I have posted this before I think this article explains it very well.
This article explains very well why the Irish feel a kinship with Palestine and why they have supported them for decades. It is not true that it stems from antisemitism and to suggest it is, is dismissing the similar struggles Irish and Palestinians have endured often at the hands of the same people in Britain. Some key extracts to explain where this relationship stems from.
www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1233395830/ireland-pro-palestinian
Some extracts:
Until 1921, what's now the Republic of Ireland was a British colony. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. And many Irish people say their experience of British occupation — as well as their own sectarian conflict, and 19th century famine — gives them empathy and shared history with the Palestinian struggle.
Ireland may be a mostly white European country, but many Irish people say they identify more with the Global South's experience of imperialism and colonialism.
"It's the same with South Africa, it's the same with South America," says Kirsten Farrelly, an activist with the group Mothers Against Genocide, which stages weekly demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin. "All these scars are being opened up in us, when we see what's happening to the Palestinians."
Another thing Ireland and Palestine had in common were the Black and Tans. They were a brutal British police force named for the color of their uniforms, and infamous for killing Irish civilians in the early 20th century. After Irish independence, the Black and Tans deployed to British Mandate Palestine, where they exercised colonial power over the mostly Arab population there.
The article also goes into detail why Ireland is often perceived as anti Israel and their role in WW2
Article also highlights:
Ironically enough, Ireland started off as pro-Israel. A lot of Irish people back in the early 20th century identified with this idea of this displaced people who have gone through turmoil throughout history — just like the Irish," Clarke says. "And the idea of them getting their own state, their own home appealed to a lot of Irish people. They said, let's give them somewhere safe."
The current Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, traces his own ancestry back to that era. His father and grandfather were both born in Ireland. The latter served the country's chief rabbi, nicknamed the "Sinn Féin Rabbi" for his republican politics and fluent Irish language.
It was well after Israel's founding, Clarke says, when it annexed and occupied more Arab land, that Irish public opinion flipped pretty dramatically.
Nearly 80 years later, de Valera is not seen as a Nazi sympathizer — neither in Ireland, nor Israel. In fact, there's a forest dedicated to him in northern Israel.
"So when people say Ireland was antisemitic in World War II, it's almost weaponized against people in Ireland who want to speak out against Israel," Clarke says.
www.jta.org/archive/irish-jews-dedicate-forest-in-israel-in-tribute-to-de-valera