Allan Shatter
Jerusalem Post, Dec. 22, 2024
“The Irish government is simultaneously accusing Israel of genocide while recognizing nothing done by Israel to defend its citizens against Hamas terrorism currently falls within the existing international law concept of genocide.”
On Tuesday, December 17, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdul Majid, elevated from Palestine’s representative to ambassadorial status following Ireland’s recognition of the State of Palestine in May 2024, formally presented her credentials to a joyous Irish President Micheal D Higgins.
President Higgins used the occasion to criticize Israel for breaching the sovereignty of two of its neighbors, Lebanon and Syria, falsely accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of wanting to establish a settlement in Egypt, and lambasted Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, for his depiction of Ireland’s Taoiseach ( prime minister), Simon Harris, as an antisemite, wrongly conflating it to be a “ slanderous” allegation made against the Irish people.
The next day, Wednesday, a picture of the ambassador inspecting an Irish army guard of honor outside the presidential residence dominated the front page of The Irish Times, Ireland’s self-proclaimed paper of record.
The writer is a former Irish Minister for Justice, Equality, & Defence, a former member of the EU Council of Justice and Home Affairs Minister, and a former Chairperson of the Irish Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee. He is currently the voluntary Chairperson of Magen David Adom Ireland.