Ireland's Jewish community opposes president presence in Holocaust event
'It’s not his criticisms of Israel, it’s his false criticism of Israel,' said Maurice Cohen, president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Community in Ireland
Representatives of the Irish Jewish community oppose President Michael D. Higgins giving the main speech at the Holocaust remembrance ceremony scheduled for January 26 in Dublin, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, according to a report Tuesdsay in The Irish Times.
Maurice Cohen, president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Community in Ireland, slammed Higgings. "It’s not his criticisms of Israel, it’s his false criticism of Israel."
He cited a controversy over an alleged leak of a presidential letter by the Israeli embassy, when it actually appeared on the Iranian embassy's website. Cohen added that, despite this, he maintains good personal relationships with the president.
The Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Yoni Wieder, accused the president of not sufficiently recognizing or combating the rise of antisemitism in the country.
Higgings "neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary anti-Semitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it."
"It is so important that Irish politicians and public figures come together to honour the memory of victims of the Holocaust. Yet the awful irony is that many of them are turning a blind eye to a troubling increase in anti-Jewish hatred in Ireland today."
"Given President Higgins’s grave insensitivity to Irish Jews, we are deeply disturbed that he will yet again cause further insult," said Oliver Sears, from the Holocaust Awareness Ireland organization. The event, he said, is a "sombre, precious, and inviolable" one for the Jewish community.
A spokesperson for the president, meanwhile, reiterated Higgins' claim that he is committed to fighting antisemitism, referring to a speech in Manchester last April where he lamented the Irish Jewish community being unfairly being asked to "choose a side" in the Middle East conflict. The presidency also attempted to smooth over certain controversies, including Higgins' comments concerning Egypt and an Israeli proposal to settle Palestinians there, and not Israelis as some had interpreted.
Higgins has given a speech at the annual event six times in past years, and is still expected to participate in the ceremony.