Ireland’s Chief Rabbi has warned that Ireland’s political leaders have fuelled a surge in antisemitism, with Jewish children hiding their identities at school and many feeling unsafe to publicly wear symbols of their faith. The Telegraphhas the story.
Yoni Wieder said that many of the roughly 3,000 Jews in Ireland no longer felt safe enough to wear signs of their identity, such as skullcaps or the Star of David, on the streets.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s Foreign Minister, accused Taoiseach Simon Harris of being an antisemite after the Irish premier said the embassy closure was to distract from the killing of children in Gaza.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Rabbi Wieder said: “Of late, many Jews are not comfortable to display signs of their Jewish identity outside their homes as is traditional, or to wear things like a Star of David or a Jewish skullcap when walking in the street.
Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said schoolchildren have struggled the most with antisemitic commentary over the past few months
“What I’m most upset and concerned about is the number of school children who have told me in recent months that they feel afraid because they are Jewish, or that they avoid talking about being Jewish in front of their non-Jewish peers. …
“There is no doubt in my mind that the inflammatory rhetoric by Irish political leaders against Israel over the past year has contributed to hatred against Jews in this country.”
There have been instances of swastika and “kill Jews” graffiti, as well as a violent attack on a Jewish student in a nightclub. Some community members had told their Rabbi they wished their children or grandchildren could grow up elsewhere because of the current climate. …
Dublin is an outlier among European governments after it formally recognised Palestine earlier this year. Last week it said it would support an International Court of Justice petition accusing Israel of genocide. …
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights’ annual survey found that 96% of Jews had faced antisemitism in the past year with 70%, saying they occasionally hid their Jewish identity.
Stop Press: Israel had no choice but to remove its embassy from Ireland – it was the only rational option left, says Sir Michael Ellis in the Telegraph.
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