A LIMERICK HERITAGE foundation has responded to the labelling of its city as antisemitic due to historical events which it claims have been inaccurately accounted within public discourse in recent weeks.

Following the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin, the Israeli government has tried to make a case around Ireland’s history with antisemitism.

Ministers in Jerusalem this week labelled the Irish government antisemitic over its criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for intervening in the International Criminal of Justice case against Israel, accusing it of genocide.

Separately, some Jewish and Israeli commentators have pointed to, what they have called, a “pogrom”, or boycott, that took place in Limerick in the early 20th century as an example that Ireland is historically antisemitic.

The events, which unfolded in 1904, were documented in the late 1990s by Jewish historian and television presenter Simon Sebag Montefiore – telling the story of how his family, the Jaffes, were in Limerick and impacted at the time.

Sebag Montefiore’s account of the events in Limerick during the early 20th century have resurfaced online among those discussing the history of Ireland’s attitude towards Jews.

The Limerick Civic Trust, a local heritage society, said though it does not usually comment on matters within the public discourse it felt the need to clarify that the framing of Sebag Montefiore’s account of the boycott has been mischaracterised.

In a statement on social media yesterday, the trust said it will always rise to the defence of its home city, “whose history is a kaleidoscope of colours made up of brutal pan European wars followed by great sieges, rebellions and boycotts”.

“Various events in our city’s history have never come to singularly define us.”

“Present day Limerick is not viewed as ‘Jacobite’ based on the sieges of the 1690s, neither have we been described as ‘communist’ based on the Limerick Soviet of 1919. In this way, Limerick cannot be branded as ‘antisemitic’ due to the events of the Limerick Boycott in 1904,” it added.

The Trust said the boycott was a “tragic” event, but was not a “pogrom” — as there is little historical evidence to suggest that the Jewish community or their property was destroyed during the time period.

It said, based on research and historical accounts detailed in the Old Limerick Journal, the boycott was led by a small, staunchly Catholic, fringe movement that did not reflect the majority of Limerick’s opinion at the time. 

The charity, which undertakes the task of preserving and maintaining heritage sites and historically significant locations around Limerick, said it has for many years cared for the Jewish graveyard in the county and has worked closely with the community.

“Contrary to statements made online, we do not maintain the graveyard in ‘atonement’, but merely out of respect for our own history and those who played a role,” the statement reads.

“Our work with the Jewish community should not be whitewashed from history by misinformation and scurrilous tweets by those attempting to gain notoriety and celebrity.”

It said it is the view of the Trust that one nation disagreeing with another nation’s policies “does not make one country ‘anti-Semitic’ or indeed against a whole religious community”. It added it was offensive to conflate a religious community with one nation.

In November last year, after Ireland voted in favour of a UN motion calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, The Journal spoke to political and history experts to give the greater context of the issue.

It was the opinion of Professor of Politics at DCU Donnacha Ó Beacháin that some who support Israel have sought to purposely conflate Ireland’s complex political history to the benefit of Tel Aviv, to “counteract those which it perceives to be adversarial”.

“The view that is often presented by some sections of the Israeli media is that Ireland is the most hostile country in the European Union towards Israel,” Ó Beacháin added.

Separately, in the fortnight after the attack, Maurice Cohen, the Chairman of Ireland’s Jewish Representative Council told The Journal that the Jewish community had experienced “major support from the non-Jewish community” following the killing and kidnapping by Hamas.

Cohen said, at the time, there had been “no major increase” in real-life antisemitic incidents in Ireland, he pointed to an obvious increase in online antisemitic rhetoric, adding that Irish elected officials had not done enough to condemn the 7 October attack.

A survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish NGO and civil rights group which supports the state of Israel, found that Ireland generally scores better than the average Western European country when it comes to anti-semitic beliefs.

The Journal has also this week fact checked false claims by Israeli propaganda agencies and ministers about Ireland’s position on Gaza, which have ramped up since the closure of the Israeli embassy.