Name: Irish President urges military intervention in Gaza
Uploaded: 2025-12-01T07:55:26.117Z
Duration: 2 min 14 s
Description: “Every time Israel is singled out, hostility toward Jews in Ireland increases,” Maurice Cohen interviewed by Nicole Zedeck.

“Every time Israel is singled out, hostility toward Jews in Ireland increases,” Maurice Cohen interviewed by Nicole Zedeck.

Dublin

Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, expressed deep concern over President Michael D. Higgins' repeated criticism of Israel, stating that such remarks leave Ireland's Jewish community feeling exposed and isolated. Cohen noted that incidents targeting Jews, such as harassment and threats, often go unaddressed by Irish leaders, amplifying the community's sense of vulnerability.

Cohen also highlighted that President Higgins' use of terms like 'genocide' in reference to Israel has a chilling effect, leading to increased antisemitic graffiti, online abuse, and hostility in daily life. He concluded that the prevailing one-sided narrative in Ireland, where pro-Palestinian claims are widely accepted and Israeli perspectives are dismissed, further endangers the safety of Jews in the country.

Irish President urges military intervention in Gaza

For more insight on how this impacts the Jewish community in Ireland, we're joined now by Maurice Cohen, the chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, who is joining us from Dublin. Maurice, another attack from President Higgins, but from where you are, how do members of Ireland's small Jewish community, we're speaking about less than 3,000 people, how do they react to the president's criticism of Israel? Well, good evening. We react with deep concern and with fear when the president, Michael D. Higgins, the symbolic head of this country, repeatedly attacks Israel. It leaves our community of, as you say, fewer than 3,000 people, feeling exposed and isolated. And every time Israel is singled out, hostility towards Jews here increases. And what makes it worse is the silence from Irish leaders when we are targeted. No comments when Jews were manhandled at Holocaust Memorial Day. No outrage when a Jewish businessman was spat at at a Dublin hotel. No response when students received thousands of death threats for simply showing an Israeli flag alongside an Irish one. And that silence, it speaks volumes. It certainly has this ripple effect throughout society. When President Higgins repeatedly accuses Israel of genocide, you touched on it, but how does that affect the Jewish life and safety in Ireland? Well, it has a chilling and a very real effect. Words like genocide carry enormous moral weight. When used so freely against Israel, they land squarely on Jewish shoulders here. But after such statements, we see more graffiti, more online abuse, more hostility in daily life. And because Ireland has become so dominated by a one-sided narrative, where pro-Palestinian claims are taken as absolute truth, while Israeli voices are dismissed as only alleged, our safety suffers.

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