Years ago a friend of mine worked at a major nightspot just outside Lisburn. One night a major punch-up broke out. Everyone was hammering everyone else. Eventually he himself was cornered by some big bloke. Asked whether he was Catholic or protestant – he blurted out the first thing that came into his head, “Hebrew!” The guy was stunned and puzzled enough to give my friend time to make good his escape.
Today, it seems, Northern Ireland’s Jews are courted by both sides:
“They both think we�re more like them then the other side,” says Shoshana Appleton, an Israeli-born community member and interfaith activist who is married to the president of Northern Ireland�s Jewish community. “The Catholics say you are an old religion like us, and the Protestants say you�ve got rid of all that Catholic confessional dogma and are similar to us,” she says.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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