Inside Ireland’s Antisemitism Crisis: A Conversation with Rachel Moiselle

In recent years, Ireland has come to be viewed by many Jews and Israelis as one of the countries most hostile to the Jewish state in Europe, if not the Western world as a whole.

From the Irish government’s effort to redefine the term “genocide” in order to apply it to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the national broadcaster’s recent announcement that it will boycott the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest due to Israel’s participation (a decision about which I had some choice words), Ireland’s approach has prompted the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin and has caused the tiny Irish Jewish community to feel increasingly beleaguered. In recent days, an effort to rename a Dublin park honoring Israel’s Belfast-born sixth president, Chaim Herzog, drew both international headlines and national criticism, resulting in the measure’s removal from the city council’s agenda.

Among the individuals most assiduously pushing back against the tide of anti-Jewish hate in Ireland is Rachel Moiselle. Born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, Rachel has gained prominence for publicly calling out antisemitism in Irish society, deftly navigating both traditional and social media platforms as she raises awareness of the problem — often to those who would prefer not to see it. A doctoral student at Trinity College Dublin, Rachel has met with Irish leaders in an effort to combat the scourge of antisemitism and has spearheaded some of the most visible public efforts to push back against it.

In our conversation, we explore Rachel’s personal experiences with antisemitism, how hatred of Jews and of Israel finds expression in Irish society, and why she believes international pressure is the only thing that can force the Irish government to change course.

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