Séamas O'Reilly: Ireland's solidarity with Palestine is rooted in history — and common cause

"Ireland has, in fact, been in Lebanon long enough that some of the local staff who’ve worked closely with them have developed strongly-accented English, as displayed in an old RTÉ news segment that went viral this week"

A dog called Buster joins protesters from the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign during a march in O'Connell Street, Dublin. Picture date: Saturday January 13, 2024.

Sometimes I’m asked why Ireland has been more outspoken about Israel’s actions over the past year than so many other rich, Western countries. 

While I’m wary of casting ourselves as some sort of unique moral force in the world, I say it’s very likely that social memory of our own oppression forms a significant part of Irish solidarity toward those suffering oppression elsewhere.