israel march in Dublin, 15 Oct 2023.
After the
Hamas massacre of Israelis,
when terrorists killed
Jewish men, women and children,
often with barbaric torture.
I attended this pro-Israel rally, Dublin, 26 May 2024.
A good day, despite the appalling rain.
There were some pro-terrorist (PFLP) counter-protesters,
but they were held back far away
and we could not hear them.
See article:
Meet the heroes standing up for Israel in an Irish sea of hostility,
Jewish Chronicle, 20 June 2024.
