Researchers into Christian attitudes towards Jews have said that Irish Christians are three times more antisemitic than their American counterparts.
A survey into the views of Irish Christians found that around a third believe that Jews “talk too much about the Holocaust” and have “too much control over global affairs”. Similar numbers also said that Jews have too much power in business.
The study, which spoke to 1,000 Irish Christians, of whom the vast majority were Catholics, found that only 11 per cent of respondents support Israel in its conflict with Palestine, with 45 per cent supporting the other side. Two thirds believe the Israeli government has committed genocide in Gaza.
Irish support for Palestine has a long history. It has often been viewed in colonialist terms rather than religious terms, with parallels being drawn between England’s colonisation of Ireland and Israeli actions in Palestine.
The survey also found that just under a third of Irish Christians believe Jews “don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind”, and that Jews are hated “because of the way they behave”.
Dr Kirill Bumin, one of the leaders of the study, said, “Anti-semitism is deeply intertwined with anti-Israel sentients among both Catholics and Protestants alike, whether that is nominal Christians who rarely, if ever, attend church, or devout ones and among old and young, wealthy and poor alike, and across the entire political and ideological spectrum.”
His co-researcher, Dr Motti Inbari, noted, “It’s disturbing to see a Western democracy so steeped in prejudice and bias … It’s like we’re living in medieval times.”
The researchers conducted similar surveys in America and in the United Kingdom. The findings showed that American Christians have far lower levers of what the researchers called antisemitism, than British or Irish Christians.
The research was commissioned by Chosen People Ministries, a Christian ministry that works to support Jewish people.
