President Higgins Rejects Calls to Resign from Holocaust Memorial
By Chloe Jacob
Michael D Higgins has rejected the calls for him to step down as the keynote speaker at National Holocaust Memorial Day this year.
Since 2003, The National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration has taken place on the closest Sunday to January 27th. It is an event that cherishes the memories of the victims of the Holocaust, through the form of readings, survivor’s recollections, candle lighting, music and the Scroll of Names. The keynote speech is delivered annually by the President, Taoiseach or Minister of Justice, with Higgins participating as speaker many times.
The call for Higgins to step down has been echoed by a multitude of Irish-Jewish foundations and communities, due to his avid and continuous support of Palestine during the on-going conflict in Gaza. Key individuals in the community including the previous Israeli Ambassador Dana Erlich and Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder have vocalised their concerns regarding his attendance. Erlich has indicated that Higgins has fostered an “antisemitic” and “anti-Israeli” rhetoric across the island of Ireland [1]. Wieder has stated that due to certain statements “With that attitude, I fear his address marking Holocaust Memorial Day will inevitably ring hollow for many Irish Jews” [2]
Higgins has severely rebutted these criticisms, following up his rejection with a statement from Áras an Uachtaráin: “President Higgins statements will show, through this work in politics and as President, that he has again and again strongly condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism.”[3]
Irish politicians have come to the support of Higgins, defending his actions across 7 years to assist and support the Jewish population in Ireland.
“The clear suggestion that any targeting of Jewish or Israeli people in Ireland is completely wrong and should be addressed immediately by the State and non-State actors”.[4]
Relations between Ireland and Israel have suffered in the past year with each side believing the other to be propagating misinformation and harmful rhetoric. Erlich condemned the governments pro Palestine stance stating that:
“It has libelled the State of Israel by saying it has deliberately starved children and deliberately killed civilians, and it is seeking to have the legal definition of genocide redefined in a way that would be used to advance baseless charges against Israel.”[5]
According to OCHA, Israeli forces killed 493 Palestinians, mostly civilians, during operations against armed groups in Jenin and Nablus. Over 12,500 were injured. This year has statistically been the worst for civilian casualties since 2005 [6]. According to WHO by mid-December, 93% of people in Gaza were starving [7]. In November 2024, the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices reported that Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza are “consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” citing mass civilian casualties and the use of starvation as a weapon [8]. The Irish Government has stated that they have only propagated information based on statistics like the ones above and indicate heavily that a criticism of a state is not a criticism of a religious group: “To say that the Irish people are antisemitic is a deep slander… To suggest that because one criticises Prime Minister Netanyahu that one is antisemitic is such a gross defamation and slander [9].”
Higgins indicated that this statement from the Ambassador of antisemitism against Jewish individuals as a blanket statement is a “PR exercise” [10]. This comment has created an onslaught of criticism from Jewish communities across Ireland, who feel that the comments demean their experiences with antisemitism. Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder has mentioned instances of antisemitic comments in schools and universities but confirmed the absence of physical attacks against Jewish people. This was reflected by the U.S. Department of State’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom [11].
Amid the controversy, many figures, while not objecting to Higgins’ attendance, hope that he does not discuss the on-going conflict in Palestine, including Holocaust survivor and campaigner Tomi Reichental stating that he hopes that Higgins “does not touch on the Israel issue”, and that he “should avoid the whole subject and concentrate on the Jewish community in Ireland.”[12]
Higgins will take the stage on January 27th in the Mansion House for the seventh year as key note speaker, and is expected to replicate his historical support for the Irish Jewish community, with it being unclear whether he will address the on-going conflict.
Sources:
[1] BBC. “Irish President Rejects Call for Him to Stay Away from Holocaust Memorial.” BBC News. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0jng2761z6o.
[2] RTÉ News. “President Higgins Holocaust Memorial Day Ireland.” RTÉ News, January 17, 2025. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0117/1491495-president-higgins-holocaust-memorial-day-ireland/.
[3] Standard. “Irish President Faces Criticism over Palestine Remarks.” Evening Standard. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/dublin-ireland-jewish-president-palestine-b1205716.html.
[4] Irish News. “President Michael D. Higgins to Speak at National Holocaust Memorial Day despite Israeli Objections.” Irish News. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/president-michael-d-higgins-to-speak-at-national-holocaust-memorial-day-despite-israeli-objections-LY33C6PWHREQHKKLPTAZAJKDLU/.
[5] RTÉ News. “Ireland’s Relations with Israel under Scrutiny.” RTÉ News, December 17, 2024. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1217/1486987-ireland-israel/.
[6] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Humanitarian Situation Update #204: West Bank and Gaza.” UN OCHA. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-situation-update-204-west-bank-enarhe.
[7] World Health Organization. “Lethal Combination of Hunger and Disease to Lead to More Deaths in Gaza.” WHO News, December 21, 2023. https://www.who.int/news/item/21-12-2023-lethal-combination-of-hunger-and-disease-to-lead-to-more-deaths-in-gaza.
[8] United Nations. “Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices.” United Nations, September 20, 2024. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/report-of-the-special-committee-to-investigate-israeli-practices-20sep24/.
[9] Irish Examiner. “President Higgins Rejects Claims of Antisemitism in Ireland.” Irish Examiner. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41538359.html.
[10] MSN. “Irish Jews Cry Foul over ‘Antisemitic’ President’s Planned Holocaust Memorial Speech.” MSN News. Accessed January 19, 2025. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/irish-jews-cry-foul-over-antisemitic-president-s-planned-holocaust-memorial-speech/ar-AA1xewnK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=efc62d0a7de6496a99013cea9b0ec30d&ei=9&apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1.
[11] U.S. Department of State. “2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Ireland.” U.S. Department of State. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/.
[12] Telegraph. “Chief Rabbi: Irish Leaders Have Contributed to Hatred against Jews.” The Telegraph, December 22, 2024. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/22/chief-rabbi-irish-leaders-contributed-hatred-against-jews/.
