Palestine ‘From the Aspect of Irishness’

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of Irishness on the experience of Irish policemen at the colonial interface in Palestine. Its influence on their attitudes towards the Arab and Jewish communities that they policed is explored, as are the spectrum of responses towards Palestine’s inter-communal conflict, and the Arab and Zionist insurgencies against imperial rule, to which their ‘varieties of Irishness’ gave rise. The impact of Irishness on the professional experience of Irish Palestine policemen is also evaluated, through an examination of its influence both in the conduct of intra-force interpersonal relationships, and on the areas that provide the most reliable barometers of ethnicity’s impact on professional experience in a multi-ethnic force, viz. promotional prospects, and the manner in which indiscipline was addressed.