Saturday, November 21, 2009
Uncertain future for Belfast’s Jews
NESTLED BEHIND carefully pruned hedges on Belfast’s resolutely middle-class Somerton Road is an unexpected landmark. In a town where religion and politics have been intertwined stands the synagogue of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation, an unassuming modernist building that is home to a faith community that has been in the city for decades
Funny story: I wrote and filed this article in April but it was bumped off the pages every time it was due to run. Events, dear boy, and all that. Then someone I had been talking to posted me a clipping from the Belfast Telegraph. The story was about Belfast’s Jews. I knew I was right - it is worth writing about. Anyway, the paper ran the story today (with a quick update).
Uncertain future for Belfast’s Jews, Irish Times, November 21, 2009
Jason Walsh @ 09:39 AM
Have to disagree with you a little bit.
I know a number of Jewish people in Belfast, bu they do not attend the synagogue however.
I think there could be more than one hundred - what does the census say?
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 10:53 AMSecular Jews, probably. The congregation is around 100. There’s no progressive or liberal congregation, either.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 11:04 AMJewish migration from NI has little to do with the violence up there and is related to the same factors that have caused the Jewish community to dwindle down here (from about 5,600 circa 1950 to about 2000 today). There are too few of them to form a community proper, and the younger folks find it too difficult to find other Jews to date so they migrate to larger Jewish population centres and particularly to Israel. Then of course they marry and the parents move to be near the grandchildren. There was some immigration of Jews during the boom of probably a few hundred in all but they are not committed to staying here. There has been some anti-Jewish unpleasantness of late that may be speeding up the decline of Ireland’s Jewish population but it doesn’t originate among the Irish people themselves but rather from among a small extreme section of the 50,000 or so recent immigration of Muslims into Ireland. Irish people are profoundly anti-Zionist, however. Which is probably why you didn’t mention who Belfast’s most prominent Jews were.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 11:29 AMInteresting article, Jason.
I think the old synagogue behind Carlisle Circus is now used by the Mater Hospital.
Unfortunately I hear a lot of casual anti-Semitism around.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:10 PMDave “Which is probably why you didn’t mention who Belfast’s most prominent Jews were”
You what now? It’s a short article. Filed copy was just 1,500 words, published copy 1,300. I had to leave a lot of things out.
I wrote a (slightly) longer history of Jewish Dublin the Dubliner magazine a few months ago. Anyone who wants a copy, e-mail me (not at Slugger - use the forth address listed at the bottom right of this page: http://forth.ie/
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:18 PMpicador I don’t know. Everyone I spoke to said anti-semitism was not an issue, including the Rabbi.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:19 PMWell I’m glad to hear that. I just making an observation of what I hear, generally when Palestine is in the news. As a gentile it makes me cringe.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:28 PMThere has always been an air of anti semitism in Northern Ireland, usually emanating from but not exclusively coming from the nationalist side. Growing up I lost may aquantancies after they found out I was `Jewish´, even though by the time I was in my teens, most of my extended family where either secular Jews or Christian by marraige,
At job interviews I would be asked about it, usually not in a sinister way but certainly inappropriate.
“The current lord mayor [Sinn Féin’s Tom Hartley] worked hard to have the Jewish plot in the City Cemetery on the Falls Road restored and tidied.”
While this was welcomed it was in Hartley´s best interest to have this done. It was after all young republicans who vandalised the Cemetery, painting swastika and IRA slogans on the stones and defecating over the graves.
I suppose like Southern Protestants, Jews have generally been tolerated due to their low numbers, but every now and then a message would be sent to them.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:30 PMJason, it wasn’t an accusation of anti-Zionism on your part; rather that you might not have mentioned that that Belfast’s most prominent Jews included the Chief Rabbi of Palestine and also of Israel and an Israeli president because others “are profoundly anti-Zionist.” Ireland is deeply hostile to the state of Israel, and has been so since de Valera created this foreign policy. It was, for example, the last country in Europe to grant Israel the right to establish an embassy in Ireland.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:51 PMDoctor Who
I have no wish to dispute your personal experiences, however, I’m not so sure about your broad point. First, I think it’s a stretch to call the vandals “young republicans”. Idiot malefactors who hide behind the local rhetoric seems more likely to me.
Also, there have been plenty of prominent Jewish republicans in Irish history (as has there been Jewish unionists). The only conclusion I can draw is that being Jewish has no political significance in Irish terms.
There may be some issue with the old Catholic “killed Christ” notion, but I think Catholicism is a waning force.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:51 PMDave
Ah, right OK. I did mention Herzog Snr and Jnr, for example. It mustn’t have made the final edit. (I don’t really read my own stuff much when it’s published).
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 12:54 PMI was in the Somerton Rd. synagogue for the first time last month - for the play Jason mentioned that’s based on Belfast’s Jewish community - and found it a very interesting place. Intend to go back sometime to find out more.
