An Irish National Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration devolved into controversy on Sunday when a protester was dragged out of the event hall during a speech by Irish President Michael Higgins, who during his address turned the topic from talking about the Nazi genocide to the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.
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 protesters 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 (JRCI) 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.”
Even on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Irish President Michael Higgins couldn't help himself and resorted to a cheap, despicable provocation. The biggest murderous attack against Jews since the Holocaust was perpetrated from Jihadist Gaza. Nonetheless, he echoed…
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 26, 2025
Wieder said that it was no surprise that some audience members chose to show their disagreement with Higgins’ 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.
Unfassbar !!! Der irische Präsident Michael D. Higgins nutzte ausgerechnet die Bühne des Internationalen Holocaust-Gedenktags, um Israel wegen des Kriegs in Gaza scharf zu kritisieren. Juden im Publikum, die ihren Unmut äußerten, wurden kurzerhand gewaltsam aus dem Saal geworfen. pic.twitter.com/UVvseMnwgV
— Ahmad Mansour ️ (@AhmadMansour__) January 26, 2025
“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 president said.
“The grief inflicted on families by the horrific acts of October 7, 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... [and] 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.
Concerns over speech
Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar attacked Higgins as a “despicable person” who “helps himself and resorted to a cheap, despicable provocation” on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The biggest murderous attack against Jews since the Holocaust was perpetrated from Jihadist Gaza,” Sa’ar, who has frequently had harsh words for the president, said on X/Twitter on Sunday. “Nonetheless, he echoed Hamas’s antisemitic lies and propaganda at a Holocaust memorial ceremony, leading to the removal of Jews, descendants of Holocaust survivors, from the event.”
Sa’ar closed the Israeli embassy in Ireland in December in the wake of Dublin’s attempts to support South Africa’s International Court of Justice genocide case against Israel with a call for the broadening of the definition of genocide. The Foreign Affairs minister had asserted that the Irish government had engaged in antisemitic rhetoric and actions to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state.
Wieder said in response to Higgins’s speech that “Ireland’s National Holocaust memorial ought to be a time to remember those who suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Nazis. It is deeply disheartening that President Higgins opted to politicize it by singling out this war and taking issue with Israel’s response to the atrocities of October 7th.”
COHEN SAID that the president’s speech was predictable, and expressed disappointment in event organizer Holocaust Education Ireland, which “did not heed the concerns raised by the Irish Jewish Community.”
The JRCI chair was one of the Jewish leaders who had expressed concerns about scheduling Higgins to give the keynote address at the memorial event.
Higgins had made “unsubstantiated remarks” about Israel that “raise serious concerns” over recent months, Cohen warned, arguing that his participation risked “offending many in the audience, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who expect dignity and unity on such a significant day.”
Wieder had warned that Higgins’s speech may “ring hollow for many Irish Jews” after he had “neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it.
“He has failed to take seriously the concerns put to him by representatives of the Jewish community,” Ireland’s chief rabbi said. “It is so important that Irish politicians and public figures come together to honor the memory of victims of the Holocaust. Yet the awful irony is that many of them are turning a blind eye to a troubling increase in anti-Jewish hatred in Ireland today.”
Wieder noted that in May, in the wake of a diplomatic row between the Israeli and Irish governments, Higgins told the Irish Examiner that the Israeli government’s claims of antisemitism in the country were a “PR [public relations] exercise.”
Cohen said that Higgins had accused Israel of intending to resettle Egypt, a remark that angered Sa’ar and led him to brand the president an “antisemitic liar.”
“These remarks, coupled with his comments to various ambassadors regarding Israel, leave no doubt that he seems to prefer criticism of Israel and Israelis over advocating for a lasting and peaceful solution to the ongoing issues in the Middle East,” Cohen had argued.
Holocaust Education Ireland said on January 15 that Higgins had been invited in September, and was grateful for his participation.
Cohen said that he was at the Auschwitz death camp on Monday for the anniversary commemoration with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, and had “no doubt that this matter will be a topic that will be discussed by us.”