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Replying To PoolSturgeon:  ""...hijacked by some right wing minority with an anti-Jewish agenda" Eh? Those who are pro-Palestinian are generally left wing. If there are some activists/ demonstrators who are pro-Hamas (and I dont know if there are) it is 100% certain that they are left wing too , but of the radical far left. The right wingers tend to be nearly all pro-Israel no matter what Israel does, up to and including genocide and the strongest Israel supporters tend to be on the far right. There's is the odd far right sort alright that may have a 1930's/40's opinion of Jews but those on the far right are overwhelmingly Zionist and pro- Israel."
We probably need to define the context before describing someone as Pro-Palestinian or Pro-Israel, as generalizations are usually reflective of people's opinions or actual political leanings.

I'd safely say >90% of people I know in Ireland are against what Israel are doing in Gaza against the Palestinian people, are frustrated at inability of the EU and the US to influence matters for so long, clearly subordinate to powerful lobbying.
In this specific context, all of these Irish people can all be described as Pro-Palestinian regardless of their general political ideology.

So would this make all of these people Anti-Israel? No, it doesn't actually. As while all or most Irish people are against the long-term sustained actions of this Netanyahu government which has become a genocide in Gaza, they aren't generally anti-Israel and most were also appalled by the Oct 7th actions of Hamas and the treatment of hostages.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1491 - 13/10/2025 12:47:08    2639727

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "It think the west in general would do well to properly define the term racism before throwing it around willy nilly.

Is there a large cohort of people in Ireland who wish ill will upon a particular ethnic group?

Discriminatory or distrustful perhaps. Racism is a very serious accusation and not always used in the proper context.

Wanting to have a reasonable conversation about immigration is not racist for example."
Good post.

A reasonable conversation can often be elusive.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6597 - 13/10/2025 12:47:42    2639728

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "It think the west in general would do well to properly define the term racism before throwing it around willy nilly.

Is there a large cohort of people in Ireland who wish ill will upon a particular ethnic group?

Discriminatory or distrustful perhaps. Racism is a very serious accusation and not always used in the proper context.

Wanting to have a reasonable conversation about immigration is not racist for example."
I am not some woke leftie who wants to let everyone come to Ireland regardless of their past. It's impossible to have a reasoned debate on this.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8550 - 13/10/2025 12:59:34    2639734

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "It think the west in general would do well to properly define the term racism before throwing it around willy nilly.

Is there a large cohort of people in Ireland who wish ill will upon a particular ethnic group?

Discriminatory or distrustful perhaps. Racism is a very serious accusation and not always used in the proper context.

Wanting to have a reasonable conversation about immigration is not racist for example."
Absolutely it's not racist to have a reasonable conversation.

To start the ball rolling a couple of quick thoughts-

1- we have immigrants playing for some of our underage teams. I know of others who are learning Irish. I think someone who comes in and embraces the culture should be welcomed.

2- Id be less trustful of lads who Google richest countries in the world and only decide to come to Ireland because it ranks 2nd or 3rd.

3- Id be even less trustful of people who emigrate to another country and decide they want to bring their own different religions and cultures with them while not wanting to fit in at all with the country they have emigrated to. For example if I was a Muslim and wanted to leave the country I was born in for economic or persecution reasons, if being in a Muslim cultural environment was really important to me Id choose to emigrate to another Muslim country.

As a country we need immigrants as our population ages and our birth rate continues to decline. Id rather these consisted of people in category 1 above, rather than 2 or 3.

As regards a common narrative here, Id view people who view all immigrants who want to come here as coloured people who want free houses and cars as racists.

And Im not sorry if any of the above offends anyone.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17213 - 13/10/2025 13:08:34    2639736

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For someone living in England I was unaware that
the flying of the Tricolor is as contentious in
Eire as it is over here. I like the poster who said it is not
so much the flying of the flag but the intention
behind the flying. This is something people can
only guess at which is where the arguments
start. Sherlock Holmes is not required over here.
It started with Brexit and now you have
spokespeople like Farage and Tommy Ten Names
stoking the flames. None of the people I am friendly
with who happen not to be white have anything
positive to say about flag. Some
feel threatened by the Union Jack and the flag
of St George (who was not even born here). U gotta
love the irony. Cannot help but feel that some of the
Residents of the UK had a weekend in the wee north
round about July time and picked up some cultural
tips from some of the locals whilst they were over.

Brummiejoe (UK) - Posts: 12 - 13/10/2025 13:56:40    2639748

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "I am not some woke leftie who wants to let everyone come to Ireland regardless of their past. It's impossible to have a reasoned debate on this."
I wasn't suggesting that you are. I don't know you, and generally try to avoid these types of topics.