As for anti-semitism in Ireland, in my opinion it is more anti-Israeli policy and actions in Palestine than anti-Jewish. There is a clear distinction that should be recognised.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 01:33 PMJason
“Idiot malefactors who hide behind the local rhetoric seems more likely to me.”
You seem to totally ignore the fact that there are many links with Irish republicanism and nazism. Perhaps you should ask Dublin Jews what their opinion on nazi colaborator Sean Russells statue proudly sitting in Phoenix Park is.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 01:37 PMDoctor Who
It’s not in Phoenix Park, but yes, there is a statue of Russell.
Russell is (now) widely regarded as a fool, but very few people think he was a Nazi sympathizer. Russell’s guiding principle seems to have been “the enemy of my enemy”. Regardless of whether or not this is an appropriate moral stance, the “links” between Irish republicanism and Nazism are wildly over-stated. For a start, the IRA of Russell’s era was a tiny fringe group, not a serious force. Secondly, it’s a bit odd to link one person in this way. Do people link Irish republicanism to Amnesty International? After all, Amnesty was co-founded by a former chief-of-staff of the IRA
Moreover, neither Russell nor indeed the IRA represent anything like the sole version of republicanism - and even if you think the IRA is the ne plus ultra of republicanism, well, Robert Briscoe was a prominent IRA member, for example.
I’m sorry, I lived in West Belfast for too long to accept that typical republicans or nationalists are anti-semetic. It’s just not true. This is not to say there isn’t the odd fringe character about the place, but widespread anti-semitism? Not in my experience.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 01:55 PMWhen people make comments along the lines of ‘Hitler should have finished the job’ it is more than just anti-Zionism? And yet I have heard a surprising number of people say such things (usually after a few drinks).
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 03:22 PMDoctor Who,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the thread.
The only high profile Jewish member of the ROI community I can think of, is FG TD Alan Shatter.
[open to correction on this].
Although, the fact there is so few in ROI public-life, is indictative of the size of their numbers?
PS That statue isn’t in the PP, it’s in a park in Fairview, IIRC.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 04:12 PMWhen I first began work in Belfast as an apprentice accountant, aged 16, my very first assignment was to prepare the accounts for two Jewsih friendly societies, the Bnai Bnith and the Ancient Order of Maccabeans. I was obliged to travel to a flat on the Antrim Road to obtain the signature of the secretary of these societies, a man who seemed absolutely ancient to me who spoke with a European accent which I suspect was German or Austrian, and who made me welcome. I then had to go to a furriers opposite Queen’s Arcade to obtain another signature and sat waiting enthralled and embarrassed as two divine looking models wafting breezes of perfume glided around modelling fur coats for two hatchet-faced customers. The boss when he arrived was arrogant and impatient of me as though I were to blame for interrupting his day. I didn’t like him, but not because he was Jewish but because he was an ill mannered oaf whatever his religious or ethnic background.
But let us not forget a word of praise for the Jewish tallyman who clothed the children of both east and west Belfast, Protestant and Catholic. and delivered the goods to the door, returning each week to collect weekly payment of one shilling in the pound so that, after twenty weeks, little Johnnie could get new shoes and new trousers that mammy and dady could not afford to buy at full price in the shops.
At the beginning of the triobles one such was held up at gunpoint and robbed in the Ballymurphy area but protests from the local mothers that their only line of credit for first communion wear was now cut off swiftly brought about reimbursemnet of loss and reinstatement of service.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 05:17 PMJason Walsh:
“I think it’s a stretch to call the vandals “young republicans”. Idiot malefactors who hide behind the local rhetoric seems more likely to me.”Well no it is not a stretch at all is it. If one writes republican slogans that tends to make one a republican. However, now we are told it is a “stretch”; that is extremely disingenuous. Indeed to dismiss and minimise daubing swastika and IRA slogans on headstones and defecating on graves is actually very disturbing.
I am sure Jason is not anti-Semitic and I am sure some of his best friends are Jewish.
However, maybe Jason you could accept that if Doctor Who felt that this was more than “idiot malefactors” then that is his experience.
Furthermore to then dismiss the links between republicanism and Nazism simply compounds the problem. Quite revealing about Jason though.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 05:48 PM“Furthermore to then dismiss the links between republicanism and Nazism simply compounds the problem. Quite revealing about Jason though.”
Come on Turgon. The fact that some people attempt to highlight these ‘links’ reveals more.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:22 PMTurgon:
Leave it out. I have strong personal ties to Jewish Ireland which you couldn’t possibly know about but, more importantly, are of no relevance whatsover to any discussion we could possibly have here. The point is the writing, not the person who wrote it. Isn’t there some rule about playing the ball on Slugger?
