Letters to the Editor: We must all watch for extremism
'Radicalisation, primarily of young people, is done through social media or face-to-face meetings, but the outcomes are much the same.' File picture
A recent threat assessment and analogy by the head of the Garda Special Detective Unit, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Woods, is worrying but not surprising.
Radical extremism comes in many forms. Whether it’s Islamic extremism, dissident republicanism, or right-wing fanaticism, they all have something in common.
That commonality and belief is that their ideology will save and reset society by whatever means possible.
If that means the use of violence, so be it.
Radicalisation, primarily of young people, is done through social media or face-to-face meetings, but the outcomes are much the same.
That outcome is a form of self destruction that lacks any rational thinking by those who are radicalised.
What seems rational to them is not rational in what we know and believe are the norms and rules of society.
It influences a person’s ability to think for themselves, while believing their cause is the only true cause and a just one.
Parents and guardians have a huge responsibility to ensure safeguards are in place to prevent their children being radicalised and influenced by extremism.
It cannot just be left to gardaí to monitor an individual’s involvement in radical extremism; it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure we catch those who stray from mainstream society to one that offers nothing but separation, hatred, and violence.
With Christmas fast approaching, there are many events coming up such as school plays, outings, and possibly a trip to Santa’s grotto.
However, even though these events are a common rite of passage for most youngsters, they may also be putting your child’s safety at risk.
With modern AI technology, a simple photo of a youngster on Santa’s lap could be used to track your child’s digital footprint.
In extreme circumstances with AI manipulation of images, they could be used for nefarious purposes.
However, while it would be easy to blame the AI bogeyman for everything, it could be used to solve the issue of children’s privacy.
If AI was integrated into wearables, or a chip under the skin, images taken from smart technology such as smartphones or smart glasses could be blurred or blocked.
The blocker would be automatically activated within a certain proximity of the child.
Then, when near a “kid safe” zone, it could be turned off.
When posting online images there could be an AI blurring system to prevent unknowns from seeing photos.
Only people with the proper wearable or chip code would be able to see them.
The manipulation of images can be prevented by adjusting the AI prompt engineering code.
AI is owned by companies. Companies can use AI to discern the appropriateness of media prompts.
So, until then, we have to be more aware of when and where we upload pictures of our loved ones.
And remember, the threat of AI isn’t an excuse to not go see Santa.
I condemn the attempted renaming of Herzog Park in Dublin.
It is a deeply misguided and hurtful political gesture that targets one of the very few visible markers of Irish-Jewish heritage.
The councillors responsible should issue an apology directly to Ireland’s Jewish community.
Chaim Herzog died in 1997 — 28 years before the current Gaza conflict.
He was born in Ireland, raised in Dublin, and was the son of Ireland’s chief rabbi. His connection to this country is one of roots, identity, and contribution.
Attempting to drag him into a modern conflict he never lived to see is historically illiterate and morally indefensible.
Removing a Jewish-associated name in the present climate — when antisemitism is rising across Europe — is not a neutral act.
Whether intended or not, it signals that Jewish heritage is expendable, that Jewish names may be erased to suit political anger, and that the community’s history in Ireland can be rewritten.
We have seen this pattern before in history.
The tactic of singling out Jewish names or Jewish-linked symbols for removal — based on manufactured associations and political resentment — is not new.
It belongs to an old and dangerous tradition once exploited by propagandists such as Julius Streicher.
I am not comparing today’s councillors to those figures, but the logic of targeting Jewish heritage for unrelated political grievances is unmistakably drawn from that same toxic playbook.
It retraumatises a small and vulnerable community and has no place in Irish public life.
This issue is deeply personal to me.
My grandmother, Anna Marie Gruenberg, was German and a founding member of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, who worked with Kurt Schuhmacher and Willi Brandt.
She was a committed socialist who risked her life in Berlin during the Second World War to protect members of the German-Jewish community.
Her family hid Jewish children and passed them off as non-Jewish so they could be safely removed from danger.
Members of my family — both Irish and German — fought fascism.
I am disgusted that people today who describe themselves as socialists would act with such historical ignorance and disregard for the suffering and sacrifice of those who came before us.
Those who supported this proposal should examine their consciences.
They followed an ideology blindly, repeating dangerous tropes without regard for the impact on the Jewish community.
They should apologise without qualification.
Herzog Park honours an Irish man who served his country, represented Ireland internationally, and whose legacy has nothing to do with modern Gaza. Linking the two is a distortion and an injustice to Irish-Jewish citizens.
Dublin should be a city that protects minority heritage, not one that erases it.
This proposal was wrong in principle, wrong in fact, and wrong in its impact on a vulnerable community.
It should never have been on the agenda.
Jews for Palestine-Ireland fully support the campaign to rename Herzog Park so that it no longer honours a man who gladly took part in large-scale ethnic cleansing.
Chaim Herzog left Ireland as a teenager to take part in a campaign of colonisation in Palestine.
He joined the armed Haganah to help crush the Arab uprising in 1936-1939, and was also involved in the Nakba, the violent expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their land to create the state of Israel.
As military governor of the West Bank, his war crimes include the destruction of the Maghrebi quarter in Jerusalem and the ethnic cleansing of 200,000 Palestinians after the 1967 war.
The Herzog tradition continues to this day with the obscene image of his son, president Isaac Herzog, signing bombs destined for Gaza.
Memorials to war criminals are a poor way to commemorate the rich contribution that Ireland’s Jewish community have made to this city and country.
If Dublin City Council wants to mark these contributions, there are many worthy names to choose from: Harry Kernoff, Estella Solomons, Con Levanthal, and David Marcus to name just a few options.
Honour those who contributed to Dublin City and who truly reflect our rich and diverse history, and not those whose legacy is tainted with ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Not in our name.
To learn that Dublin City Council even suggested renaming Herzog park because of its Irish-Jewish heritage is a step too far.
Has it no shame?
Is it totally ignorant or unaware of the history and contribution the Jewish people have given to society in the arts/literature, comedy, film, medical sciences — the list is endless, not to mention their treatment by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Dublin City Council is seemingly made up of Sinn Féin/IRA and extreme looney lefties who show their ignorance towards the Irish-Jewish community.
I remember here in Limerick in our recent past , where the Redemptorist Fathers denounced them from the pulpit, along with the city mayor at the time, Stephen Coughlan.
It’s a stain on Limerick that will never be forgotten. I knew one of these families who left our city because of intimidation and hatred.
What sort of message does this send out around the globe that Ireland shamefully showed its true colours, in this awful suggestion, even to think of it sends a message of hatred, shocking.
Thank you Taoiseach Micheál Martin for standing up to thugs, who have shown their ignorance and lack of respect towards our Irish-Jewish people.
Sanity prevailed, especially at this time.
For evil to triumph, good people do nothing. What sort of a message does this send out to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is visiting Ireland? He’s Jewish.
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