I think it’s clear from her writing that she’s very young. I don’t mean to sound patronising (says the crone) but I see the same sort of thing in my own DC’s writing. Some of what she says isn’t considered or balanced and can end up misleading. Probably not on purpose, probably because she feels so passionate about this subject (she is right to!) and the young can be arrogant and assume everyone must know what they mean. So I agree it’s the lack of rigour that’s causing issues.
Sometimes she sounds a bit confused too in that she seems to contradict herself. Again, it’s probably due to a lack of clarity in how she expresses herself that gives this impression. I put it down to youth and inexperience.
For example this is from the Jewish Telegraph a year ago (10 Jan, 25) and it shows some apparent contradiction while also explaining her motivations.
“I care very much about the Jewish people, about combating antisemitism and it wasn’t even a conscious decision,” Rachel explained.
“I felt compelled to keep speaking out, and slowly but surely, I gained people who were listening.
“I don’t know why my voice in particular seems to have resonated with people, but I am happy that it has.”
Sadly, she has been the victim of “pile-ons” on social media, where many people send vitriolic abuse...
She said: “I am smeared all the time with false claims that I am a paid ‘hasbara’ (public relations voice for Israel).
“An Irish academic said recently that I was spreading hysterical propaganda.
“My accounts grew organically from my words and my opinions, not influenced by anyone and I have not been told to write anything by anyone.
“I formulate my own opinions and I put them out there. My only goal is that I am of help to the Jewish community.”
She then says
“Many Irish people have dehumanised Israelis to such an extent that they are celebrating a massacre.
“They’re celebrating the rape of women and the slaughter of children…”
“I’ve had direct messages on social media from well-known journalists, academics and historians, and they have been exceptionally aggressive and defensive.”
I mean, I wonder why?
“Many Irish people” sounds like a lot to me! I can understand people being defensive when she says things like this (although the agression is uncalled for obviously). This is what I mean by a lack of care. Is she referring to 1% of the population or 60% when she says ‘many’. It’s not surprising people will be defensive by what they feel are slanderous accusations, but she does seem surprised.
It actually seems perhaps it’s more akin to the former figure (?) because the article goes on to say:
Despite evidence to the contrary, Rachel believes that antisemitism is not widespread in Ireland — but denial of it is.
She explained: “This is the biggest problem”…“When denial is widespread, it makes it almost impossible to combat. If it wasn’t for the denial of antisemitism here, Ireland could be an excellent country for Jews to live in.”
So work to do, but there is hope it seems.
(It does appear her Jewish heritage is quite distant btw. She has been called out on it by an Irish presenter who has more recent Jewish heritage (a grandfather) and who took exception to how she was misrepresenting her heritage. There was quite the SM spat. The Moisels are mentioned in Joyce’s Ulysses so their history in Ireland had already been studied apparently. And her being Jewish or not shouldn’t matter a bit of course, except that she appeared to position herself as a member of the Irish Jewish community and as a spokesperson. Again a lack of clarity in her writing has caused her issues.)