Open Letter to Taoiseach Varadkar

Dear Taoiseach Varadkar,

I wish to object to your trenchant and continued criticism of Israel in recent weeks. Such criticism has long been normative in Irish political circles but has worsened significantly since October 7^th for which you, as the leader of the Irish State, have fully participated. While no nation should ever be beyond criticism, and concern over the conditions of the people of Gaza is entirely legitimate, the obsession in the West with Jews supposedly murdering Muslims is obvious. Can you explain why there has been no significant reaction to the deaths of many more people in the surrounding largely Islamic nations over the years? This obsession with Israel is demonstrative of anti-Semitism where people form obsessions with purported Jewish wrongdoing, where so many react almost violently while knowing virtually nothing about the history of the region. This has been demonstrated time and time again and the hostility in your behaviour may well be a profound source of embarrassment for you in later years. Why was it not a matter of debate for the leader of Sein Fein, likely Ireland’s future Taoiseach, attended one of the most significant pro-Hamas marches in London – a regular event known for its support for various terrorist organisations and spoke on the same stage as Jeremy Corbyn who stood over his party’s descent into crude Israel-obsessed anti-Semitism? Why was Mary Lou McDonald not criticised for her major party speech seeking to isolate Israel the day after Kristallnacht was commemorated? The truth is that Ireland itself is being led by our political establishment down a very dark path, where any nuance and debate, for which, objectively speaking, there is an obvious need, has been rendered a thing of the past – so extreme is the stance of many that we are at risk of becoming seen as allied to the political objectives of a number of totalitarian regimes that are threatening our own just objectives abroad.

It was a matter of genuine shock to hear that you are against defunding UNRWA when they have participated in the kind of incitement that led to the genocide on October 7^th, and to have persisted in attempting to isolate Israel on the world stage, while continuing to spout Hamas figures which the UN and associated NGOs have their own interests in echoing despite past malfeasance. You are playing games with a pretence of balance by speaking up for those who were kidnapped. It has been known for decades that UNRWA is a corrupt organisation that is propping-up Hamas – an organisation in which many Hamas members are employed – which has not allayed but encouraged conflict through the indoctrination of the people of Gaza through its education system. It is the most putrid behaviour for which you, your party, your government, must surely be aware, so it leads to the question: at what point does support for said organisation, whilst demanding a ceasefire, and isolating Israel – all the clear objectives of Hamas – demonstrate that you and your government support said organisation which must broadly entail an endorsement of their values? Hamas would of course have known that the anti-Semitic barbarism of October 7^th would lead to a far-reaching and entirely legitimate response from Israel. They turned Gaza into a terrorist base as we have seen with its subterranean world. They have a playbook of using the injury and death of the people they supposedly represent as the crudest propaganda fodder, where men continually run around with babies. The behaviour of the Irish government over two decades has been complicit in this wretched charade and today’s demands has and will only encourage an amplified continuance. The Irish State, allied of course with the International community, has blood on its hands – Jewish as well as Arab-Palestinian blood – and is now normalising hyperbolic anti-Semitism.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Harris