Ireland is also expected to announce recognition of a Palestinian state on Wednesday, following Norway’s similar move hours earlier. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is also scheduled to announce on the same day that Spain will recognize an independent Palestinian state. “Today I announce that Ireland, Norway and Spain will recognize the state of Palestine,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said at a press conference. meeting. “Now, each of us will take the necessary national steps to make that decision effective. In the coming weeks, more countries will join us in taking this important step. I am confident that I will take the plunge.”
Ireland and Palestine have maintained official relations since 2000, with Ireland maintaining a representative office in Ramallah and Palestine maintaining a representative office in Dublin. Both countries are members of the Mediterranean Union.
But Irish-Palestinian ties go back even further: the Irish nationalist movement has long viewed the Palestinian cause through a similar lens of seeking to achieve independent statehood by overthrowing what it saw as oppressive colonial rulers, most notably the alignment of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
By the late 1960s, Ireland became increasingly concerned about the Palestinians displaced by the Six Day War. In 1969, Irish Foreign Secretary Frank Aiken highlighted the issue as a top priority for Ireland’s Middle East policy. Since then, Ireland has supported a UN resolution calling for Israel’s complete withdrawal from territory it occupied during the war. Palestinian and Irish flags fly next to each other across the international wall in support of Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Belfast, Northern Ireland, March 29, 2024 (Provided by Author: Clodagh Kilcoyn/Reuters)
“IRA-PLO One Struggle”
The links between the IRA and the PLO, based in Northern Ireland, were most prominent in the 1970s and early 1980s, and were often depicted in murals in nationalist areas. In one notable example in Belfast, members of the IRA and PLO were armed and raised the slogan “IRA-PLO one struggle”. Sinn Féin linked its political strategy to movements such as the ANC and PLO, giving its efforts a broader political context. This alliance was regularly featured in Sinn Féin’s newspaper An Foblacht and was further strengthened under Adams’ leadership in the 1980s. In 1980, Ireland became the first EU member state to support the establishment of a Palestinian state. In 1999, then Prime Minister Bertie Ahern visited Gaza, met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, toured the Jabaliya refugee camp, and became the first national leader to fly directly from Palestine to his homeland. In 2001, Foreign Secretary Brian Cowen also visited Gaza to meet with Mr. Arafat.
Despite significant support for Palestine in Ireland, the government has yet to follow through on a 2014 decision to formally establish diplomatic relations, preferring a cooperative approach with the EU, although in April 2024 Foreign Minister Micheál Martin announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state within weeks.
Former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has admitted that there are differences between the United States and Ireland regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, particularly Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In 2009, a meeting between Northern Ireland’s Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Hamas highlighted Irish republicanism’s long-standing relationship with Middle Eastern groups. This relationship began in the early 1970s with his support for the IRA in Libya. IRA connections extended to Hezbollah and influenced the tactics used in both Lebanon and Northern Ireland. The most enduring relationship was with the PLO, which trained IRA operatives.
Since the formal end of the IRA’s armed campaign in 2005, mainstream republican support for Palestine has been political. Sinn Féin remains critical of Israel, accusing it of human rights violations, but leaders such as Gerry Adams have publicly adopted a more moderate tone. Sinn Féin has called for EU sanctions against Israel and supports the Palestinian cause through a variety of platforms.
Irish republican anti-Israel stances have sometimes been denounced as anti-Semitism. Historically, figures such as Arthur Griffith and elements within the IRA have expressed anti-Semitic views. Although overt anti-Semitism has declined since the late 1960s, anti-Israel rhetoric sometimes crosses the line, reflecting underlying historical prejudices.
During the Second Intifada, graffiti and murals in Republican areas often glorified Palestinian terrorism, and some Republicans suggested arming Palestinians with retired IRA weapons. . Modern Irish republicanism may not be inherently anti-Semitic, but its century-old undercurrents still exist and influence attitudes toward Israel and Jews.
In January 2011, Ireland granted diplomatic status to the Palestinian delegation in Dublin. Later that year, Ireland’s Foreign Secretary suggested that Ireland could lead efforts to recognize a Palestinian state, provided the Palestinian Authority took full control of the territory. In 2014, both houses of the Irish Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to recognize a Palestinian state, and today this has finally happened.
