Irish Questions and Jewish Questions: Crossovers in Culture ed. by Aidan Beatty and Dan O'Brien

Abstract

Reviewed by: Irish Questions and Jewish Questions: Crossovers in Culture ed. by Aidan Beatty and Dan O'Brien David M. Reimers Aidan Beatty and Dan O'Brien, eds. Irish Questions and Jewish Questions: Crossovers in Culture. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2018. Pp. 280. Hardcover $65, paper & ebook $34.95. ISBN 9780815635611, 9780815635796, 9780815654261. Aidan Beatty and Dan O'Brien have brought together twelve pieces focusing on the relationship of Irish and Jews. A recent outpouring of essays about Jews in Ireland prompted the authors to note that Ireland and Israel (Jews) share, in part, a common history. Both nations were dominated by others (read English and Western powers as well as Arabs for Jews, and English for the Irish) during their long history. Not until the twentieth history did Ireland achieve independence; Israel followed in 1948. After becoming new nations both countries found little peace. For Ireland it was first a civil war, then "the troubles" after World War II. For Israel it was considerably different: four wars with their Arab neighbors have been followed by West Bank settlements that are the center of contention today. Ireland of course borders Northern Ireland, but this conflict is considerably less violent than the Israeli wars against the Arabs surrounding Palestine. For Israel no easy solution is in sight. Indeed, in many ways Israel lives as an armed nation, looking to the United States for its main support. For Ireland the present situation is less dire but it is not clear what the future holds for Ireland with Brexit looming: it is uncertain what the impact on the border will be if Great Britain withdraws from the Common Market. It is important to keep in mind the major differences between the two nations as well as the fact they share a common history. The history outlined above forms a background for this volume of essays, with the focus being almost entirely on Ireland. Israeli or Jewish voices are generally missing; it would have been interesting if more of them had been included, but the center of the book is Ireland and the voice of the Irish. It is not possible to deal with all twelve essays in a review; the exclusion of an essay in this review is not a reflection of quality. The editors surely had a difficult task limiting the number to twelve. They first include a brief history of Jews in Ireland, providing necessary background. The size of the Jewish population at any one time is important, but the Jewish population in Ireland has never been large. Still, some Irish writers were focused on Jews. For example, one of the more interesting essays was Trisha Oakley Kessler's piece on Jewish refugee factories in the 1930s, even though their numbers were not large. These refugees were driven to Ireland by the rise of Nazi [End Page 125] Germany; Kessler describes the desperate plight of Jews who sought a new home in Ireland and other nations. A question emerges: was Ireland like so many countries that were unwilling to accept more refugees? The essays in Part I deal with antisemitism in part, and to understand this bigotry it is crucial to know how many Jews were in Ireland, where they settled, how they made a living and their relationship with the Irish at various times. According to the traditional histories there was little such bigotry in early Irish history, but religious references were acute in the early days. In view of Christianity's role in Western antisemitism I wonder if the Catholic Church was really so free of antisemitism in Ireland. This issue needs more study and research. According to essayist R. M. Douglas, antisemitism grew strongly after 1900. It does appear that Ireland shares much of Western Europe's prejudice regardless of the fact that the Jewish population was small. Or in Douglas's words, "the Irish were not so different after all." (31) Peter Hession adds to the debates in his excellent essay on Jews in Ireland from 1880 to 1914. To complicate matters, Natalie Wynn discusses the lack of clear standards and definitions in the discussions of Irish antisemitism. Several essays in Part II compare aspects of the...