I think we can all agree the type of group identity stuff being imported from the US is beginning to stick here. As in if you're pro same sex marriage, you must also be pro abortion which is very often not the case.

The same is happening with people's views on Israel. Being upset by Israel's actions appears to equal anti semitism.

Being sympathetic to the people of Gaza seems to equal being pro hamas.

I don't think either of those things are true.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3963 - 13/10/2025 13:59:21    2639749

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Replying To Viking66:  "Absolutely it's not racist to have a reasonable conversation.

To start the ball rolling a couple of quick thoughts-

1- we have immigrants playing for some of our underage teams. I know of others who are learning Irish. I think someone who comes in and embraces the culture should be welcomed.

2- Id be less trustful of lads who Google richest countries in the world and only decide to come to Ireland because it ranks 2nd or 3rd.

3- Id be even less trustful of people who emigrate to another country and decide they want to bring their own different religions and cultures with them while not wanting to fit in at all with the country they have emigrated to. For example if I was a Muslim and wanted to leave the country I was born in for economic or persecution reasons, if being in a Muslim cultural environment was really important to me Id choose to emigrate to another Muslim country.

As a country we need immigrants as our population ages and our birth rate continues to decline. Id rather these consisted of people in category 1 above, rather than 2 or 3.

As regards a common narrative here, Id view people who view all immigrants who want to come here as coloured people who want free houses and cars as racists.

And Im not sorry if any of the above offends anyone."
I agree with you completely.

We need skills, this is evidenced in our health service.

I attend mass in clonard, a majority of those I shake hands with are Indian or Thai. I coach some of their kids in hurling. They have similar values and are throwing themselves into the community. I am very much in favour of this.

I'm also familiar with some of the unsavoury elements, which I believe we should do more to avoid.

Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 3963 - 13/10/2025 14:02:12    2639751

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Replying To Viking66:  "Absolutely it's not racist to have a reasonable conversation.

To start the ball rolling a couple of quick thoughts-

1- we have immigrants playing for some of our underage teams. I know of others who are learning Irish. I think someone who comes in and embraces the culture should be welcomed.

2- Id be less trustful of lads who Google richest countries in the world and only decide to come to Ireland because it ranks 2nd or 3rd.

3- Id be even less trustful of people who emigrate to another country and decide they want to bring their own different religions and cultures with them while not wanting to fit in at all with the country they have emigrated to. For example if I was a Muslim and wanted to leave the country I was born in for economic or persecution reasons, if being in a Muslim cultural environment was really important to me Id choose to emigrate to another Muslim country.

As a country we need immigrants as our population ages and our birth rate continues to decline. Id rather these consisted of people in category 1 above, rather than 2 or 3.

As regards a common narrative here, Id view people who view all immigrants who want to come here as coloured people who want free houses and cars as racists.

And Im not sorry if any of the above offends anyone."
No argument from me on any of your 3 points

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1889 - 13/10/2025 14:10:56    2639756

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Replying To Doylerwex:  "It think the west in general would do well to properly define the term racism before throwing it around willy nilly.

Is there a large cohort of people in Ireland who wish ill will upon a particular ethnic group?

Discriminatory or distrustful perhaps. Racism is a very serious accusation and not always used in the proper context.

Wanting to have a reasonable conversation about immigration is not racist for example."
No it's not but local groups who initially seem to have genuine fears about size of receiving town, infratructure, services etc, which i think is totally legitimate, but then allow banners such as Get Them Out at the front of their protest do themselves no favours. The slogan Get Them Out is absolutely laced with racism and hate and a couple of steps off a mob with pitchforks and torches. However most people aren't hate filled. A big issue is it can be very easy to scroll on the phone or computer reading misleading and false articles about people they've never had a conversation with. Unfortunatley a lot of the concerned locals groups get hijacked by a few loud mouths who have a right wing agenda. Immigrants themselves aren't a problem, it's the government handling of it that is.

FullOfPorter (Roscommon) - Posts: 402 - 13/10/2025 14:38:55    2639767

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "I am not some woke leftie who wants to let everyone come to Ireland regardless of their past. It's impossible to have a reasoned debate on this."
Why have you put woke and lefty in the same sentence? Not getting onto you, genuinely just curious, but it's something that annoys me a little. Leftwing means politically, economically and socially you are left of centre, as in on the workers/less privileged members of society's side. The term has nothing to do with subjects like race, religion, gender, perceived gender or any of the other 15 minutes of fame topics that people seem to think are so important to a country since social media became a thing.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17213 - 13/10/2025 16:01:37    2639803

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