If you think I am anti-semitic, as you are implying with a wink and a nod, why then did I write two positive articles about Jews in Ireland and why is my work to be found in the Jewish museum in Dublin. You know nothing about me, my family or my background.
If you want to critique my writing you are most welcome to do so. You are not welcome, however, to cast aspersions on me or indulge in ignorant and uninformed character assassinations.
I didn’t discount Doctor Who‘s experiences. I simply said I think it would be, in my opinion, wrong to extrapolate a political sentiment from them. We all have many experiences but to draw a line from them directly to a broader point is to raise the possibility of our experiences being less common that we might think.
So, you think that republicanism is honestly represented by a few shitheads on the Falls? When I was 16 I knew someone who (he claimed) smashed some headstones, but they weren’t Jewish ones. They were Catholic ones. He did it for reasons that had nothing to do with politics whatsoever.
If you think that republcianism’s true voice is expressed by vandals in the City Cemetery where does that leave, for example, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, both of which claim to be republican parties? Indeed, even the SDLP has in recent years referred to itself as a republican party, something which I saw as a positive move away from ‘nationalism’, a term too connected to cultural issues for my liking.
I have very little desire to debate the issue of Sean Russell with you. I don’t represent either him or his political tradition (or any political tradition) for that matter, but to argue that he was significant is simply wrong. Had he been successful we might be having a different discussion (and the world, Ireland included would be a worse place for it) but the fact remains that he failed for a number of reasons including the fact that IRA of the time was virtually non-existent.
If you want to attack Ireland for it’s attitude to Jews you’d be on firmer ground asking why they weren’t allowed to settle here en masse during the Second World War. They should have been, that would have been the decent thing to do.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:30 PMI have to say, I am saddened by the fact that an article which points out that being Irish and Jewish (in religious or secular terms) confers no automatic position on Ireland has already been turned into a argument about republicans versus unionists. The entire point of what I wrote was that, in this instance, we can clearly see that relgion has no bearing on one’s political views.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:37 PMMy my Jason you seem sensitive: not willing to accept Doctor Who’s point though are you? If he as a Jewish person felt it was significant who exactly are you to discount his opinions?
Oh yes you tell us you have personal ties to Jewish people yes so that means you can interpret their views: silly me. Though as I said above “I am sure Jason is not anti-Semitic and I am sure some of his best friends are Jewish.”
Incidentally on the issue of other odd examples of republican behaviour it is you who suggested Fianna Fáil was republican. Now which state’s leader gave condolences to the German people on the death of Adolf Hitler?
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:38 PM“turned into a argument about republicans versus unionists”
Look out, there’s a new sheriff in town!
C’mon Walshy, this ain’t the tea cosy blog, don’t ya know?
I’m glad to see you here, but you’d better grow a thicker skin if you want to retain your sanity!
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:41 PMJews were also targeted by the Unionists/Nazis during the 1920’s Belfast pogroms. Unionists have never liked anyone steering away from their core Nazi belief.
There have been plenty of promnent Jews downb south. At one stage all three major parties had a Jewish TD (Briscoe, Taylor and Shitter). The 26 cos also had the first Jewish Mayor: Goldberg/Briscoe.
So much has been written about them they are a bore. Briscoe’s kid has gone to Israel to aid in the terorism campaign against the Palestinians.
For ther Unionist Nazis: I ma unsure as to how many Jews are in the GAA.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:55 PMRG Cuan
“Come on Turgon. The fact that some people attempt to highlight these ‘links’ reveals more.”
Nonsense, Jason mentioned it in his article, I am pointing out that the nature of the vandalism on Jewish graves namely IRA slogans and nazi style swastikas, added a sinister dimension to it that the defecation alone didn´t.
“If you want to attack Ireland for it’s attitude to Jews you’d be on firmer ground asking why they weren’t allowed to settle here en masse during the Second World War. They should have been, that would have been the decent thing to do.”
Absolutely, the allies and Ireland´s attitude to the Jews before and during the war was similar to Spanish refugees during the Spanish Civil War. Horrendous. From what Ive been told from family I had Polish relatives refused asylum both in Britain and Ireland prior to the second world war. This is despite members of my family being decorated veterans of World War I.
With reference to Russell, first im sorry for moving him to Phoenix Park. It seems to me those who say he was a minor player and a bit of dope in republican circles, clearly don´t mind his memory being celebrated. You ignore 35,000 citizens of the Irish Free State who joined British forces to fight the nazis, there is no statue in their memory. Maybe because they are seen as traitors?? The nazi collaborator Russell is of course seen as a patriot.
I can assure you this statue is offensive to all Jewish people who have heard of it´s existence. I believe the Israeli embassey has written to the Irish govt. concerning this matter, perhaps you can investigate that Jason.
Posted by on Nov 21, 2009 @ 06:59 PM
