Branding those opposed to Netanyahu policies antisemitic is ‘slander’ – Irish President
Irish President Michael D Higgins said accusations that those who criticise the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are “antisemitic” is a “slander”.
He said the slander has been used against Ireland and individuals, including the president himself.
Speaking at the Bord Bia Bloom in Phoenix Park in Dublin, Mr Higgins said there is an active campaign against Ireland in the United States.
He said that it “breaks my heart” that there are countries who are holding back on a ceasefire.
Displaced
Mr Higgins said that more than 81% of the people in Gaza have been displaced.
“They have been put into temporary accommodation that has been bombed. Their soil is being destroyed,” he added.
“Their hospitals have been bombed.”
Mr Higgins, who lasted visited Gaza in 2006, also spoke about the importance of the bakeries in the region.
And he was critical of the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, saying it was an “entirely unaccountable body”, whose executive director resigned last week.
Jake Wood, the American heading the foundation, unexpectedly resigned earlier this week, saying it had become clear that the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently.
Brand
Mr Higgins added: “One of the things you should look at is what is in the boxes they are distributing. Far from me to speak about any delay in anyone getting any relief but they are branded products for the future private sector of retail.
“Look at the wrappings. Imagine giving a starving person something wrapped in your own brand so that you will have opportunities in the future.”
He also said that those who are seen to criticise Mr Netanyahu’s policies are being described as antisemitic.
“That is a disgrace and a slander and has been a slander against Ireland, against individuals, including myself,” he said.
“People who have worked all their lives in relation to human rights activity. I think it has been given too much space.
“The idea that propaganda can pay against Ireland is now active in the United States, so that when we are seeking to have meetings with people who are investing in Ireland, they are being contacted in advance with a suggestion by saying, ‘you must open why is Ireland so against the US position in Israel’.”
He also repeated comments in which he urged the UN General Assembly to use its special powers to override the Security Council if it fails to act in Gaza.
“Now is the time, today is the day for food and medical aid and water to be made available,” he added.
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Exactly right. Gaza is being “ethnically cleansed.”
Yes it is because the international community gave them no alternative. Iran will keep fighting its proxy war with Israel using the Palestinians as cannon fodder. This means Israel can never be secure with the current border arrangements, one state or two. If the world makes it a “them or us” choice then it’s clear which path they’ll choose.
they’re behaving like a child who is beating their sibling, who say in his defence that they made him do it
What’s your proposal to let both siblings live in peace and security?
If your neighbours had stormed into your garden, murdered your mother, raped your sister and kidnapped your grandmother, where would you draw the line at what would be an acceptable response?
What hamas did was a terror act. Disgusting. No let up to find the perps.
However the response.
Despite the constant oppression od Palestinians, murder 40k people including targeting doctors operating in stair wells with drones, murder first responders and try to bury the evidence, destroy vital medical equipment and murder any press that get in your way.
Funny how the press are not let in. What do Isreal have to hide.
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/04/09/gaza-palestine-israel-killed-death-aid-workers-international-red-cross-crescent-audio-analysis/
What’s your proposal to let both sides live together in peace, security and prosperity in the region?
Well, I wouldn’t go all out to kill as many innocent people as I can!
Totally echo the Irish president’s sentiments. To be called antisemitic for wanting peace between Palestine and Israel is slanderous. Being pro-Palestinian isn’t condoning the actions of Hamas who killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7th, not it isn’t, or is it defending yourself when an army slaughters 55,000 innocient starving civilians using 2000lb dumb-bombs on refugees in tents and hospitals I recently saw pictures, before and after, of Gaza. It was horrific. Benjamin Netanyahu calls his army “the most moral in the world”. Outrageous. Gaza is gone. It’s a pile of rubble. Every building in Gaz has been deliberately flattened. This… Read more »
I wish I had a perma-scuse.
Ireland can’t have it both ways. They have done very well out of the US over the years. If now they take a stance contrary to what the US holds to be in its own interest then they must accept the consequences. Likewise the US has facilitated collecting funds for terrorism in the UK (Noraid, Boston) such as the bombs planted in Warrington in the 1990s. That does not endear many to the US or the IRA.
I can’t abide the Israeli spokespeople who when confronted by criticism from any direction just dismiss it all as lies. That’s all they ever do.
They refuse to let foreign journalists in to see for themselves what’s going on.
It’s inevitable then that people think they have something to hide.
And to argue that people are antisemitic for criticising what they are doing is equally pathetic. When people do criticise them it’s nothing to do with them being Israeli. It’s because they are wrong.