Monday marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Irish President Michael Higgins somehow managed to politicize a truly somber event. His speech, which went on despite the concerns of Irish Jews, touched upon Gaza in light of the Israel-Hamas war.
According to The Jerusalem Post, "Holocaust Education Ireland had said on January 15 that Higgins had been invited in September, and was grateful for his participation." However, according to the report and others posting their takes on social media, the speech quickly went off the rails:
[Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni] Wieder said that it was no surprise that some audience members chose to show their disagreement with Higgins's speech, which he said politicized the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
Higgins contended that "ethical remembrance" of the "attempted genocide" perpetrated against Jews required addressing the sources of divisions and enmity.
"Across the different religious systems there is, I believe, a common stress that revenge is a lessening of the human spirit rather than its fullest expression, that a seeking of justice, while more difficult, demands something much more and yet is of the essence of humanity," said Higgins.
"It is to be hoped that those in Israel who mourn their loved ones, those who have been waiting for the release of hostages, or the thousands searching for relatives in the rubble in Gaza will welcome the long-overdue ceasefire for which there has been such a heavy price paid. The grief inflicted on families by the horrific acts of October 7th, and the response to it, is unimaginable – the loss of civilian life, the majority women and children, their displacement, loss of homes, the necessary institutions for life itself. How can the world continue to look at the empty bowls of the starving?"
The President said that the current ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas had to end hostilities and return those held captive by Gazan terrorist organizations, but an increase of humanitarian aid was needed to save more lives.
"It is to be hoped that the agreement will not only bring an end to the horrific loss of life and destruction which has taken place, but that it will also mark the beginning of meaningful discussions, and that the sustained diplomatic initiative which has been missing from the international community, with tragic consequences, will commence, may bring a meaningful peace and security to Israel, Palestine and the greater region, a peace that will address the root causes of the conflict as well as its aftermath, and be premised on the upholding of human rights," said Higgins.
The lessons of the Holocaust had to be applied in response to rising antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and anti-immigrant rhetoric, the president argued.
What do such comments have to do with the Holocaust? Not much, at least not in the way one should be talking about the Holocaust or Jews for the occasion. On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, slaughtering approximately 1,200 Jews--mostly civilians--not even sparing babies or Holocaust survivors. It was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The terrorists also engaged in rape, torture, and kidnapping against civilians, and over a year later, there are still deals in place to get the remaining hostages out.
Israel already has been sending over humanitarian aid, at the insistence of the former Biden-Harris administration, which tried to cater to both sides of the conflict. Hamas, however, stole aid trucks meant for civilians, as even the Biden-Harris administration was forced to acknowledge.
Civilians that those such as Higgins weep over have also been caught on footage looking to be doing just fine, even jeering, while female hostages are being traded by Hamas.
Barbarians, each and every one of them. They had no genocide. They had no famine. They did what they did and the idiots in the West supported them. I will never forget what I witnessed. pic.twitter.com/aTP2ffqx4Y
— 🇮🇱🇺🇸 Jew from Khaybar يهودي من خيبر (@khaybarjew) January 19, 2025
Hostage surrounded by monsters terrorizing and taunting her to the last second after kidnapping her and holding her hostage for 471 days.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 19, 2025
Hamas are pure evil. pic.twitter.com/0ZtvVTmkmM
4 female hostages are paraded on Hamas stage in Gaza that says “Zionism will not win” before thousands of jeering Palestinians after 477 days in captivity. Meanwhile the Red Cross, who also took part in the fiasco on stage stands there watching. Gaza is a deranged society. pic.twitter.com/JvjmDtjgYV
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) January 25, 2025
Making Higgins' speech on Sunday even more alarming is that a silent protester, who, according to author Saul Sadkba, was pregnant, was dragged out of the event.
As The Jerusalem Post also mentioned:
A woman who had turned her back to Higgins in silent protest was pulled from her seat in the audience, falling to the floor repeatedly as security personnel struggled to forcibly eject her from the event, according to video of the incident filmed by an attendee and provided to The Jerusalem Post. Another protester who was also heard being told to leave.
Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said that the treatment of the protesters was unjustified, and that it was a disgrace that they were "manhandled and dragged out of the room by force." The activists expressed their disagreement with Higgins' speech "in silence, and they were not disrupting the event," said the rabbi.
"Contrast this to masked protestors who parade Hamas and Hezbollah flags freely in Dublin and call for Tel Aviv to be bombed, as happened this weekend," said Wieder. "It’s a glaring, embarrassing contradiction."
Jewish Representative Council of Ireland chair Maurice Cohen said that it was "both disturbing and upsetting to see the video of a young woman, whom I know personally, appearing to be assaulted by security while she stood silently and peacefully."
Sadkba, who shared over X that he read Higgins' speech, also posted footage of Higgins' remarks and of the young woman being removed from the event.
Aparantly all this (pregnant) Jewish woman did to deserve being dragged out of the commemoration of 80 years since the Holocaust was to stand and turn her back on the Irish president as he spoke. Staggering.
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) January 26, 2025
pic.twitter.com/7bvdfu5md1
He doesn't cite any first-hand accounts of the suffering of the camps. Instead, he quotes at length from philosophers and priests. An absolute windbag. And a terrible public speaker to boot. How does a sanctimonious nonentity like Higgins become president??
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) January 27, 2025
Ireland has been particularly critical of Israel in the face of the Israel-Hamas War. Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar was particularly incensed about Higgins and his remarks, and let it be known in a post shared to X on Sunday afternoon.
Sa'ar closed the Israeli embassy in Ireland last December, further highlighting the antisemitic and anti-Israel concerns about such a country. Ireland had voted to sign onto South Africa's claims of "genocide" against Israel with their complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Even on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Irish President Michael Higgins couldn't help himself and resorted to a cheap, despicable provocation.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 26, 2025
The biggest murderous attack against Jews since the Holocaust was perpetrated from Jihadist Gaza. Nonetheless, he echoed…
Now former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also posted over X that the release of a young girl being kept hostage, Emily Hand, who was 9-years-old at the time, involved the matter of an "innocent child who was lost [and] has now been found and returned."
Varadkar's post restricted replies and was hit with Community Notes for such a sanitized view of Hamas kidnapping and holding hostage young children.
This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023
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